It was a very long time ago. Since then, so much time has passed that where the river flowed, there are hills, where the stones lay, forests have now grown there.
The hunter Chumdag from the Dungu clan had a daughter.
Chumdaga has not had children for a long time. Chumdaga really wanted to have a son, but he was happy with his daughter too. And the mother, out of joy, simply did not know where to go.
They gave their daughter a good name - Lado. The old people did everything so that their daughter would grow up good, beautiful and happy. The mother did not call her daughter by name for a whole year, so that the evil devils would not find out about the birth of Chumdaga’s daughter. The mother called her daughter: my good, my dear. The mother hung a mafa garani - a bear fang - over her daughter's cradle to scare away evil devils. To prevent her daughter from crying, her mother hung an ok-saru - a bird made of wood tinder, birch bark earrings, rooster legs and a mukchuri - a hunchbacked wooden old woman - over the cradle so that her daughter would have good dreams. She washed her daughter with her milk. I made a pillow from eider down. Perinku - made from cuckoo feathers.
And Lado grew up to be a beauty.
Her face is wide, white, like the full moon; eyes like black currants; cheeks pink, like wild rosemary in spring; lips like ripe raspberries; slender Lado has grown like a saran flower. That's how beautiful!..
The old men looked at their daughter and could not be happier.
There was only one bad thing: Lado didn’t know how to do anything. The mother didn’t want Lado to have rough hands: her daughter didn’t light a fire, didn’t chop wood, didn’t hit fish with a spear, didn’t hold an oar in her hands, didn’t tan Lado’s skins. The mother did not want her daughter’s eyes to turn red from work: her daughter did not embroider robes with silk, did not sew skins, did not select deer hair for embroidery. It got so bad that Lado didn’t even know how to knead dough or bake flat cakes. Lado couldn’t do anything.
Lado walks around the village - slender and light. The guys can't take their eyes off her. The guys look at the beautiful Lado, shake their heads, but don’t dare approach.
One guy wooed Lado. There was no better hunter in the village than him. When the animals met him, they cried, knowing that they could not escape him. The guy wooed, and Lado pouted, turning her nose to the side:
- Get away from me, you smelling like a beast! How will I live with you? I will cut all your hands on your skins...
Someone else wooed Lado. There was no better fisherman in the village: the guy could hit ten fish at once with one spear, and in winter he could see through the ice in which hole the fish were buried. The guy proposed, and Lado completely turned away from him, holding her nose with her fingers:
- Get away from me, you fishy smeller! How will I live with you? I will always walk around wet...
A third guy wooed Lado. He had the best team: the dogs were as fast as the wind. No one could argue with his team. A guy wooed Lado, but she didn’t even look at him. As soon as the guy appeared on the threshold, Lado waved her hands and buried her nose in the pillow:
- Get away from me, you smelling like a dog! How can I live with this? Feeding your dogs, I will trample all my feet...
The suitors abandoned Lado. They say:
- Why do you reproach us with work! Not good... I listened to my mother. He also says to his daughter:
– You don’t meet people well, you offend people in vain!
Lado got angry with her mother, waved her hands, blushed with anger, and shouted:
“I know that you have been wanting to get rid of me for a long time!”
“Why are you a daughter,” says the mother, “live as you want.” Live with us all your life.
She calmed her daughter down and Lado fell silent.
Only - whoever rolls down a mountain rolls stones with him; Lado drove away the suitors, and then her parents became not nice to her. Sulking, Lado: why is the mother wearing an ugly robe, why is the father wet from fishing? Everything is not her way.
Her mother served her porridge.
- Why is it hard? - the daughter screams. Mother served fish.
- Why lethargic? – Lado stomps his feet. Her mother served her meat.
- Why tough? – the daughter screams again. The mother put the cakes on the table.
- Why are they bitter? – the beautiful Lado spits. The mother cried: you can’t please your daughter! I called the neighbor kids and gave them the flatbreads.
The guys ate the cakes and praised:
- Oh, mother, what delicious, soft, and sweet cakes!
Here Lado got really angry. She pushed her mother away, stamped her feet, screamed, and ran out of the house. She looked around - everything seemed bad to her: dirty, smoky, and ugly people. She looked up and saw swans flying. The feathers on them are like pure snow, shiny. The swans are flying to God knows where, they are flying away from winter.
Lado shouted here:
“I’ll roll over my back, cry, and become a white swan!” I will fly with the swans to unknown lands, I will look for clean people! I'll find another mother!
Rolled over my back. Covered with snow-white feathers, she rose into the air on swan wings and flew.
The mother began to cry, screamed, and began to call her daughter. Unkind Lado didn’t even look back at her mother.
Lado flew up to the school of swans.
They ask her:
-Where are you from, new sister? Lado answers:
“I’ll fly with you to look for clean people who don’t smell like fish!” I will look for another mother in unknown lands!
The swans did not part and Lado was not allowed into the flock. The leader flapped his wings and said:
- How can you find another mother? A person has only one mother. There is no other!
The swans did not accept Lado. She flew alone. He flies - he’s angry with his mother, he’s angry with the swans: I’ll fly to another place! I’ll find something like this, where people don’t smell like dogs, I’ll find a clean place! I'll find another mother!
The swans flew away. Lado also flew away.
The mother cried for a long time after losing her daughter.
... The trees dropped their leaves. The hare put on a white fur coat. The snakes in the stones fell asleep. The bear lay down in the den. The sick hunters left. The Water Master covered the river with an ice roof from the cold.
And the mother is still crying, still looking in the direction where Lado flew away.
...The roads have become black. The bear stopped sucking its paw. The squirrels ate all the nuts. On skis the skin became wet. A warbler has arrived from overseas lands.
And the mother is still crying, she is still looking at the sky, she is still looking in that direction. where did Lado fly away? The mother keeps looking at the sky; she even began to forget about the fire in the hearth. The fire began to go out and went out completely. The fire left the house. Life has left the house. Lado's mother died.
...Then a warm wind blew from the Nikan kingdom. From the old grass, the young grass shot a green arrow. The Water Master removed the ice roof from the river. The bear came out of the den. The hare lost his white coat in the forest. The trees have gained buds. Migratory birds have arrived to their old places.
Swans also arrived from distant countries.
Lado also arrived. Apparently, she didn’t find another mother. She began circling over her village. She began to fly over her house. Screams, calls his mother:
“I’ll roll over my back, I’ll cry, I’ll become a girl again!” I will hug my old mother and wipe away her tears...
Nobody leaves the house. Lado is hovering in the sky, crying. Can't turn into a girl...
The whole summer I flew over my native village of Lado - I kept waiting for my mother to come out of the house and meet her. I didn’t wait. When the cold wind blew from the Amur, Lado flew away to warmer lands.
Since then, every spring she flies in, screams, calls her mother - and does not get enough.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru