In ancient times, a seventy-three-year-old old man, Taryasha, lived in the world with his wife and little son named Guun Seezhe.
One morning, sitting at breakfast, an old man says to his wife:
– My dreams have become bad, it seems that life is coming to an end. I should complete all my earthly affairs, but I don’t have time. When I was young and unmarried, my father sent me to the other side of the sea to set a snare for hares. I haven't bothered to check them since then. Let Guun Seezhe do this after my death.
After a short time, old man Taryasha died. Mother and son cried, grieved, and began to live together.
When Guun Seezhe grew up, his mother made him a bow from red birch and arrows from willow twigs. Guun Seezhe began to go hunting, to get animals and birds for food. So imperceptibly he matured and grew into a real young man: his face was crimson, like a sunset before windy weather; teeth are as strong as an iron digger - not a boy, but a man; not a hunter, but gold. He shot so accurately that he did not allow the birds flying from the south to fly to the north, and the northern ones could not fly to the south.
One day over morning tea, my mother remembered:
- Even in your youth, your father Taryasha was sent by your grandfather to set a snare on the other side of the sea. My father did just that, but didn’t bother to check the snare. He bequeathed to you to complete what you started. Now, son, your hands know how to tie a toroka in the dark, and your feet find the stirrups themselves. The time has come to fulfill my father's will.
“There’s nothing you can do, you’ll have to go,” that’s all the fellow Guun Seezhe said. He took a neighbor's guy as his comrade and traveling companion, and they set off on their journey.
They ride without stopping, they gallop without holding back their horses. At the end of the ninth day, on the crest of the tenth pass, they overtook two horsemen. One of them rides a dun horse, in a silver saddle, wearing a degel made of black silk, belted with a thread sash, and wearing shiny boots made of soft leather. And the other has a worse horse, a simpler saddle, and poorer clothes.
“I am the son of a rich merchant Galder, my name is Genen Erhe,” says the rider on a dun horse.
“I am his companion on the journey and his friend in trials, my name is Shumar,” adds another.
- How far are you going? – asks Guun Saezhe.
– We are going on the other side of the sea, to the rich Khan Dalai. “I want to marry the khan’s daughter, the beautiful Dangir Shara, who is protected from the evil eye behind seventy curtains,” answers Genen Erhe.
“Our path also lies on the other side,” says Guun Seezhe. “Back in the days of his youth, my late father set snares for hares there and, before his death, bequeathed to me to check them.
- What nonsense you are talking about! – Genen Erhe laughed. “If you once caught prey in your snares, now not even ashes remain of it - it was blown away by the wind long ago.”
Meanwhile, they drove up to the sea and began to decide how to cross to the other side.
“You must first shoot an arrow at the top, and then at the bottom, and only then set off,” says Guun Seezhe.
“You are no smarter than your late father,” Genen Erhe said to this. - What is the use of archery, if the time has come to measure the agility and endurance of horses, and not the strength of the thumbs! - He hit the horse with a whip and galloped into the sea. The very first wave almost knocked him down; the horse could hardly stay afloat. Having lost everything that was in the torok, pretty battered by the sea motion, the boastful Genen Erhe barely made it to the other shore. It wasn’t easy for his traveling companion either.
The son of old man Taryashi, the sharp-witted Guun Saezhe, remarked after him:
– In the steppe it is important not to lose direction, but at sea it is important to control the horse. But both in the steppe and at sea you need to choose the most correct path.
And he rode up the bank, shot an arrow along the top - it showed the shortest path, shot an arrow at the bottom - the arrow showed the shallowest place. Guun Seezhe crossed without any extra hassle and took his comrade along with him.
They went ashore and saw Genen Erhe and his fellow traveler Shumar drying their clothes and grieving over their lost equipment. All four of us spent the night at their resting place, and at early dawn we set off further.
The multi-tiered white palace of Dalai Bayan Khan appeared in the distance.
“The local khan has a bulging right eye and a squinted left eye,” noted Guun Seezhe.
- How can you say absurd things about a person without even seeing him! – Genen Erhe was indignant. “It would be better for you to bite your long tongue and not disgrace my future father-in-law,” having said so, he whipped his horse and rushed ahead of everyone to the palace.
Having learned of his arrival, the khan invited the son of a rich merchant to the high, bright palace, and sent Guun Seezhe, along with two other companions, to the barnyard.
They seated the merchant's son at a white silver table and treated him to a hearty dinner; They were seated at a red golden table and treated to sweet drinks.
-Where are you going? - asks the khan.
“No further than this threshold,” replies Genen Erhe. - And I was driving along the groom’s path.
“The strength of iron is recognized when struck, and a stranger is recognized during tests,” the khan remarked to this.
But no one remembered about Guun Seezhe. Only the beautiful Dangir Shara thought of treating him. She poured thick tea into a golden cup, placed two honey gingerbread cookies on a tray, counted out seven pieces of sugar and served them to the maid.
“Take it to the guests in the barnyard,” he says. And, after thinking a little, she added: “When you hand over the treat, ask: “Do the waves of the Black Sea reach the edge of the shores? Are other people’s traces visible on the moon and the sun? Are all the seven stars from the constellation of the Seven Strass visible in the sky today?” On the way, the maid drank tea, took a bite of gingerbread and ate a piece of sugar. Guun Seezhe asks her:
-Who sent you with food and tea?
“Beauty Dangir Shara,” the maid answers. “And she also ordered to ask: “Do the waters of the Black Sea reach the edge of the shores?” Are there any traces of strangers on the moon and sun? Are all the Seven Elders visible to the guests?” “Tell your mistress,” Guun Seezhe smiled, “that one star is not visible.” There are alien footprints on one half of the moon. And the Black Sea has become noticeably shallower.
The maid returned to her mistress and conveyed word for word what the guests had said to her. And then Dangir Shara attacked the sulzhanka:
- Why did you drink from the golden cup? - she asked angrily, - why did you bite the gingerbread and eat a piece of sugar?
The mistress scolds, the maid cries, golden time passes through the land of the Buryats.
The next day the Khan remembered the rest of the guests. The maid ran to the barnyard and shouted through the fence:
- The one in the sheepskin coat and rawhide boots, come out! Khan demands you to appear before his menacing eyes!
Guun Seezhe tightened his belt and headed to the palace. He entered the chambers and, as important as a khan, said hello; He bowed politely, like a Khansha. Dalai Bayan Khan sat down in a sandalwood chair and asked:
– Whose will you be and where are you going?
- I am old man Taryashi, my name is Guun Saezhe. “I live on the other side of the sea,” the fellow answers. “I came to inspect the snares set by my father.
- Oh, what snares you remembered about! - the Khan, surprised to the extreme, slapped himself on the sides. - Of course, of course, in my youth I knew Taryashi from the other shore, who was a sharp shooter and drank in moderation. He and I often went on raid hunts together. One day, proud and perky, we exchanged sashes in joy. And now you have come for the bride. Needless to say, good prey was caught in the snare set by your parent!
The khan threw his bowl of thick tea aside, his nodules swelled, and he said through his teeth:
– The strength of iron is recognized during a blow, and a stranger’s strength is recognized during testing.
And the khan turned to his first bator Ulan:
“On the third day after the birth of my beautiful daughter Dangir Shara, I ordered a three-year-old bull to be slaughtered and withered. Have the servants cook the dried meat.
Under the supervision of Bator Ulan, the servants cooked the dried ox meat and laid it out on ten large wooden dishes. Two people took on each dish and placed the treat in front of the guests. And then the khan said:
- Well, well done, it’s time to show your prowess and skill. This meat was dried for fifteen years, it became harder than stone. You have to treat everyone gathered in the palace today, so that everyone gets a piece of beef the size of a thumb - no more and no less.
The son of the wealthy merchant Galder, Genen Erhe, took out his knife from the gilded sheath hanging on a black silk sash. The son of old man Taryashi, Guun Seezhe, pulled out his knife with a wooden handle from behind the top of his rawhide boot.
The two healthy red fellows looked at each other and got down to business. As Guun Seezhe holds the knife, he cuts off a piece the size of a thumb. When Genen Erhe runs a knife through it, there is not even a cut left on the meat; his knife does not take beef that has been dried for fifteen years. He sharpens the blade until it shines, his nodules swell. “What kind of damn meat!” – the merchant’s son swears.
- It was TV who ruined my knife with slander! – Genen Erhe attacked his successful opponent. “Now I’ll pierce you right through!”
“Didn’t you hear the words of the Khan-father?” - Bator Ulan stood between them. – The strength of iron is recognized during a blow, and a stranger’s strength is recognized during testing. It's no one's fault that you were born frail and doomed to carry a dull knife! - he said this, took the merchant’s son by the collar and pushed him into the yard.
Guun Seezhe cut the meat, which had been drying for fifteen years, into pieces the size of a thumb and distributed it to everyone present, without missing a single one, without depriving anyone, neither small nor large. Looking at this, Dalai Bayan Khan says:
– The first test showed that you are capable of accomplishing your plans and getting what you want. However, the second will be more difficult. At dawn tomorrow you will go to the dense western taiga, meet a huge brown bear, find out its age and return back.
The son of old man Taryashi does not sleep all night, tosses and turns from side to side, still thinking about how to find out the age of the taiga bear and return safe and sound. Suddenly the door creaked. Guun Seezhe shuddered.
- Who is this? - asks.
“I,” came the answer, “living behind seventy curtains, the daughter of the noble Dalai Bayan Khan - Dangir Shara.” I have collected food supplies for your journey and I want to tell you: take deer antlers with you, and when you approach the den, put them on your head. Don't worry about the rest.
Guun Seezhe was surprised at this advice, and could not fall asleep for a long time when the beauty disappeared as silently as she had appeared.
At early dawn the young man saddled his thin red horse and rode off to find out the age of the brown taiga bear. He drove up to the den, put the deer antlers on Guun Seezhe’s head and shouted:
- Come out, taiga master!
The bear crawled out of the den, looked at the strange creature and shouted:
“I’ve been living in this world for ninety-seven years, and this is the first time I’ve seen one crowned with deer antlers among bipeds.”
That's all the young man needed. He lashed his horse with a burning whip and galloped back the way.
- Father Khan! - he shouted from the doorway. – The taiga brown bear says that he is ninety-seven years old.
“You didn’t make a mistake here either,” the khan, who had improved, praised. – And here you showed yourself to be a real young man. Here's another task for you then: a snow leopard sits in an iron cage on a granite stone. take a wooden ax - drive the leopard out of the cage and split the stone.
The young man can't sleep again. But just like last time, the door creaked, the beautiful Dangir Shara came in, pulled out the thinnest hair of gold from her hair and handed it to her betrothed with the words:
– When you enter the leopard’s cage, hit him with this hair. The leopard will calm down and leave. Throw a hair on a stone and hit it with a wooden ax - the stone will split.
The next day they beat the northern drum - they gathered subjects from the north, they beat the southern drum - they gathered subjects from the south. They surrounded the cage with the snow leopard, looking: will the young man be able to defeat the mighty beast?
And Guun Seezhe opened the iron cage, waved his hair, touched the snow leopard with it, and he became more submissive than a cat, purring affectionately, rubbed himself against the rawhide boot of the fearless young man and left the cage. Guun Seezhe laid a hair on a granite stone, hit it with a wooden ax - and the stone crumbled into small pieces.
Then Dalai Bayan Khan came down from his throne and said:
“Although you walk around in a sheepskin coat and rawhide boots, you showed yourself to be a real fine fellow.” Now I don’t argue: your father Taryasha was a good hunter, and noble prey fell into his snare. She is yours by right.
Guun Seezhe took the beautiful Dangir Shara as his wife and went to his native heavens. Dalai Bayan Khan gave half of the cattle and the other half of the jewelry as a dowry to his beloved daughter.
The wife of the old man Taryashi, leaving the house covered with bark one day, was greatly surprised to see countless herds floating in waves towards her farmstead. And when I recognized my son, I couldn’t be happier: I forgot where I was standing, I didn’t notice where I was sitting.
Guun Seezhe and his wife had a full family of children. Their pastures were full of cattle, their chests were full of gold and silver. They lived happily, pleasing their glorious people.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru