Uazirmes's long life was spent on campaigns; the fair Nart always patronized the young, taught them valor and honor, and equally divided what he gained in campaigns among all the warriors.
Increasing his fame, he showed the young people the way to it. Thus Uazirmes lived to a ripe old age.
The longtime enemy of the Narts, Yabgashkha the Obstinate, taking advantage of the senile weakness of Uazirmes, more than once attacked the Country of the Narts. And Uazyrmes, thinking about his imminent death, was very sad that he would leave, leaving the sworn enemy of the Narts undefeated.
One day he called the Narts and announced to them:
“Narts, old age has already turned my head white, my last hour is not far, I want to meet our enemy once again.” I decided to cross the sea. Make me a boat.
Uazirmes did not repeat his words twice, and the sledges made him a boat.
Having waited for a fair wind, old Uazyrmes set sail. For many days and many nights he sailed on the sea and finally landed on the shore. The Shrew's guard stood on the shore and captured the boat with Uazirmes.
The leader of the army was glad that he had finally managed to capture his ancient enemy.
“Choose,” he said menacingly, “either I will cut off your head, or I will chain you forever.”
“Do as you know,” answered the old Nart, “I am in your power.” I just think that you don’t need to cut off my head or keep me in chains. I’m an old man, I won’t live long anyway, but wouldn’t it be better for you to notify the Narts that I’m in your captivity and demand a ransom from them. The Narts respect me and will pay you well.
“What’s the use of killing an old man,” thought the Shrew, “I’d better get a good ransom for him.”
- What will the sledges give me in return for you? - he asked.
“Five hundred oxen,” said Uazirmes.
- The price is considerable, but how will I get the oxen: the sledges are far away, we don’t meet with them.
Uazirmes replied:
- Send two messengers to the Country of the Narts, they will return along with our people and oxen. You take the oxen, and they will take me home. Let’s just agree: one messenger must be black-haired, without a single gray hair, and the other must be gray-haired, without a single black hair.
The Shrew ordered to find such people, and Uazirmes punished them:
- Go to the Country of the Narts and say: Uazyrmes is in captivity and asks to ransom him. And the ransom should be five hundred oxen: one hundred hornless, one hundred horned, and three hundred red with white horns, so that the oxen are not old and not young, not skinny, but well-fed. And if they don’t find such oxen, then let them ask our grindstone or the broom that stands in the corner - they will help. If the young black ox does not want to go ahead of the others, cut off his head and hang it on the neck of the old white ox, let him be the leader.
The messengers listened to Uazirmes' order and went to the Country of the Narts.
- Have a good feast, venerable sledges! - said the messengers, entering the kunatskaya.
- You are welcome, young strangers! - the Narts answered and, as usual, treated the visitors to the horn of the good sane. So the newcomers became guests of the sleds.
- Where are you coming from and where are you going? Himish asked them.
“We are coming from afar, from across the sea, we are messengers from Yabgashkha the Shrew.”
“So you are the servants of our primordial enemy.” Have you come to us with good or bad news? If it’s with a bad person, we won’t be afraid.
The envoys told the Narts about what had happened.
Nasren Longbeard thought and asked:
- What ransom did your ruler appoint?
“Uazyrmes himself set a price for his head: five hundred oxen, and our ruler agreed,” said the young black-haired messenger.
“This is a low price,” Uazyrmes’s head is worth a lot. Well, what kind of oxen does the Shrew want?
“Uazyrmes himself ordered that the oxen be like this: one hundred hornless, one hundred horned, three hundred red with white horns, and that the oxen be neither old nor young, not skinny, but well-fed.
After thinking, the Narts replied:
“We can send a hundred hornless and a hundred horned oxen, but where will we find red ones with white horns?” Uazirmes has confused something due to his old age...
“And to this Uazirmes added,” the gray-haired messenger spoke: “If such oxen are not found, let them ask the grindstone or the broom that stands in the corner.” And he also said that a young black ox should walk in front of the herd, and if it resists, you need to cut off its head, hang it on the neck of the old white ox, and let it go ahead of the herd.
We listened to the sledges of the messengers and thought: what did Uazyrmes want to say with this? There is probably some kind of allegory in these words.
The Narts thought: “Who is our unsetting sun, who is our wisdom and conscience, who always takes care of the Narts? Satan is our sun, Satan is our wisdom and conscience, Satan is always taking care of the Narts. Satanei is a woman. A woman holds a broom in her hands, which means you need to consult with her.”
And the old sledges, entrusting the newcomers to the care of the young ones, went to the wise Satan.
- Hello, beauty, incomparable with other beauties! - they greeted her. - Listen to our story and explain to us what we don’t understand.
“Is there anything in the world that is inaccessible to the minds of the Narts?” - Guasha answered affectionately. - What happened, my friends? May every good news and every deed of yours be pure, like the blue sky above the heads of the Narts.
The Narts told Satana about the arrival of messengers and that they needed to send a ransom for the glorious Uazyrmes - five hundred oxen.
“Is five hundred oxen a high price for our priceless Uazyrmes?” — Satanya was surprised. - Was it worth coming to me because of this?
“We will send five hundred oxen with joy, but Uazirmes ordered that there be a hundred hornless, a hundred-horned and three hundred white with red horns, so that the oxen are not old and not young, not skinny, but well-fed.”
“Listen, Narts,” answered the wise gua sha, “Uazirmes calls our warriors oxen.” One hundred hornless oxen means one hundred foot soldiers, one hundred horned ones means one hundred horsemen. And three hundred red oxen with white horns are three hundred horsemen in chain mail made of red copper. Not skinny, but well-fed - that means you must send the best, bravest knights.
- O bright-minded Satan! Uazyrmes ordered to drive the black ox in front, and if it resists, then cut off its head and hang it on the neck of the old white ox, he will lead the herd the right way.
—What are the Shrew’s envoys like?
- One is young and black-haired, the other is gray-haired and gray-bearded.
“It’s not hard to guess, venerable Narts, that it was not about oxen, but about messengers: put a young messenger in front of the troops, and if he refuses, cut off his head and tie it to the old man’s neck and he will lead the army to the right place.”
“Beautiful Sataney,” the Narts exclaimed joyfully, “you have sharpened our minds and our swords, - you, a woman holding a broom in your hands, are wiser than men; Now we understand what Uazirmes wanted to say.
— Bon voyage, victorious return! - Smiling affectionately, Satan said goodbye to the sleds.
The Narts armed three hundred horsemen in chain mail, added another hundred horsemen and one hundred foot soldiers and set off on a campaign. The young black-haired messenger refused to lead the army; They cut off his head, hung it on the neck of the old gray-haired messenger, and placed the old man in front as a leader. Reluctantly, the old man led the Nart army to the fortress of his ruler.
And on the wall of the fortress, the Shrew stood near old Uazirmes and both looked into the distance.
- You see a column of dust on the road - it’s the price of your head! - Yabgashkha the Shrew grinned.
“The Narts’ word does not differ from their deeds,” Uazyrmes answered sternly, “you will get what you deserve.”
“You will be free only when I kill the beast,” continued the cruel and greedy Yabgashkha.
- No, much earlier! - the sledge shouted and threw the Shrew from the wall of the fortress onto the sharp stones of the rock. The Nart army rushed at the enemy with a battle cry, defeated him and, taking a lot of goods, returned to their native village, led by the liberated old prince Uazyrmes.
Thus, the courage and resourcefulness of Uazirmes defeated the sworn overseas enemy of the Narts.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru