On a green field, near a fast-flowing river, among white birches stood a dilapidated house. An old man and an old woman lived in this house. From a young age, without straightening their backs, they worked for the stingy and greedy rich man Khara-Khaan. The rich man Khara-Khaan was like a huge spider: if someone, due to an unexpected need, fell into his web, he did not let him out until his death.
In her old age, the old woman stopped moving completely. Then Khara-Khaan forced the old man to work for two. But the old people grieved not because of hard work, but because they did not have children who would prolong their lineage.
One day, returning from work, an old man walked through a birch grove. Although there was no wind that evening, for some reason the leaves of the white birches whispered tenderly. Somewhere a bird sang so joyfully that the old man, tired and hungry, could not leave without looking back in the direction from which the singing came. But he didn’t see a bird, but a big, big creep. The old man stopped and left the path he had been walking along for about seventy years. He approached the Udyurgai and looked at him from all sides. Then the leaves stopped whispering and the bird fell silent. The old man thought: “Maybe I’ll make something out of this stupid thing. A beautiful choron with patterns... Or a carved handle for a knife...” He cut the udurgai down and took it home.
[Udyurgai - growth on birch bark
Choron - a cup for kumiss.]
The old woman saw the old man, bent under the weight of the fool, clasped her hands and exclaimed:
- Eh, old man, you've lost your mind!.. Why do you need such a huge idiot?
And the old man had already figured out what to answer the old woman:
“You and I don’t have children, and maybe I’ll carve something that will continue our name.”
Here the old woman began to carefully examine the Udyurgai, forcing the tired old man to turn it in all directions. Suddenly she clasped her hands.
- Yes, look, old man, what a miracle you brought! Udyurgai looks like a child! Here are the legs, here are the arms, and here is the head! “The old woman has already seen the child in the not-yet-cowed urchin.”
The old man did not answer, but, after resting a little, he immediately got down to business. He could have quickly done what he had in mind, but he had little time - he worked almost the whole day for Khara-Khaan. It took him seven years to make a doll. Often the old man, interrupting his work, said to the old woman, smiling tiredly:
“We are old, and we have no children.” And I will make a little man out of a strong wretch, and he will remain after us...
The old woman, looking at the doll, also smiled. She looks a lot like a child! All that remains is to make the eyes, and then they will give him a name, and he will be their heir... But the old man did not finish the little man from Udyurgai - he died...
The old woman was left with the unfinished wooden man. She was bored all day long alone. One day she put the doll next to her, admired it and fell asleep. Suddenly, through her sleep, she heard crying. The old woman wakes up and sees that the wooden man has turned into a living child, only he has no eyes.
The child grew by leaps and bounds and grew into a hero. He began to work. The old woman could not be happier. But one day I saw the blind hero Khara-Khaan. He came to the old woman and said:
- Old woman, your old man died, but his debts remained. You must work them off!
- Where can I get the strength?
“Then I’ll take your son!” said the rich man and took Udyurgay-batyr with him.
The hero was strong, but he had no eyes. If it was necessary to prepare firewood, he was brought to a tree, and he broke it like a sliver. If it was necessary to bring hay, he was harnessed to a huge sleigh and he pulled the stack. He did not know fatigue.
One day Udyurgai Batyr heard the whistle of a snake, the sound of wings and the squeal of an eagle. He stopped, listened and realized that a fight was taking place not far away.
“What’s that noise?” asked Udyurgai Batyr.
The noise stopped, something rustled on the grass at his feet, and huge, strong wings rustled above his head.
- Udyurgai-batyr, we have been waiting for you for a long time. “Only you alone can judge our eternal dispute,” he heard.
“Who are you?” asked Udyurgai Batyr.
“I am Mogoy,” the snake hissed in the grass, “listen to me.” It was a long time ago, when I was young. Then I wanted to rise higher than everyone else and crawled up a high mountain. There the sun was hot, and there was no dampness or moisture. I was suffocating with thirst. Then I saw three eggs. Don't let me die of thirst! I drank these eggs. And suddenly Khotoy attacked me. To this day I don’t know why he attacked me.
[Mogoy - snake
[Khotoy - eagle]
Then the eagle's screeching sound was heard:
- Listen to me, good man. To multiply our eagle tribe, high on the mountain I laid three golden eggs. I thought that I would have chicks, young Khotoi-batyrs. And suddenly, having flown to my nest, I found the golden eggs broken, and Mogoi was lying in my nest. Having deprived me of offspring, she still dares to say that she doesn’t know why I attacked her!
Mogoy and Khota would have argued for a long time, but Udyurgai Batyr told them:
- Bring me your eyes, then I can judge you.
“I’ll bring it!” Mogoi hissed and crawled away.
“I’ll bring it!” the eagle squealed and flew away.
How long or how long did Udyurgai Batyr wait, and he heard the rustling of a snake in the grass.
“Bend over, I’ll put my eyes on you!” Mogoi hissed.
All his life Udyurgai Batyr wanted to see the world, the green grass, the light of the sun.
Worried, he bent down. Mogoy placed something wet and soft in his eye sockets. Udyurgai Batyr saw the sun as a small red speck in the black sky. Everything around had blurry outlines.
“Why do people praise this black, foggy world?” asked Udyurgai Batyr and sighed heavily.
“You’re telling the truth,” Mogoi hissed. “There’s nothing beautiful in this world in daylight.” But at night, when darkness sets in, you will see better than now!
Udyurgai Batyr thought about the words of the snake. They seemed strange to him. If night is better than day, then why do people sleep at night? When he asked about this, Mogoi laughed:
- Shhh! Don't believe people's chatter! People are weak, they are afraid of night light. This light is for the strong, the mighty, like you and me. At night, all the strong do not sleep. Tigers, panthers, eagle owls, and owls do not sleep.
Before Udyurgai Batyr had time to thank the snake for his eyes, Khotoy’s mighty wings rustled in the air. He flew up to Udyurgay and said:
- Take these eyes!
Udyurgai Batyr took the eyes brought by the eagle and put them to his eye sockets. Oh, miracle! He saw the earth, the green grass, the bright sun and the blue tent of the sky. Then he realized that the snake was wrong.
Udyurgai Batyr thanked Mogoi and Khotoy for their eyes.
- Now rest for three days. I will look at the world and think which of you is to blame.
Udyurgai Batyr came to his master Khara-Khaan. He put the eyes that the snake had brought to him and saw: his owner was sitting, joyful people were coming to him from all sides, he was feeding and giving them water.
Then Udyurgai Batyr thought: “Why did I hear that people are dissatisfied with the owner? I see that he waters and feeds people.”
Udyurgai Batyr looked at the eyes brought by Kho-toy and saw: Khara-Khaan, fat, small, sitting on a high chair, on his left hand there was a table with food. Exhausted people come to this table, and the owner gives them only enough so that they do not die of hunger. In his right hand he holds a long whip and beats with it anyone who dares to immediately eat his food and does not immediately go to work.
Here Udyurgai Batyr understood even more clearly what kind of eyes the snake had brought him. These eyes were capable of brightening up the villainy of the rich and predators.
He walks through the forest and thinks about how to fairly resolve the dispute between Mogoy and Khotoy. Suddenly he hears an old voice:
- What are you thinking about, good warrior? Udyurgai Batyr looked around, but saw no one. “Who’s talking to me?” he asked.
Then Udyurgai Batyr saw in front of him a house the size of a mushroom. An old man with a long gray beard stood at the door of the house. He was dressed in a doha made from the skin of a squirrel. Mittens were sewn from the front legs, and high boots from the back legs.
Udyurgai Batyr bent down to the old man and asked:
-Who are you, venerable old man?
“I am always an adviser to good deeds, they call me Serkan the epic.” I have long known about the dispute between a snake and an eagle. I also know that you must resolve this dispute.
“I’m thinking: how to judge them, how to find punishment for the culprit?
“You must judge them yourself.” And I will help you find the punishment. Here's my sword. “Cut off the head of the one you consider guilty,” said Sarkan the epic writer and handed the hero’s sword to the hero.
Udyurgai Batyr took the heroic sword in his hands and wanted to thank the old man, but he was no longer there. The forest rustled again and the birds sang.
Udyurgai Batyr came to the appointed place where Khotoy and Mogoy were waiting for him. Before proceeding with the implementation of his decision, Udyurgai Batyr inserted an eagle eye into the right eye socket, and a snake eye into the left one. He thought it would be fair.
Udyurgai Batyr looked at the snake with his left eye and saw it kind and smiling. And when I looked with my right eye, I saw this disgusting creature burning with anger and hatred. Udyurgai Batyr remembered how the owner of Khara-Khaan appeared before him when he looked at him through the eyes of Mogoi.
This convinced him even more that he needed to rid the world of the snake.
- Listen to my decision! You are to blame, Mogoi, for sucking the soul and body of Khotoy’s chicks. You will die from my sharp sword!
The batyr swung his sword, but instead of his head, Mogi’s sword cut only an empty snake skin. Surprised, the warrior stood and ruffled the old skin of the snake with his sword. Hotoi looked at it and said:
“Mogi is cunning and evasive, you won’t kill her so quickly.” Now, in her new skin, she is more cunning than before. If you want to rid the world of a villain, throw away her eyes and use only my eyes - eagle, sharp. You can always spot evil, no matter what skin it is in!
Khotoy flew away into the high blue sky, and Udyurgai Batyr walked the earth to rid the world of all villains.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru