It was a long time ago, they say. The large camp of the Oyogir clan was then located in the upper reaches of the Vilyuya and Olenek rivers.
There lived one boy in this camp. From morning to evening, all he did was imitate his parents and all other people: whatever they say, he repeats. He will hide somewhere in the forest or on the shore and wait. He sees everyone, but no one sees him. A child will cry in the camp or a hunter will speak to
a woman, or a dog barks - from a distance he begins to imitate their voices.
He imitated both birds in the taiga and animals.
They wanted to catch him, they chased him on the fastest reindeer, but they could not catch him: he ran away from people so quickly.
His parents were exhausted with him, and they didn’t know what to do to stop him from teasing people.
One day Kheveki found out how this boy was annoying people and said:
- Let this boy go to the taiga forever. Let it be fun for children and single people. And never let him come close to the camp or show himself to people.
The boy heard this order from Kheveki, ran away to the taiga and stayed there forever. Since that day no one has seen him, but only hear him from afar.
He still lives in the taiga, or sits in the rocks, or hides in the bushes on the shore. And even louder it repeats the voices of people, the cries of animals and birds.
The kids love to talk to him. They will come up to a river or a forest and call him. He responds immediately, but doesn’t come close.
For this, people nicknamed him Ultan (Echo).
They say that this is how the Evenks gave birth to an echo.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru