Once upon a time there lived a cruel psha. He was not married, and therefore the villagers ordered him to get married. Then Pshi took out five rubles and gave them to his orc, saying:
- Buy a ram with this money. Bring me a piece of dried meat from this ram, return my five rubles, and deliver the ram to me alive.
The Orc did not know how to complete such a task, and lost heart. Not knowing what to do, the saddened orc decided to go wherever his eyes led him.
He walked for a long time and reached some country. He reached one aul and turned into it. One girl saw him. As was customary, she invited the traveler to visit.
A day later the girl asked the guest:
-Where are you going, what is bothering you?
“People told our aul pshi to get married. Then he took out five rubles, gave them to me and told me to buy a ram with them, bring a piece of dried meat from this ram, bring the ram alive and return the five rubles to him. How can I do this?! Apparently, the time has come for my death, but I decided to take my head away, I’m going I don’t know where,” said the orc.
“It’s not a problem, calm your soul,” the girl said and left the orc to stay with her for another two or three days.
When three days had passed, the girl told the orc: .
- Go to the shepherds and buy a good ram.
An orc bought a ram for five rubles and ordered it to be emasculated. The girl salted and dried this meat. Then she shorn the ram, knitted stockings from its wool and sold them for five rubles.
“Now take the ram to your pshi, give him a piece of dried meat from the same ram and his five rubles, which he gave you, and you will be saved,” the girl said to the guest at parting.
The orc returned to the pshi and gave him the money, the ram, and the dried meat.
Pshi, sending the orc, knew how to complete the task. He just wanted the orc to find a wise girl for him to marry.
When the orc told swag about the girl who helped him, the pshi said:
“This girl is fit to be my wife.”
He mounted a horse, rode to the girl and married her. As soon as they wrote, the horseman immediately rode up and said that Pshi must go on a campaign for fifteen years.
Before leaving, Pshi said to his young wife:
“I’ll be gone for fifteen years.” I leave you my mare - I mount the stallion myself. My greyhound dog will go next to me, I’ll leave the greyhound bitch here. When I return, I must be met by my son riding a horse born from the mare I left here from the stallion I am riding, and with a dog born from the bitch I left here from the male that will be with me on the journey.
Having made such orders, Pshi left. People realized that there was no way a woman could accomplish the impossible, and everyone began to feel sorry for her.
“You must keep my secret, no one should know about my absence.” Let everyone think that I am in this lagoon,” the girl said to the orc.
She changed into men's clothes, mounted a mare, took a greyhound dog with her and rode to where her husband had gone.
Meanwhile, Pshi played alchiki, drank, ate, and sat with friends. The girl found out about this and began to make acquaintances with these people and became friends with them. One day she played alchiki with her husband.
“If you beat me,” she said, “I’ll give you this much gold; if I beat you, give me your stallion for fifteen days, I want to ride it.
Pshi agreed. His wife beat him and got the stallion. For fifteen days she kept him and the mare in the same stable. When fifteen days had passed, she gave the horse to her husband.
A few days later she played with him again and won a male dog for fifteen days, kept him with the greyhound and returned him to her husband.
For the third time, the girl played alchiki with her husband and won a gold ring from him. When we played alchiki for the last time, she said:
– I have a beautiful sister; If you beat me, she will spend one week with you.
The girl let the pshi beat her, and then changed into women's clothes and went to the pshi. She slept with her husband all week.
After that she returned home. No one knew whether she was in her lagoon or absent.
The time has come - the mare foaled, the dog gave birth, and the woman gave birth to a son.
Fifteen years have passed. One day, swag spread throughout the village that psha was returning. The young man brought out the horse, saddled it and sat on it. Taking the dog with him, he went to meet his father.
There were evil people who reported the psha:
“The girl you left behind gave birth to a son from someone unknown, and now he is coming to meet you.”
Pshi got angry and swore:
- I'll chop up the woman!
Psha's smart wife prepared to meet her husband. She rolled up a mat, put her clothes on it and placed it by the door, and she stood behind the door.
Pshi, entering the house, cut up a scarecrow dressed in his wife’s clothes with a saber. Then the wife came out from behind the door and said:
“Now that you’ve fulfilled your vow, let me say some swag.”
She ordered her brothers to be brought and in their presence said:
– Before leaving, you told me: “I will be gone for fifteen years. I leave you my mare - I mount the stallion myself. My greyhound dog will go next to me - I’ll leave the greyhound bitch here. When I return, I must be met by my son riding a horse born from the mare I left here from the stallion I am riding, and with the dog that the bitch I left here will bring from the male that will be with me on the way.”
To fulfill what you ordered, I left the house, instructing the orc not to tell anyone about my absence, and went to you. “And then she told everything that happened to her on the way.
“If I hadn’t done that,” the woman finished her story, “I wouldn’t have been able to do what you ordered.” Your ring confirms that I'm telling the truth. I washed away my shame in front of my brothers. Now we can’t be husband and wife,” the woman said and began to get ready to go to her brothers.
Pshi began to ask his wife’s brothers not to take her, and she remained in his house.
And he ordered those people who slandered his wife to be tied to untrained horses and sent into the steppe.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru