Once upon a time, there lived an old woman and her grandson, so poor that even their own tribe despised them. When they moved the camp to a new place, the grandmother and grandson always stayed late in case they came across something abandoned by others, torn or unnecessary. Either they will pick up clothes, or holey moccasins, or food.
One day the tribe left the camp, and the grandmother and grandson, as usual, trailed behind. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a decrepit, decrepit gray horse.
“Someone must have abandoned him,” the old woman decided.
The horse was skinny, weak, lame, and his back was all wounded. In a word, such a worthless horse that no one, apparently, wanted to mess with him.
“Let’s take a horse and let it carry our luggage,” the grandson decided.
The old woman loaded the horse with luggage, and the horse walked and limped.
The tribe set up a new camp, and the old woman and her grandson settled down nearby.
One day the young men of the tribe went in search of bison. They come running and shout to the leader:
“There’s a large herd grazing nearby, and there’s a spotted calf in it!”
And the leader had a beautiful daughter. He heard about the spotted calf and ordered it to be announced: the warrior who kills the calf will receive his daughter as his wife. After all, a spotted buffalo hide is a desired gift for everyone!
The hunters saddled the fastest horses, rushed to catch up with the buffalo herd, and lo and behold, a poor young man on a decrepit gray horse came running after them.
- That's who will get the spotted calf! - everyone laughed.
The poor fellow felt ashamed, he rode to the side so as not to hear the ridicule, and the horse then turned his head and said:
- Go to the stream and smear mud on my head, back and legs.
The young man was scared, but did as he was told.
The horse says:
- Sit on me, but don't rush. Wait until all the warriors have galloped by.
The horsemen are flying at full speed, suddenly - what is it? A gray horse rushes nearby - it doesn’t run, but flies like a bird. He overtook the fastest horses and crashed into a herd of bison.
The arrow whistled and the calf fell. The young man shot another arrow and knocked down the buffalo, and then jumped to the ground and began skinning the calf.
The rest of the warriors were still very far away.
The young man looked at the horse and saw - a dexterous, good horse, prancing around the calf, trembling with impatience, slender legs, keen eyes, and his back immediately healed.
The young man skinned the cow, loaded the horse with fresh meat and went to the camp. The load is heavy, but at least the horse can walk easily and freely! Lovely to see!
When the soldiers saw such a thing, they were surprised! Someone offered twelve of the best horses for a spotted buffalo hide, but the young man only laughed.
The soldiers galloped into the camp and said to the old woman:
— Your grandson killed a spotted calf.
- Why are you laughing at me? - the old woman sighed. - Why are you laughing at my boys? So what if we are poor?
And when the old woman saw her grandson’s kill—meat and skins—she couldn’t believe her eyes.
“Look how much good I brought you,” said the young man.
The old woman laughed, her soul felt joyful. But as soon as she approached the horse, he recoiled like a wild horse. The old woman was very surprised - the horse had become completely different. The young man had to remove the loot from him himself.
Night came, everyone went to bed, then the horse said:
“I feel like our enemies will attack us.” A terrible battle lies ahead of us. But don't be afraid. As soon as you sit on my back, ride as hard as you can into the thick of the enemies and, first of all, defeat the leader. Four times you must fight the bravest of enemies, but the fifth time do not engage in battle, otherwise you yourself will die or you will lose me. Remember!
A new day has come, and it happened as the horse said.
The young man took a bow and arrows, jumped on his horse and rushed towards the enemy. The enemy warriors saw that their leader was in danger, and fired a cloud of arrows at the daredevil. The sky darkened with arrows, but not a single one hit the target.
The young man overpowered the leader, turned his horse and again rushed towards the enemy, crashed into the very thick of the army - he immediately killed three of the bravest warriors.
“I killed four enemies,” the young man rejoiced, “and remained unharmed!” What if you try it a fifth time?
He jumped on his horse and rushed towards the enemy, but disaster struck - an enemy arrow pierced the gray horse and the horse fell dead.
The young man was very sad that he had lost his horse. And when the enemies were defeated, he went to where his horse died, collected everything that was left of him, and buried him on the top of the hill. He sits there grieving, and sees nothing around him.
Suddenly the wind rustled and rain began to pour. The young man looked around, but did not notice anything special.
The wind rustled again and the rain poured down. The young man looked down - he thought he saw a horse, but it was only difficult to see him.
And again the storm roared, and when the young man looked down for the third time, it seemed to him as if the horse was standing alive and impatiently beating its tail.
For the fourth time, everything around began to rustle and roar. The young man looked and couldn’t believe his eyes: the horse was standing as if nothing had happened on all four legs and looking around!
The young man ran up to the horse, and he said:
- I'm with you again. Now take me away from the camp, behind the hill, and leave me overnight, and come back in the morning.
A young man came in the morning to pick up a horse and saw a handsome white man standing next to a gray one. There is nothing like this in the entire camp!
The next night the gray horse again ordered him to be taken over the hill. The next morning a young man comes - a handsome black man stands next to the gray one.
For ten nights in a row the young man took his horse over the hill, and he acquired ten new horses - bay, and fawn, and dappled, and different ones. There have never been such glorious horses in the tribe!
The young man became rich and married a beautiful daughter of the leader, and as he matured, he himself became a leader. He had many children. He didn’t forget his grandmother either. She lived in her grandson's tent until she was very old. And the leader took care of the gray horse better than his eyes; he rode it only on holidays.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru