Vyzhykyl (fairy tale) is an epic oral work, predominantly of a magical, adventurous or everyday nature, with a fictional focus. The nature of the story is always entertaining. It is precisely the entertaining nature and focus on fiction that distinguishes the fairy tale from other narrative genres of folklore. The Udmurt fairy tale repertoire is rich and varied. Udmurt folklore is quite rich in its original, national material. The wealth of this folklore is quite diverse in types and genres, as well as in quantitative terms. Udmurt folk art has in its fund almost all folklore genres found among other peoples. So, in it one can highlight traditions, myths, legends, fairy tales, conspiracies, songs, proverbs and sayings, riddles, wedding ritual songs, signs, recruitment songs.
Udmurt folk tales
Beauty birch
An old man and an old woman lived in the same village. They were in great poverty; they did not eat enough bread.
One day an old woman collected the last bits of firewood - she wanted to light the stove, but there was nothing to light it with: there was no torch.
The old woman says to the old man:
– There is nothing to light the stove with! Go into the forest for a torch. Cut down a birch tree and we'll stock up on splinters.
The old man took an ax and trudged into the forest. I started looking for birch trees to cut down.
He didn’t have to search for long: he immediately saw a beautiful birch tree.
He came closer to the birch tree and wanted to chop it down, but as soon as he swung his ax, the leaves on the birch tree rustled and the branches began to move.
The birch tree bent down to the old man and spoke in a human voice:
– Have pity on me, old man, don’t cut me down! And whatever you need, you will have everything.
The old man got scared and even dropped the ax from his hands.
“I’ve been living for seventy-seven years now, but I’ve never seen such a miracle!” - thought the old man.
He did not touch the birch. He returned home and said to the old woman:
– I would have brought you some good logs for a splinter, but the birch tree suddenly began to ask in a human voice: “Don’t touch me, old man! Whatever you need, you will have everything.” Well, I obeyed.
– A! The birch tree doesn’t want to be cut down,” cried the old woman, “so go break its branches and there will be food for our lambs!”
And she drove the old man back into the forest.
He approached the birch tree, bowed and said:
– My wife ordered me to break your branches, she wants to feed the lambs with leaves if I don’t chop you down into a splinter!
– “Don’t cut me down,” says the birch tree, “and don’t break my branches.” And whatever the old woman asks for, she will have everything!
The old man had nothing to do, he had to return home.
I came home and was surprised: dry splinters were lying in piles everywhere!
– Well, old woman, see how much splinter we have!
And the old woman would attack him:
– Why did you only ask for a splinter from a birch tree? After all, we need to light the stove, but we don’t have wood. Go ask for firewood!
The old woman kicked the old man out of the house with curses and screams.
The old man took the ax and went into the forest again. He trudged to the birch tree, bowed to it and began to ask:
– Give me, beautiful birch, some firewood: we’ve all run out, there’s nothing to heat the stove with!
– Go home, old man: what you ask for, you will have,” the birch tree tells him.
The old man went back home.
He walked up to the house, looked, and was amazed: the yard was full of firewood! Firewood was cut, split and stacked. And the old woman is dissatisfied again:
– Why did you only ask for firewood from a birch tree? After all, we don’t even have a handful of flour! Go ask for flour!
– Wait, you can’t do that! Just now I begged for firewood.
Old woman, let's scold the old man. She screamed and screamed, then she grabbed the poker and kicked him out of the house.
– Do,” he shouts, “what you are ordered!”
The old man took the ax and went into the forest again. He came, bowed to the beautiful birch tree and began to lament:
– You are my beauty, white birch! The old woman sent me to you again to ask for flour. If you want, help, give some!
– Go home, old man: what you ask for, you will have,” the birch tree said affectionately.
The old man was happy and quickly walked home.
He returned and went to the barn. He can’t believe that he will have torment.
I walked in and behold, the barn was filled to the brim with flour!
The old man felt so happy, so cheerful that he forgot all his previous grief and need.
“Well,” he thinks, “now we’ll always be full!”
And the old woman saw the old man, ran out of the house and began to scold him again:
– You old fool, your wooden head! Why did you only ask for flour? Go, stupid, ask for two chests of gold!
She hit him with a yoke and kicked him out.
The poor old man hung his head and trudged off into the forest again.
He approached the birch tree, bowed to it and began to lament:
– Beautiful birch! My old woman sent me to you again - she demands two chests of gold...
– Go, old man, go: what you ask, you will have,” said the birch tree.
The old man went. He approached the hut, looked out the window and saw an old woman sitting on a bench, sorting through gold coins. And the coins sparkle and sparkle! He went into the hut and looked - there were two chests standing near the table, full of gold.
Here the old man lost his mind. He also began to sort out the coins.
– We need to hide the gold more securely so that no one sees! - says the old woman.
– Need, Need! - the old man answers. “If they don’t find out that we have so much gold, they’ll ask or they’ll take it away!”
We talked, thought and hid the gold in the underground.
Here live an old man and an old woman. We are happy that there is a lot of money. Only gold gives them no rest day or night: they are afraid that someone will steal the chests.
The old woman thought and thought about how to protect the gold, and came up with an idea.
She says to the old man:
– Go, old man, to your birch tree, ask it to make us terrible, terrible! So that all people fear us! So that everyone runs away from us!
The old man had to walk into the forest again. I saw a beautiful birch tree, bowed to it and began to ask:
– Make us, beautiful birch, terrible, terrible! So scary that all people would fear us, run away from us, and not touch our gold!
The birch tree rustled its leaves, moved its branches, and said to the old man:
– Go home, old man: what you ask will happen! Not only people, but also forest animals will fear you!
The old man returned home and opened the door.
– Well,” he says, “the birch tree promised: not only people will be afraid of us, but also forest animals!” They will run away from us!
And as soon as he said, both he and his old woman became covered with thick brown hair. The arms and legs became paws, and claws grew on the paws. They wanted to say something to one another, but they couldn’t - they just growled loudly.
And so they both became bears.
Mouse and Sparrow
One day, a mouse and a sparrow found three rye grains on the road. They thought and thought about what to do with them, and decided to sow the field. The mouse plowed the ground, the little sparrow harrowed.
The mouse is the first to say:
This grain is mine: when I plowed my nose and paws I worked until they bled.
Sparrow did not agree:
The mouse did not chase the sparrow. I was upset that I was the first to start an argument. She dragged her share into the hole. She waited and waited for the sparrow to make peace, but she didn’t wait. And she dumped some of it into her pantry. She lived well all winter.
And the greedy sparrow was left with nothing; the hungry sparrow jumped until spring.
Kokorikok
A red fox is walking along the road, and a rooster meets her. Yes, such a handsome man - a sickle-shaped tail, a saw-shaped comb, a yellow shirt, and a wicker basket under his wing.
The fox saw the rooster and thought:
“Eh, if I could eat him now, I wouldn’t leave a feather behind. But I’m afraid: people are walking along the road, they’ll see, I’ll be in trouble then. I’ll lure him to my home, and there I’ll deal with him without interference.”
“Hello, cockerel,” says the fox in a sweet voice. “I’ve been wanting to be friends with you for a long time.” My name is Kuz-Byzh - Long Tail. How are you?
And I’m Kokorikok,” the rooster answers.
How far are you going, Kokorikok?
Yes, I’m going to the market, I need to buy peas.
As soon as you leave the market, come and visit me,” the fox invites. - I’ll give you a great treat.
“Okay, Kuz-Byzh, I’ll come,” the rooster promised, but thought to himself: “Being friends with you means not being alive.”
Well, then I’ll wait for you,” the fox licked its lips. - Oh, what's your name, my friend? I had already forgotten!
Let me write it down for memory. - The rooster picked up a coal from the road and wrote on the fox’s forehead: “Bear.”
The fox left, and the rooster looked after her and ran home while he was still alive.
The fox came home, sat down on a bench, waited for the guest, and looked out the window. It was already getting light, but still no rooster. The fox waited and waited, and fell asleep at the window.
In the morning I woke up hungry and angry and despicable.
“Well,” he thinks, “the rooster deceived me. Now, as soon as I meet him, I’ll tear him to shreds!”
The fox ran to look for the rooster.
She runs through the thicket of the forest, and a wolf meets her:
Where are you, fox, going so early?
Yes, I’m looking for a deceiver... Ugh, I forgot his name! Look, it's written on my forehead.
The wolf looked, and the fox had the words “Bear” written on its forehead.
Why do you need him? - asked the wolf.
The wolf was scared.
“If she’s going to tear the bear to shreds, then she’ll swallow me whole!” - he thought and ran away without looking back.
Then a bear crawled out of the thicket.
Hello, fox. Why did you get up so early?
Yes, I’m looking... Ugh, I forgot his name! Look, it's written on my forehead.
The bear sees that the fox has “Bear” written on his forehead and asks:
Why do you need him?
I want to tear him to shreds!
The bear got angry, roared, growled, grabbed the fox by the long tail and threw it into the bushes.
The fox hit a birch stump, barely rose to its feet and, groaning, hobbled to its home.
And I forgot to even think about the rooster.
Hunter and Snake
One day in late autumn a hunter was returning from the forest. Tired, hungry and decided to rest.
He sat down on a tree stump by a frozen stream, threw off his pester - a birch bark bag - from his shoulders and took out of it a large flat cake - taban. As soon as I took a bite, something rustled close to the shore.
The hunter parted the sedge and saw a whip lying on the ice. He wanted to lift it. I took a closer look, and it was not a whip at all, but a snake.
The snake raised its head, saw the hunter and said plaintively and plaintively:
Save me, good man. You see, my tail is frozen to the ice. Help me out, otherwise I’ll disappear here.
The hunter took pity on the snake, took an ax from his belt and broke the ice around the snake's tail. The snake crawled ashore, barely alive.
Oh, I'm cold, buddy! Warm me up.
The hunter picked up the snake and put it in his bosom.
The snake warmed up and said:
Well, now say goodbye to life, your sheep's head! Now I'll bite you!
What you! What you! - the hunter was scared. - After all, I did you good - I saved you from certain death.
“You saved me, but I will destroy you,” the snake hissed. - I always pay for good with evil.
Wait, snake, says the hunter. - Let’s go along the road and ask the first person we meet how to pay for the good. If he says - with evil, you will destroy me, and if he says - with good, then you will let me go.
The snake agreed.
So the hunter walked along the road, and the snake curled up on his chest.
They met a cow.
Hello, cow, says the hunter.
“Hello,” the cow answers.
Then the snake stuck its head out from the hunter’s bosom and said:
Judge us, cow. This man saved me from death, but I want to destroy him. Tell me, how should we pay for good?
“I pay for good with good,” answered the cow. “My landlady feeds me hay, and I give her milk for it.”
Do you hear? - says the hunter to the snake. - Now let me go, as agreed.
No, the snake answers. - A cow is a stupid beast. Let's ask someone else.
“Hello, horse,” says the hunter.
“Great,” the horse replies.
The snake stuck its head out and said:
Judge us, horse. This man saved me from death, but I want to destroy him. Tell me, how should we pay for good?
“I pay for good with good,” answered the horse. “The owner feeds me oats, and I work for him for it.”
Here you see! - says the hunter to the snake. - Now let me go, as agreed.
No, wait, - the snake answers. - A cow and a horse are domestic animals, they live near people all their lives, so they stand up for you. Let’s go into the forest and ask the wild beast whether I should destroy you or not.
There is nothing to do - the hunter went into the forest.
He sees a birch tree growing in the forest, and on the lowest branch there is a wild cat sitting.
The hunter stopped near a birch tree, and the snake stuck its head out and said:
Judge us, cat. This man saved me from death, but I want to destroy him. Tell me, how should we pay for good?
The cat flashed her green eyes and said:
Come a little closer. I'm old, I can't hear well.
The hunter approached the very trunk of the birch tree, and the snake stuck out even more and shouted:
This man saved me from death, but I want to destroy him!.. Do you hear now? Judge us...
The cat released her sharp claws, jumped on the snake and strangled it.
“Thank you, cat,” said the hunter. - You helped me out of trouble, I will repay you for this with kindness. Come with me, you will live in my hut, sleep on a soft pillow in the summer, and on a warm stove in the winter. I will feed you meat and give you milk.
The hunter put the cat on his shoulder and went home.
Since then, a man and a cat have lived in great friendship.
Greedy merchant
A summer day seemed short to one merchant: the sun rises late and sets early. And when the time came to hire farm laborers, the merchant was completely upset: the day for him became like the blink of an eye. The merchant laments that before the farm laborers have time to go out into the field, it is time to return. So they will never redo all the work.
He came to Lopsho Pedun.
What need brought you to me, buskel? – Lopsho asked the merchant.
Yes, the day is very short. The workers don’t have time to reach the field - look, evening is coming, but you have to pay them in full, and feed them as agreed. I wanted to lengthen the day, but I just can’t find anyone who would help me with this. I came to you to ask if you know someone who can make the day longer.
Um, yeah, how did you get lucky enough to come across just such a person? – Lopsho Pedun said, not without pleasure, thinking to himself that it was the turn to teach the greedy a lesson. “If you give me five pounds of flour, I’ll help you.”
And ten poods is not a pity, just teach me as soon as possible.
“Listen, ur, how to help your misfortune and make the day longer,” Lopsho Pedun began to explain. “Put on a warm derem, a jacket, a sheepskin coat on top of everything, felt boots on your feet, and a sheepskin malachai on your head.” Take the pitchfork in your hands, climb higher on the birch tree and hold the sun with the pitchfork so that it stands in place. Do you understand?
Got it, got it, got it all. Thank you very much for your good advice. Come visit, I’ll treat you myself.
The merchant returned home and boasted to his wife of his resourcefulness. What, they say, I learned how to hold the sun so that it doesn’t run quickly across the sky..
The summer that year was hot. The merchant hired carpenters to build the house in one day. And in the evening he began to get ready. He put on a warm derham, a jacket, a sheepskin coat, put on felt boots, and to make his head warmer, he put on a fur hat. I also thought of grabbing sheepskin mittens for my hands. The merchant took the longest hay fork in his hands and, without waiting for the sun to rise, climbed onto the tallest birch tree. The carpenters were ordered to work as they were contracted to do - all day long. The merchant sits almost on the top of a birch tree, not a single branch gives him shade - and holds the sun with a pitchfork. From the heat, sweat runs down his back in streams, his hands are completely stiff and begin to tremble.
And the farm laborers work without a break, tapping with axes, clinking with saws. From time to time they glance at the merchant, smiling. The merchant strictly ordered not to stop until he came down from the birch tree. He assigned his wife to them to keep an eye on the workers.
A merchant is roasting on a birch tree in the sun, and just looking at the ground he will fall from fatigue. And the day seems very long to him. Perhaps he does not remember such a long day in his lifetime.
By noon, the merchant was steamed as if in a steam bath, tired, as if he had been plowing his arable land all day and lashing him with a whip. He got down from the birch tree.
Well, thank you workers, you did a great job today, quite a lot,” he says.
And the farmhands were happy and happy: they weren’t tired at all, they only spent half a day working for the merchant. They went home, happy.
This is how the greedy merchant lengthened the day. For this, he gave Lopsho Pedunya ten pounds of flour and also treated him to glory.
Batyrs
In the village of Tuimyl there once lived one batyr, and at the same time there lived another batyr. Batyr from Tuimyl was ninety years old, and his name was Prokopiy. The Chozhyyl batyr was very young; he came to Tuimyl to make a match. He saw beautiful girls, grabbed them and dragged them into the bathhouse. Two guys ran to Procopius and told about such impudence. They say we are exhausted with this hero from Chozhyil, is it possible to teach him a lesson?
“Daughters, give me a mug of Aryan,” said Procopius. And meanwhile he asked if the young warrior was dexterous.
The daughters brought a birch bark bucket of Aryan, Procopius drank to the bottom. Soon a young warrior and his friends showed up to him. Procopius asks:
Which one of you is the most dexterous?
I! - answers the batyr from Chozhyil.
Are you the clever one, son?
Me, grandfather. In the Elabuga region there is no one more dexterous than me.
Come on, son, let's fight.
Oh, grandfather, you'll die!
Yes, grandson, I’ll just check your strength, you won’t do anything to me.
They began to fight. Grandfather Procopius raised the batyr with one hand and asked:
Where should we take you? To the roof of the stable or to the sky?
And Procopius threw him onto the roof of the barn: he felt sorry for throwing the hero further. The young hero jumped off the roof and went home. There he told everyone:
- It turns out there is a ninety-year-old grandfather in the world, no one can overcome him. I was dexterous and strong, I could overpower anyone, but he dealt with me with one hand. Is it not from Aryan that his heroic strength comes?
Bogatyr Kondrat
On the steep bank of the Izh River, in a dense black forest, Kondrat built himself a dwelling: he dug a deep hole and placed a log house there. You had to enter there as if you were entering a dugout. The door was covered with a heavy cast-iron plate, which no one could even move. Only Kondrat himself opened the entrance to his dugout.
Kondrat relied on his heroic strength and decided to live alone. But living like this, without going anywhere, without visiting neighbors, he soon got bored. He began to walk around the forest. I sat down on the steep bank of the river and watched for a long time how the water flowed in the river. And then he began to go to neighboring villages.
Having learned about Kondrat’s heroic strength, the people decided to choose him as their king. Then the Udmurts and Tatars were at enmity. The Tatars staged frequent raids, burned entire villages, took property and took it to themselves.
Kondrat, you are strong, we want to make you our king, said the Udmurts.
Strength also requires intelligence, and among you there are those, choose those,” Kondrat answered.
All the people bowed to Kondrat.
We need you, they said.
“Okay,” Kondrat agreed.
One day, when Kondrat was in the village, the Tatars of the Golden Horde came there. There was a commotion all around: fluff and feathers were flying there, smoke appeared in another place.
Behind me! - Kondrat’s call thundered to his people.
He himself walked ahead of everyone. He shot the first arrow at the leader of the Tatar army. The arrow passed right through the body of the Tatar leader.
A fierce battle began. The Tatar army was all destroyed in battle. Only one Tatar survived - he rode off on a horse and reported the news to the khan:
Khan, the Udmurt king is very strong. He destroyed all of us.
Where does he live? “I’ll measure my strength with him,” said the Tatar Khan.
“I know the way to him,” says the Tatar.
Kondrat, tired from the battle, was resting in his dugout at this time.
“He should have been here,” Kondrat heard the Tatar’s voice. Then he hears that someone is trying to open the door, but the stove does not yield to the efforts.
Kondrat then hit the slab. The slab and the khan flew into the river. He fell under the slab and drowned.
“Don’t touch me, Kondrat, I’ll be useful to you,” the Tatar asks.
Go, pull my door out of the river,” Kondrat tells him.
The Tatar entered the water behind the stove, but could not pull it out and drowned himself. The Tatars, in order to avenge their khan, again gathered to fight the Udmurts. The new khan was afraid of the strong Kondrat.
“First of all, you need to kill Kondrat,” he ordered.
They chose the five strongest, bravest Tatars and sent them on horseback into the dark forest where the hero Kondrat lived. Returning one day to his dugout. Kondrat saw horsemen riding through the forest towards his home. He hid behind a thick pine tree and began to watch. The Tatars, having tied their horses to the trees, approached the dugout.
Kondrat pulled the slab out of the water and left it at the entrance to the dugout. Without thinking twice, the Tatars descended into it. Kondrat immediately ran up and covered the entrance with a slab. And he untied all the horses, sat on one of them and rode to the village.
Get ready for battle,” he thundered again in his thunderous voice.
Why fight in vain? After all, the Tatars don’t bother us now,” said one strong Udmurt.
This man himself wanted to be a king. The hero hit him with his fist and crushed all his bones. The others said:
You and I are ready to throw ourselves into fire and water. We believe in you.
Five or six villages were located very close to each other. All of them, on the orders of their king Kondrat, began to prepare for battle. And at that time, in order to take possession of the wife of the Tatar Khan, Kondrat rode like a whirlwind on a fast horse to the palace. The khan's wife was guarded by twenty Tatars. He then destroyed nineteen Tatars. The twentieth knelt down in front of Kondrat and began to beg him:
“I’ll tell you everything, just don’t kill me,” he said. - The Tatars are now choosing a new khan. They are preparing to wage a new war against you.
Kondrat quickly grabbed the khan's wife, carried her out of the palace and began to look around. Thousands of Tatars gathered behind the palace. They were already choosing their third khan. Konrath grabbed the Tatar and threw him over a high fence into the crowd. Only then did the Tatars find out that Kondrat was here and began to hastily surround the palace from all sides. And Kondrat, taking with him the khan’s wife, was already rushing like an arrow on his fast horse to his people. The Tatars realized it too late - behind Kondratr only dust rises in the distance.
Kondrat came to his place and appointed one person to guard his future wife. And he led the people into the forest, to their home. The Tatars did not have to wait long. Having chosen a new khan, they moved like a black cloud towards the Udmurts. A strong battle began. Kondrat fought like a hero: he threw some with kicks, some with blows of his fist into the black waters of a deep river. On the very shore he met the new Khan of the Tatars. Unexpectedly for Kondrat, he took out his dagger and stabbed him in the heart.
At the same time, Kondrat grabbed the khan by the throat. And they both fell into the river dead. After the battle, the Tatars together moved the dugout slab and freed their imprisoned khan.
Vatka and Kalmez
In those places of the Glazov district, where the village of Verkhparzinskaya is now located, near Chebershur (beautiful river) and Bydzymshur (big river), first lived the Udmurts from the Kalmez tribe, that is, the Udmurts who came from across the Kilmez River. At that time there were large pine forests there. The main occupation of the Kalmez was beekeeping. They were also engaged in weaving bast shoes. They say that you could make an opener from one kalmez cat! The bast shoes were arshins long. The Kalmes settled one or two at a time in different places. Two Kalmez lived on the site of the Novoparzinsky repair, which did not yet exist in those days, but there was a dense forest. About a mile from this repair, about forty years ago, they found an empty, almost collapsed hut in the forest. A few years later, on someone’s orders, it was burned. According to the stories of the old people, it was the home of those two Kalmez who settled in this area. The Kalmez had a sleigh, they were called nurt in Udmurt. The runners of the nurt looked like skis, one and a half fathoms long; a box with high legs was attached to them, in which the kalmez collected honey. The Kalmez did not have horses, so they transported fifteen pounds or more of honey themselves in nurts. They had up to several hundred ridges of bees, placed in different places.
Two Kalmez lived long and peacefully. But then the Vatka tribe moved towards them from the direction of the city of Vyatka, displacing all the Kalmez on their way. One Udmurt from the Vatka tribe came to them. They began to argue about who should live here. The Kalmezes agreed to live together, but Vatka insisted: it was better for one tribe to live here. The three of them went to inspect the possessions of the Kalmez. At the place where the Ozegvay and Parzi rivers converge, night found them, and they settled down to spend the night. One kalmez fell asleep peacefully. And the other, suspecting the cotton wool of an evil plan, pretended to be asleep and watched the cotton wool’s every movement. At night, Vatka quietly got up and listened to see if his comrades were sleeping. Having made sure of this, he took a club and hit the sleeping kalmez with a swing. He died immediately. Another kalmez jumped up and took the club from the cotton wool. What happened between them after that and where the fleece went is unknown. Kalmez, left alone, buried his fellow tribesman right there. Having buried, he said with bitterness: “Ozegvay vu kikysa, Parzi vir kikysa med uloz, Parzi kalyk ylys med az lu” (let water flow in Ozegvay, and blood in Parzi, and let there be no good for the Parzin people). They say that the Parzinians lived poorly and were known as thieves and drunkards. Litigations and quarrels constantly started, and all this because the curse of the kalmez was sent to them.
Soon all the kalmez went towards the Izh River, but the cotton wool remained. These ancient kalmez are revered by the Glazov Udmurts to this day.
Vishur-Karyil
They say that a long time ago, on Vishur-Karyil and Kargurez, near the village of Vil Utchan, there lived scarecrows. They were not like ordinary people, but giants. And they always fought among themselves.
There were no guns at that time; they shot from bows. And their arrows flew from the top of one mountain to the top of another. They also threw cast iron balls the size of egg yolks. And the balls flew from mountain to mountain. They pulled out pine trees by the roots. They threw them from mountain to mountain.
To show their strength, they took two pine trees and twisted them into a rope. Such a rope of two pine trees, they say, was near Piseev not long ago. These were the heroes! Deep ditches remained on Vishur-Karyil - traces of the battle of the scarecrow heroes.
The scarecrows, they say, like the Reds, destroyed bais and kulaks and took away their property. In this way they collected bags full of silver. There was nowhere to go, they began to hide jewelry in hollow trees or bury it under the roots of pine trees. They say that people found these treasures and became rich. But not everyone can find the treasure. He appears in the form of fire or a white ram. You have to be able to take such a treasure.
Kapiton Nikolaevich Ushakov, the owner of the Bondyuzhsky plant, they say, knew the secret of uncovering enchanted treasures and got himself such a treasure. In the forest, in the ground, I found two barrels of silver, with which I allegedly built a factory and began to get rich.
Wolf and kid
One kid strayed from the herd. I wandered for a long time and could not find my way back home. I decided to nibble some grass. And then a gray wolf comes straight at him.
Well, my little goat friend, I’ll eat you now,” says the wolf.
Don’t eat yet, I’ll put on more fat,” he asks.
The wolf agreed and left the kid. A little time passed, he appeared again.
Got fat? Now I'll eat you.
Wait,” said the little goat, “I’ll help you.” Stand under that hillock over there, open your mouth, and I’ll run into it.
The wolf agreed. He stood under the hillock, opened his mouth and waited. As soon as the little goat ran away, and as soon as his horns hit the forehead of the gray fool, the wolf rolled head over heels. I came to my senses. He got to his feet and is still thinking:
Did I eat it or not?
Silly kitten
Once upon a time there lived a cat with a kitten. The kitten was small and stupid. One day he saw a ray of sunshine on the roof.
There must be some tasty food, the kitten thought and climbed onto the roof.
He was just about to reach the roof, when suddenly a sparrow flew out from somewhere.
No, it’s better that I eat it first, and then I’ll climb further,” the stupid kitten said to himself and rushed after the sparrow.
The sparrow flew away, and the kitten fell to the ground and was badly hurt. Then the cat, consoling him, said to him:
Your job is only to catch mice.
The kitten listened to his mother's instruction and promised never to forget it.
A lot of time has passed. One day, a kitten caught a mouse in the forest and carries it home in its mouth to show its catch to its mother. He had to cross the stream using a perch. And when he was crossing, he noticed his shadow in the water and thought again:
I'd rather take the mouse away from that kitten!
Releasing the mouse from his mouth, he rushed into the water. Of course, he didn’t catch the shadow, and he barely escaped: wet and dirty, he returned to his mother. But now the cat did not console him, but beat him and told him again that he should only do his job - catch mice, and not chase everything that catches his eye.
From then on, the kitten did not forget its mother’s instructions.
Mountains and valleys
The wind and rain were not enough for the world, and they quarreled. They began to brag to each other about their strength, to prove their power. They argued and argued and decided to fight: whoever wins over whom on earth will be stronger.
The rain began to pour as if from a bucket, saying: “I will dig up the whole earth so that there will be no flat place left anywhere.” And the wind began to blow, rushing like a hurricane, with a howl and roar, shouting: “I will gather all the earth into one pile.” The wind blew, collecting the earth into a pile; the rain poured, tearing up the earth collected by the wind in streams.
And so the mountains and valleys happened.
Two brothers
One man had two sons. After his death they separated, one became rich, and the other lived in bitter need.
“I’ll go and drown myself,” the poor man thought to himself.
He came to the river, saw an overturned boat on the shore, lay down under it and began to think. I thought and thought and decided not to drown myself.
“I’ll spend one more night under the boat,” he said. Before I could fall asleep, three people approached the boat and started talking:
Well, tell me now, who is planning what? - someone asked.
Here's one that started:
One priest’s daughter has been sick for two years. I know how to cure her. You need to collect the leaves of black grass, give her a decoction and she will recover.
“What do you know?” they asked another.
To build a bridge across the sea, builders place pillars. But as soon as they put it up, at midnight those pillars are carried away by water. I know how to strengthen them: you need to lower a silver coin into the hole under each pillar, then no force will take them.
They asked the third:
What do you know?
Not far from here, a barrel of gold was thrown into this river. To pull out the barrel, you need to throw a leaf of undying grass into the water. As soon as you throw it, the barrel will float out on its own.
So we talked and left. The man heard everything they talked about. Now he completely changed his mind about drowning himself. I returned home and began collecting black grass leaves. I collected it, boiled it and went to treat the priest’s daughter. The priest immediately asked him:
Don't you know any medicine? My daughter has been sick for two years.
Your daughter will recover in three days, don’t spare just a hundred rubles,” says the man.
If you cure me, I’ll pay you two hundred rubles,” says the priest.
As the man said, so it happened: the priest recovered. The priest was delighted, gave him two hundred rubles and treated him properly. The man returned home. A little later I went to the builders. Before he could say hello, they complain:
We’re putting up pillars for the bridge, but before we have time to turn away, the water washes them away. We've been fighting for a long time, but we can't come up with anything.
The guy knows how to strengthen the pillars. He thought a little and said:
Pay me three hundred rubles, I’ll strengthen the pillars.
If you can, we'll give you five hundred.
He took silver coins and dropped them into each hole under the pillars. The builders woke up in the morning and saw: the pillars were erected and still standing. I had to give the man five hundred rubles. A man came home and rejoiced at how much money he now had! I went to look for unfading grass. He collected the leaves and went to the river to pull out the barrel of gold. As soon as I threw the leaf, the barrel floated out on its own. He took the barrel and went home. At home I decided to pour the gold into the barn, but there was no pudovka. I had to go to my rich brother and ask for a pood. Later, he raked the gold out of the barrel and took the pood back, leaving several gold coins at the bottom. The rich man took the pudovka, saw gold at the bottom and was surprised.
Where did you get so much gold from? - asks his brother.
“I wanted to drown myself,” says the poor man, “he went to the river and lay down under the boat. At night three people came to the shore and to me: there, in such and such a place, lay a barrel of gold. And they taught me how to roll it out. I did everything as they said and found a whole barrel of gold.
Well, brother, thank you, now I’ll go too,” says the rich man.
He came to the river and, as the poor brother said, went to sleep under the boat. He lies there, breathing heavily, and he himself is afraid that thieves will discover him. He hears three people coming. They stopped not far from the boat and began to listen.
Someone stranger is lurking near us,” says one of them.
All three approached the boat, lifted it and pulled out the rich man. He didn’t even have time to say a word before they took him by the legs and arms and threw him into the water. Then death came to the rich man.
Donda batyrs
In a long time ago, an Udmurt hero named Dondy came from somewhere to live on Mount Soldir. He arrived here with two sons - Idna and Gurya. On Soldyr, several more sons appeared in Donda’s family, among them Vesya and Zuy.
Donda's sons grew up, and finally it became cramped for them to live in one place. Then Dondy went with his younger sons up the small river, which has since bear his name. About fifteen versts from the old place he founded a new settlement, which began to be called Dondykar. Idna Batyr remained on his father's land, and Gurya Batyr settled near another river. Each of them became a sovereign prince, but they led their lives differently: Gurya took up farming, Idna took up hunting, and Dondy took part in farming, and most importantly, fishing and trade.
Dondy lived in his new place for many years. But now the last sons have grown up. And the Donda batyrs scattered all in different directions, on high hills, along the banks of rivers and streams, they founded new cities and fortresses. In those places where they did not find mountains to build a square or a fortress, they took hold of a hillock with their hands and pulled it up to the size of a mountain. And they settled on this mountain with their comrades, heroes just like themselves. They were engaged in hunting, farming and crafts. It happened that they quarreled with neighboring heroes, fighting with them in throwing whole logs or large iron weights to the neighboring settlement.
So, the Guryakar heroes threw logs with the Vysyakar heroes, and forty-pound weights with the Balezin heroes. The Idnakar heroes threw weights of several dozen pounds at the Sepychkar heroes, and the Seltakar heroes threw logs at the Idnakar heroes, with whom they were especially often at enmity.
On the Cheptse River, eight versts below Idnakar, in a special city there lived also heroes from Donda’s squad. Once they argued with the Idnakar warriors that they had more strength, better bows, and could shoot further. And they made a bet: if the arrows of the Idnakar heroes fly further than their lands, then the Dondinskys will give up their city to them and go to another place. If this does not happen, then the Idnakar warriors will forever cede their city to the Donda warriors.
On the appointed day, the heroes each fired from their own mountain towards the mountain of their rivals. The arrows of the Idnakar heroes only reached half, sticking into the ground so hard that a large hillock was formed (now called the Lousy Hill). The Donda heroes shot so successfully that all their arrows hit the pine trees growing near the Idnakar walls. So they won the bet, and they called the land received from the Idnakars utem, that is, winnings, and founded a new kar here.
On the other side of Cheptsy, Idna's possessions bordered on Seltakar, and in the village of Verkhparzinskaya Klyuchevskaya volost, one hill still bears the name Idnakar zezy - Idnakar Gate. In winter, the Seltakar heroes put silver skis on their feet to see the heroes of Karyil, and these skis were designed in such a way that they could cover up to twenty miles in an instant - as much as was between the two settlements.
Dondy
Dondy had two main settlements: Dondykar and Dondygurt, about six versts from one another. Residents of surrounding villages paid him tribute. To this day, there are traces of the old road from Dondykar to the village of Klyapgurt, whose residents supposedly went to Donda every day to work in his fields. Dondy, as usual, rode around on a gray horse, extremely fast, strong and agile. This horse could jump across any river without needing bridges.
Dondy lived to a ripe old age. As soon as he breathed his last, he was turned into a white swan by Inmar. In this image, he allegedly patronized the Udmurts, who do not forget him.
Nothing is known about the fate of Donda’s sons - Gurya, Vesya and others, as well as about their deaths.
But who doesn’t know about Idna and Ebge. Idna, despite his princely family, did not live luxuriously, in a simple hut. He had one and only wife, and he went hunting every day. True, in winter, unlike other hunters, he wore gold skis, not wooden ones.
Having lived to an old age, he predicted that the Russians would soon come to the Udmurts. To perpetuate his name, he cast a spell before his death. Prince Idna took the largest bow, pulled it four times as tightly as possible and released four arrows to the four cardinal directions, saying: “Let my name be known and respected within the place that I fired with my arrows!”
Zanym-Koidym
Zanym-Koidym did not like to care for his horse and feed it. “If only she worked for me, and I wouldn’t have to feed her,” he constantly said. The horse's ribs stuck out like hoops at the top, it was all bony and looked like a skeleton.
As long as it’s necessary to pull the cart, I’ll help myself a little,” Zanym-Koidym reassured himself.
One day he went to the mill. He put three bags in the cart, and took the fourth one on his shoulders and sat on the cart. People they met laughed at such a cart.
Hey neighbor, what are you doing? Why are you holding the bag on your shoulders?
I help the horse. “It will be easier for her, I think,” answered Zanym-Koidym. Hot sweat ran down his face in streams: the bag was heavy.
We drove a little, the horse stopped.
But-oh, leshak! You’re not the only one who’s tired, I’m tired too, I’m carrying a whole bag on my shoulders! - Zanym-Koidym shouts at the horse, continuing to sit on the sacks in the cart and hold the sack on his shoulders.
We drove a little more and the road went uphill. The horse stopped again.
What happened to her? I help myself, but for some reason I still don’t have the strength.
Zanym-Koidym still sits under the mountain. His shoulders were white from flour dust, and his horse had long since died.
Stars
A long time ago there lived a little girl. She was about eight years old when her father and mother died. There was no one to take care of her - neither to feed her, nor to dress her up, nor to say a kind word. She had nothing except a thin dress and a worn-out scarf. I had to walk around the world begging for alms.
One day a kind man handed her a piece of bread. As soon as the girl left the gate, she met a beggar old man.
Girl, give me some bread, I’m really hungry! - the old man began to ask.
The girl took it and gave him the whole piece. “Eat,” says grandfather, “for your health.” And she moved on. She walked and walked and it was already evening. She met a young guy.
“Give me something to cover my head,” he says, “it’s getting cold.”
The girl took the last scarf from her head and gave it to a passerby.
As soon as she walked away a little, suddenly stars began to fall from the sky and, falling to the ground, turned into silver coins. The orphan was delighted and began to collect them.
It is not without reason that they say that a good deed - sooner or later - always turns out good.
Idna Batyr
Idna Batyr lived in the area where the village of Idnakar is now located. It is unknown what tribe Idna was from, Kalmez or Vatka, only he was an Udmurt. Idna’s occupation consisted of going twenty-five miles hunting every day on golden skis. He did not have a gun; he hunted with arrows and caught with snares. When leaving home, he took a hot loaf of bread straight from the oven and, putting it in his bosom, went to the hunting spot.
Being strong, Idna became proud of his strength and wanted to reign over the Udmurts on his side. But at that time this land belonged to the Russian Tsar. The king became angry with Idna the batyr and ordered him to be caught. Idna had three horses - black, savrasai and piebald. Unusually strong and resilient horses saved Idna from her pursuers. They could ride more than a hundred miles without stopping. Knowing this, the pursuers tried to find out where he would go in order to watch for him.
One day, having recognized the road along which Idna was supposed to pass, they sawed a bridge across the river and settled in the bushes themselves. When Idna reached the bridge, he could not force the black horse to walk across the bridge, so he switched to Savrasaya. Savrasaya also did not cross the bridge. Idna mounted a pinto horse. The piebald immediately carried him across the bridge, but fell in the middle along with the rider. What happened to Idna here is unknown, whether he drowned or fell into the hands of enemies. Only as he was falling through on the bridge did he exclaim: “A piebald horse is a pinto tree,” that is, a piebald horse is only good for being unhorsed.
Kayvan, Ondra Batyr and Zavyal
A long time ago, the Udmurts Kayvan and Ondra lived near the Pozim River. The strong, muscular Ondra had heroic strength, which is why he received the nickname hero. This area was covered with impenetrable forests; no human had ever set foot here. They began to live here and fish in the river. There were plenty of fish. One day, when Kaivan and Ondra the batyr were fishing, a man came across them, dressed as Russian. He began to ask to live with them.
Who are you and where are you from? - ask Kayvan and Ondra Batyr, who knew Russian well, and the man knew a little Udmurt.
I am Russian. “My name is Zavyal,” the stranger answers them. “I was attacked by robbers, and I barely escaped.” Now I don’t know where I am. I have nowhere to go. Take me to you, we will live together, like siblings.
Kayvan and Ondra the batyr consulted and said:
OK! Just take an oath that you will not deceive us, and we will swear that we will not offend you.
Okay, so be it. If I break my oath, let him kill me with thunder,” Zavyal swore.
If we offend you, let the spirits of our fathers and grandfathers twist us like a thread,” said Kayvan and Ondra Batyr.
And they began to live and live near the Pozim River. They began to arrange housing and clear out mowing areas. There were no mowings along the river at that time; only a narrow floodplain, overgrown with grass and willow, ran along the banks.
One day Zavyal was walking along the bank and suddenly saw on the other side of the river a woman whose clothes were Udmurt. He looks at her and doesn’t believe his eyes.
Wonder! - he says to himself. “Where do women come from in these places?” Isn't it a ghost? No!.. The woman is approaching the shore.
Zavyal approached the river, and the woman approached, and they found themselves face to face. Just winter between them. The woman asks to be transported across the river. Zavyal was delighted that now they would have a woman, or rather, he would have a wife. He rushed to look for something to transport her, but did not find it. What to do? Go to housing and leave her alone - she can leave; standing here won't do any good.
Find a boat, says the woman.
There are no boats here, is it possible to put together a raft?
Well, put it together.
Zavyal ran home. Kayvan and Ondra the batyr are coming towards him, and one of them is holding a rope. Zavyal told them that on the other side of the Pozimi there was an Udmurt woman standing and asking to be transported. Kayvan and Ondra batyr ran to the shore after Zavyal. The three of them began to hold advice on how to transport the woman. Zavyal says that she needs to throw one end of the rope to her and pull the other, otherwise nothing can be done: there is no boat or raft, but it will take a long time to find the ford, and besides, the water in Pozimi is high. No sooner said than done. They threw a rope to the woman and told her to grab the end tightly.
How will you pull me over? After all, if you drown me, there won’t be a dry thread left on me,” the woman warns them.
We won't drown, don't be afraid. If you get wet, we'll give you your clothes.
The woman made up her mind and entered the river. Zavyal and his comrades began to pull it. They pulled, they pulled, they pulled. The woman is wet to the bone, trembling like an aspen leaf.
Let’s quickly go to our housing, we’ll give you dry clothes,” says Kayvan.
How can I, a woman, change my clothes in front of you men? - she objects.
“We’ll step aside and you’ll change,” Kayvan answers.
Well, okay,” the woman agreed and followed them.
The accommodation gave her dry clothes and she changed. Now three comrades began to give advice on how to deal with a woman.
She must be my wife: I was the first to find her,” says Zavyal.
You are not some kind of prince over us, to decide for everyone. It’s better to cast lots; whoever gets it will get it,” Kayvan and Ondra Batyr suggested.
I disagree. To be fair, she should be mine: I was the first to meet her. After all, the one who found it uses the find,” Zavyal objected.
“The man is not a godsend,” Ondra Batyr and Kayvan disagreed with him.
We decided to ask the woman which of them she would choose as her husband. Zavyal hoped that the woman would choose him, since he, Zavyal, was both younger and more beautiful than Kayvan and Ondra batyr. The woman was also young and beautiful. She answered the men like this:
I don’t know who I’ll choose yet, I’ll think about it and say it.
“Marry me, I won’t offend you,” Zavyal persuaded.
She did not answer whether she agreed to marry him or not. And he really wanted to marry her. And he began to show her all sorts of attention, to help her in everything. Kaivan and Ondra batyr found out about this and told him:
Why are you courting a woman secretly from us? We swore to live together like brothers.
Some time passed, and Ondra the batyr took the side of Zavyal. Soon there was no peace between the three comrades because of Kyshno-kenak (that’s what they began to call the woman, which means wife-daughter-in-law). Their former community disintegrated. Kayvan sees that his comrades have united against him, he proposed dividing the cleared places and everyone living separately. Everyone agreed to the division. Kayvan took the place on the other side of Pozimi, and Zavyal and Ondra the batyr remained on this side.
Now we need to decide where the Kyshno-Kenak will live. Kayvan convinced her that she was Udmurt and should leave with him. In addition, he, Kayvan, is older than Zavyal and Ondra batyr. And the eldest has more rights. Zavyal objected: if Kayvan went to the division, then he should lose his kishno-kenak. They argued and argued - again they decided to ask Kyshno-Kenak whether she wanted to go across the river with Kayvan or stay on this side with Zavyal and Ondra the batyr.
Kyshno-kenak, after thinking, said:
- I’d rather stay on this side, since I’ve already moved here. Maybe I’ll find happiness here.
Kayvan moved across the Pozim River alone and began to live like a hermit. Zavyal and Ondra the batyr were afraid that Kayvan would plot evil, find new comrades and attack them - rob them, take Kyshno-kenak away and maybe kill them; Kayvan also thought that Zavyal and Ondra would come to him and kill him.
Once Kayvan built a fake bridge across the Pozim River: the bridge looked like a bridge, but all the cross members were sawed off. He planned to destroy Zavyal when he drove across the bridge. (It should be noted that at that time Zavyal already had a full farm: horses, cows and small livestock.) Having set up such a trap, Kayvan waited for the opportunity when Zavyal would go across the river. And the opportunity soon presented itself. Zavyal decided to inspect the mowing areas and went to the meadows. He saw the bridge over Pozim and thought that Kayvan had built the bridge for them to go and visit him. He returned home and told the Ondra batyr about the bridge. Ondra batyr thought differently: he said that Kayvan was plotting evil against them. One of them needs to go to Kayvan with a submissive head. Zavyal agreed to go himself. I asked Kyshno-kenak for advice on which horse to ride to Kayvan.
- “Go to the karei,” answered Kyshno-kenak.
Zavyal mounted a brown horse and rode off, armed just in case. Kyshno-kenak wanted to accompany him to the bridge. The brown horse, as if sensing trouble, did not cross the bridge. Zavyal was forced to return and, on the advice of Kyshno-kenak, mounted a pinto horse. Piebald, not sensing her death, walked across the bridge and fell through. Zavyal managed to grab the board and escaped. He got out, fixed the bridge and sent Ondra the batyr to Kayvan. Ondra the batyr was glad to go to his old friend to make peace about him and feast. He came to visit Kayvan. He received him cordially. They feasted in order, and Kayvan, at the invitation of Ondra Batyr, began to get ready for Zavyal; He took his bow and arrows, mounted his favorite horse and rode off.
Zavyal greeted Kayvan warmly and prepared for him the best treat he could. Having stayed to his heart's content, Kayvan invited Zavyal into the forest. They stood on a mountain near the forest and saw a huge pine tree on another mountain. Kayvan pulled his bow, took an arrow, aimed at a pine tree and said:
If I hit that pine tree with this arrow, may you have a cemetery there, and may there be a repair on this side of the river. The places on this side of Pozim will be yours, and on the other side they will be mine. The boundary between my and your possessions will be Pozim.
Okay, so be it,” said Zavyal.
Kayvan shot an arrow and it pierced a pine tree. And so it happened. In the place where the pine tree stood, the descendants of Zavyal and the newcomers bury the dead.
Kayvan and Zavyal parted peacefully. Kayvan chose a place of settlement where the village of Chemoshur now stands, along a high road seven miles from the village of Zavyalovo. He placed his tent near the shura, hence the name of the village.
Cat and squirrel
In the old days, a cat and a squirrel lived together in the forest. One day they quarreled among themselves over something and fought. A man saw this and said:
- Come live with me, you won’t fight with me.
The squirrel wagged its tail and climbed onto the tree.
- “I won’t go to you, I’ll stay in the forest,” she answered.
- If you don’t go, then I’ll shoot you squirrels like hazel grouse,” the man decided.
The cat meowed and began to ask:
- Take me with you: there is no life here from animals.
- Okay,” the man told her. - I will make you a prince and a judge over mice and rats.
The cat followed the man, but the squirrel remained in the forest. Since then, all people keep cats with them, and shoot squirrels like hazel grouse.
Swallow and mosquito
A terrible snake lived in the world a long time ago. He fed only on the blood of animals. One day he called a mosquito to him.
- Go, weevil, fly around the world. Taste the blood of all animals. Then tell me whose blood is sweeter. Go fly, and quickly! - he ordered the mosquito.
A mosquito flew to taste blood. And in those distant times his nose was longer than it is now.
The mosquito flew and flew, tried and tested different blood and returned to the terrible snake.
- “Horse blood is the sweetest of all,” the mosquito replies. The snake did not like the mosquito's answer. He got angry and ordered:
- Go, weevil, fly around the world some more. Look for the sweetest blood.
The mosquito flew and flew, tried and tested different blood and again returned to the terrible snake.
- Well, weevil, whose blood is sweetest? - asks the snake.
Man...
Before the mosquito had time to finish his sentence, a swallow flew out of nowhere and grabbed half of his long nose.
- “You won’t say what you shouldn’t, you long-legged fool, long-nosed bloodsucker,” the swallow told him.
The terrible snake rushed at the swallow and wanted to catch it, but that was not the case. The swallow flew away, leaving several tail feathers in the snake's mouth. That's why the swallow's tail has been forked ever since.
The Legend of the Creation of the World
It was so long ago that no one can remember. In the whole world there was only water all around, there was no land at all. And there lived only one Inmar and one Shaitan in the world. Inmar ordered the shaitan to dive under the water and get earth from the bottom. Shaitan obeyed Inmar, dived to the bottom and took out a handful of earth with each hand. He gave the Inmaru almost all the land he got, only hiding a little in his mouth.
Inmar took the earth from the hands of the shaitan, put it in his palm and blew it onto the water. The earth began to grow, becoming larger and larger. It was even, smooth, like a frying pan. The earth, which the shaitan hid in his mouth, also began to grow. There was so much of it that it no longer fit there. Shaitan spat it out. The crumbs scattered in different directions, and mountains, swamps, and hummocks formed on the ground. If Shaitan had not deceived Inmar, the earth would have remained level and smooth.
The first people were very, very big, real giants. They lived carefree, doing nothing, because they did not know how to do anything: neither build, nor sow, nor hunt. The dense forest was like nettles for them. Where such a giant stepped, a ravine appeared, where he shook sand out of his bast shoes, hills formed. Before the giants disappeared, small ordinary people appeared. Inmar lived with them and taught them to work. The little man began to plow the land, cut down the forest, and build huts. A giant boy saw one, took it in his hand and put it in his pocket along with the ax. He returned home and showed his mother:
Look, mother, what kind of woodpecker I caught, he was hollowing out a spruce tree.
And his mother says to him:
Son, this is not a woodpecker, this is a man. This means that we will soon be gone, only people like this will remain in the world. They are small, but hard-working: they know how to lead bees and catch animals. The time has come for us to leave here. Let's run quickly! - And the mother began to cry. Where her tears fell, rivers formed. There are many of them left on earth. The giants moved to the north.
Giants had very small minds. One day they were sitting and warming themselves around the fire. The fire flared up and began to burn my legs. They should have moved away from the fire, but they were not smart enough to figure this out, and they began to cover their feet with clay. When the fire went out, they froze and turned into large blocks of stone.
They say that in the middle of Mount Karyl there is a deep hole. They threw poles at it, but the poles fell through like into a bottomless well. Only a distant ringing sound was heard from the fall. They say that the rest of the giants descended into this well. And no one saw them again. The giants' name was asaba, no one knows what this word means anymore.
When there were many people on earth, they learned to do everything themselves and stopped listening to Inmar. Inmar got angry and left people for the next world. Since then, there is no more Inmar in this world, and people live well without it.
Lazy
One rich man had three daughters: two loved work, and the third was a lazy woman. The two eldest got married, but no one takes the third. In the same village lived a poor man. He had a dilapidated hut, there was neither a cow nor a horse. He went to the rich man to woo a lazy woman for himself. The rich man tells him:
What will you do with her? She's very lazy, you'll cry with her.
The poor man says to the rich man:
I'll teach her how to work.
If so, take her and teach her to work, and I will make you rich.
As a dowry, my father built a house, gave him a cow, a horse, pigs, sheep, and clothes. A poor man married a lazy woman and took her to him. The mother of a poor man puts on a samovar in the morning, wakes up her son and daughter-in-law to drink tea. The son gets up, drinks tea and goes to work, but the daughter-in-law doesn’t even raise her head, pretending to be asleep. The son punishes his mother:
You, mom, don’t wake her up or feed her, let her sleep all day.
The daughter-in-law gets up before dinner and asks for food. Her mother-in-law tells her:
Did you work today or not? We don’t feed those who don’t work. Go work first, then eat.
She doesn’t want to work: she sits for a day, two, three, but she wants to eat. He goes home to his father and says:
My husband doesn’t feed me, but forces me to work; I haven’t eaten anything for three days.
Father says:
I won’t feed you, daughter, either. There is no bread prepared for you today.
The lazy woman got offended, went back to her husband and said to him:
Give me some work, I'm really hungry.
Husband says:
Let's go to the field to pull flax.
Let's go fidget with the flax. The wife was a little confused and went to bed.
A maple tree grew not far from them, and under it there was an anthill. The husband put his wife on an anthill and tied her to a tree. As soon as the ants began to bite her, the lazy woman prayed:
Please untie me, now I won’t be lazy, whatever you force me to do, I’ll do everything.
The husband untied her and gave her oatmeal and bread. Then we spent the whole day fiddling with flax together. From then on, the poor man's wife began to love work. If suddenly the wife starts to be lazy again, her husband reminds her:
Hey, wife, remember the maple tree near the strip! - And she immediately develops a hard work ethic.
One day a father came to visit his daughter. I sat on the bench for a long time. I was waiting for an invitation to the table, but my daughter doesn’t even think about treating me.
Father says:
Daughter, at least put on the samovar, I came to visit.
And the daughter answers:
Go work in the yard, we don't feed those who don't work.
This is how the poor man taught his lazy wife to work.
Ludzi batyr
In ancient times, they say, people were resourceful. There were especially many clever people in the village of Ludzi.
One evening, robbers drove up to Ludzi's house in a fast troika. Seeing a woman at home, they drove into the yard, put the horses in the barn, and threw them hay from the hayloft.
What are you doing! - says Ludzi’s wife. “The owner will appear soon, he won’t be good for you.”
The robbers were not afraid and continued to run the house like they were at home. But the wife began to beg them so much that they took out their horses and tied them in the backyard, and they themselves went into the house and began to drink tea. Before we had time to finish the first cup, the owner arrived. In the cart next to him sat a bear, as big as a cow. Ludzi unharnessed the horse and put it in the stable. Then he walked up to the cart, lifted the bear like a light pillow, and carried it to the barn.
Entering the house, he saw uninvited guests.
Why didn’t you leave your horses in the stables? - Ludzi asks them.
They left it, but the owner objected.
And rightly so. Otherwise I would have thrown them over the fence like worn-out bast shoes.
The robbers were frightened and looked at each other.
“What am I saying,” says Ludzi. “Where people used to be so clever!” One day I was returning from the forest, and a giant met me. “Well, get off the road,” I tell him. Roll it yourself,” he answers. Oh, you are! - I gave him a kick - he immediately ended up in a snowdrift. Wait for it! - said the giant, getting out of the snow. He picked me up like a feather and threw me to the ground. I’m lying there, groaning, and he puts his foot on my chest and says: It won’t be the same next time. Since then I have become more careful; I do not boast of my strength to everyone I meet. But, if you want, I can probably measure it with you. Shall we try?
The robbers did not wait for continuation, they grabbed their hats, as they say, and their trace disappeared.
This is what a hero Ludzi was.
Mardan Atay and Tutoy
The land beyond the Vala River is good, the forests and meadows are good. Mardan Atai wants to own them, and Tuta Batyr also wants to own them. And they don’t give in to one another, they argue, everyone stands their ground. They are about to go to war against each other.
Only the cunning Mardan knows that he is weak against Tutoy. He is tall and strong. Mardan went to Tutoy and said:
Why should we force our people to fight each other? Isn't it better to measure your strength one on one?
Tutoy the batyr grinned, looking at the short Mardan, and answered:
Well, let's compare. It’s not appropriate for us to fight hand-to-hand,” Mardan Atay continued. “After all, you and I are not bears.” In the coastal meadows, you see how many hummocks there are. Let's pick one at a time and kick it across the river. Whose hummock flies to the other side will get these lands. Whoever is not kind will leave here with his people.
“I agree,” says Batyr Tuta. “I just feel sorry for you: I’m taller and stronger, and therefore I’ll kick the bump away.” Your people will have to leave.
We’ll see about that,” Mardan doesn’t give up. “Come here tomorrow morning.” Yes, tell your brothers to be ready to leave this land.
No, that won't happen. “You’ll have to leave,” says Tutoy.
At night, Mardan cut off the hummock and put it back in the same place. He ordered his brothers to do the same. At dawn the debaters came to the Vale River. With all his might, Tuta Batyr kicked the mound. The hummock fell off and flew high, high, far, far away and landed right in the middle of the river. Mardan atay kicked the cut hummock. She flew across the river and fell on the other bank.
The giant Tutoy looks at little Mardan with surprise. He is annoyed that such an opponent turned out to be stronger.
Well, Tutoy Batyr, you need to leave,” says Mardan Atay. “That was our agreement.”
It is impossible to disagree, but to agree is a pity for the earth. Tutoi silently left Mardan and silently went to his people. Mardan sees - Tuta returns back with all his people. Then Mardan called his people. When Tutoi approached the river, Mardan's people began to kick the tussocks they had cut at night. They threw bumps at Tutoi, and he had to leave here.
And the land, and meadows, and forests along the Vale River went to Mardan atay. And in the place where Mardan’s people kicked the hummocks, a large hill formed.
Mouse and Sparrow
Once upon a time there lived a mouse and a sparrow. They lived and lived together in harmony, with no quarrels or insults. Before doing anything, they consulted with each other and did any work together.
One day, a mouse and a sparrow found three rye grains on the road. They thought and thought about what to do with them, and decided to sow the field. The mouse plowed the ground, the little sparrow harrowed.
The glorious rye is born! The mouse quickly squeezed it with its sharp teeth, and the sparrow deftly threshed it with its wings. Grain by grain, they collected the entire harvest and began to divide it in half: one grain for the mouse, one for the sparrow, one for the mouse, one for the sparrow... They divided and divided, and the last grain was left over.
The mouse is the first to say:
This grain is mine: when I plowed my nose and paws I worked until they bled.
Sparrow did not agree:
No, this grain is mine. When I was harrowing, I beat the wings until they bled.
Whether they argued for a long time or for a short time - those who heard knew, but we don’t know. Only the sparrow suddenly pecked at the extra grain and flew away. “Let him try to catch up with me and take away my grain,” he thought.
The mouse did not chase the sparrow. I was upset that I was the first to start an argument. She dragged her share into the hole. She waited and waited for the sparrow to make peace, but she didn’t wait. And she dumped some of it into her pantry. She lived well all winter. And the greedy sparrow was left with nothing; the hungry sparrow jumped until spring.
Heaven
A long time ago, it turns out, the heavens were low above the earth. When the Udmurts prayed, straightening up, their heads touched the clouds.
The people then lived easily and without hassle. Celestials walked the earth, teaching people wisely.
The sky was clear as snow, white as birch trees. And on earth peace and harmony reigned among people. Those were happy times!
However, over time, everything turned upside down: people, meek as sheep, were ready to gnaw each other’s throats, wild anger awoke in them and gave them no rest. Both the sky and the gods began to be cursed for no reason at all.
One day a woman, mocking the beautiful sky, threw dirty diapers on the clouds. And the gods did nothing to her for this. Only the white skies immediately darkened, turned blue and began to slowly rise higher and higher above the ground and became completely inaccessible.
Since then, the easy, carefree life for people has ended, happiness has left the Udmurts. People have forgotten how to live in peace and harmony, with intelligence and intelligence.
The beautiful sky will come closer to the earth again when the people become wiser and happier.
Pazyal and Zhuzges
In the village of Staraya Zhikya lived an Udmurt named Pazyal. He was tall, slender and had heroic strength. Pazyal loved to work and worked tirelessly all summer. When the fields were covered with snow, he took the oak bow from the wall, stood on wide alder skis and hurried to hunt in the dense forests. There was no escape from the well-aimed puzzle arrows for either the red foxes, or the gray wolf offspring, or other animals. Like a hurricane he rushed across the white expanses, only snow dust swirled behind him. He set his sights on game, and the feathered prey always fell into his traps in abundance.
One day, Pazyal, while hunting, wandered into unfamiliar places near the trail of a zerpal. He liked this area and exclaimed:
I will come to live here!
Yes, I will come to live here! - Pazyal repeated even louder.
Zealous in work, Pazyal was also zealous in hunting. He ran thirty miles from Staraya Zhikya to the felling so quickly that he did not have time to cool the hot bread he had taken for breakfast. Having cleared his favorite place of trees, Pazyal settled in the forest. It was from him that the name of the village of Pazyal-Zhikya came later. Pazyal brought everything with him, only he had no fire. He remembered his neighbor Zumya. “He probably doesn’t live without fire and will lend it to me,” Pazyal decided. One of Pazyal’s legs is still at home, and the other is already at the neighbor’s gate.
Give me some fire, Zumya, please.
The neighbor turned his back to Pazyal and angrily replied:
I don't have any extra fire for you.
Pazyal sees: Zumya, the old stingy one, is stingy.
If there is no fire for me, Zumya, then there will be no more brides for your guys from my village!
Pazyal left. From that time on, none of the girls married Zum'ev's suitors.
I need fire, good Teacher! - Pazyal turned with a bow to another neighbor.
Friendly Ucha took out two dry maple logs from behind the stove, rubbed them one against the other and, smiling, turned on the fire to Pazyal.
Take it, Pazyal, neighbors need to live together!
Pazyal bowed gratefully:
Let us, Ucha, be friends!
In Aram, near the winding Vala River, there is Lake Aipak. Small, it is famous for its abundance of fish. Pazyal replaced his combat hunting bow with fisherman's gear. The fisherman Zhuzhges did not like this very much.
Would you stop, Pazyal, muddying the waters in the lake!
I won’t stop, Zhuzhges,” Pazyal replies, “we live under the same sky, and we both have equal rights.”
Zhuzhges got angry, but didn’t show it and said:
If you manage to kick a hummock to the other side, like I did, then fish in Lake Aipak.
Zhuzhges kicked the shaggy top of the hummock - it flew like a ball far beyond the Vala River. Pazyalova's hummock did not reach the middle of the river - it plopped like a stone into the water. Only later did Pazyal find out that Zhuzhges had cheated: he had trimmed his tussock even earlier. When Pazyal learned about the deception, he said to Zhuzhges:
- We don’t need your young girls to see our boyfriends and your brides.
And even now in the village of Zhuzhges there is not a single woman from the village of Pazyal-Zhikya, and in the village of Pazyal-Zhikya there is not a single young woman from the village of Zhuzhges.
Legend about the book
From the beginning, all Udmurts lived together. The young man learned from the old man both to pray to God and to judge the court. And then there were such people that you could ask them anything, they could answer everything. And when there were many Udmurts, they dispersed to different places. And they came together only to pray or to sue. And then they separated so far that they could no longer get together, and the old man and the old man, when they got together, could not remember everything properly.
One day, at a general meeting, it was decided: in order not to forget everything, to write down the order of prayers and trials. They stripped the birch bark, cut it and sewed it into a book, and then in this book they depicted in tamgas how to make prayers, how to maintain order. They left the book under the supervision of a priest on a large white stone in the place where they gathered for general prayer and which, it seemed, was in the center of the settlements. If an old man forgot a prayer or the order of the court, he went to the white stone, read it in the book and knew again.
But people, after they wrote the book, began to make sacrifices to Inmara less often, because before the old people more often gathered people for prayers for fear that they would forget them, but now they were no longer afraid of this. Then Inmar became angry with both the old people and the book and sent a large cow to the white stone, which came there while the priest guarding the book was sleeping and ate the whole book. And so that the Udmurts would not write such a book again, Inmar took away from them the knowledge of all tamgas, except one. Since then, every Udmurt began to know only one tamga, which he used to mark his property, but he did not know what it meant.
Spots on the moon
One Udmurt's wife died and he married another woman. She turned out to be an evil stepmother to her stepdaughter. She didn’t let the poor thing breathe: she fed the cattle, heated the stove, brought water, and washed the floors - the orphan alone had to manage all the chores. And for all this she received only scolding and beatings and not a single kind word.
One day, before the winter dawn had dawned, her stepmother picked her up to fetch water. She took the buckets on the yoke and went to the river. And outside it was bitterly cold, the moon was shining brightly in the sky. Drawing water from the ice hole, the girl cried bitterly.
- If only this cold moon would take me to itself,” she said.
The moon felt sorry for the orphan, and she pulled her towards her along with the buckets and rocker.
Take a closer look when the moon is shining brightly: that girl is still standing there, holding a rocker with buckets on her shoulders.
Tit and crow
One winter, a crow caught a tit. I wanted to eat it, but I thought: “Should I let it go? It’s too small, let it grow up, otherwise it won’t be enough for a sip.”
- It’s cold to mess with you now,” said the crow to the tit.
And the tit, cheered up with joy, objected to her:
- Is it really cold? During the time of Tsar Gorokh, I really remember that the frost was fierce...
- Ah, so you’re so old! You even remember King Pea. This means there is no point in expecting you to grow up.
The crow just wanted to eat the tit, but it flew away.
The fisherman's son and the vumurt
One fisherman often went to the Vala River and each time returned with a good catch. But one day he began to choose a net from the river, and the vumurt grabbed his hands and did not let go.
- You've gotten enough of my fish, it's time to pay up, friend. The payback will be this: now I will let you go home, but whoever is born to you will be brought to me at the age of sixteen.
The fisherman already had seven daughters. He thought: “No matter who is born, it’s still a pity.” But where can you go? You can't live without fish. “I’ll bring it,” he agreed reluctantly.
In the evening he got home, his wife greeted him with joy: his son was born. The fisherman was spinning and sunbathing. He really felt sorry for giving his only son to Vumurt after sixteen years... He didn’t say anything to his wife: why grieve ahead of time, it’s better to suffer alone. Sixteen years have passed. The time has come to reveal a bitter secret to my son. The father told everything, did not hide anything.
- Without guilt, I am guilty before you, my beloved son. I didn’t want to, but I had to promise the Wumurt to take you to the bank of the Vala and leave you there.
- Once you promised, you can do it. So be it.
The fisherman took his son to the shore, where he was fishing on that ill-fated day, and left him alone, while he himself, so as not to show his tears, quickly walked away. For a long time the son sat on the shore, not seeing or hearing anything, until birds began to flap their wings above his head. Twelve doves circled above him and went down to the shore. As soon as they touched the ground, they turned into beautiful girls and, taking off their clothes, went into the river to swim. These were students of the same vumurt to whom the fisherman brought his son. While they were happily splashing around, the guy hid the clothes of one of them. Eleven girls, having bathed, got dressed and, turning into doves, flew away, but the twelfth remained. She searches and searches and cannot find the dress.
- “Whoever returns my dress, I will save him from death,” she shouted loudly.
Then the boy came out to her and gave her the missing girl. She looked at him gratefully and said:
- Soon the old Wumurt will come here and give you the following task: indicate which of the doves you will choose as your named sister. We will sit on the shore. Everyone will drink water, but I won’t. Point at me.
And so it happened. And the Wumurt appeared, and the doves sat down by the water.
- Which is your sworn sister? - asked the vumurt.
- The second one from that end.
And he guessed right.
He began to live with the vumurt. He made him his student too. Soon the guy also learned to take on different forms, to turn into birds and animals, even into creeping reptiles. They became very friendly with their named sister, helped each other in everything and became inseparable. Secretly from everyone, they conspired to leave the Vumurts and live with people.
One day they turned into doves and disappeared. Having learned about the fugitives, the Wumurt sent eleven doves in pursuit. Having guessed about the chase, the guy turned into a miller, the girl - into a mill. The pigeons flew to them and began to ask the prayers if a dove and a dove had flown here.
- “We didn’t see it,” the praying people answered.
The pigeons returned to the vumurt with nothing, saying that they never met the fugitives, only one mill came across them on the way.
- Oh, that's what they were! There is no mill on that side. Fly back and give them back to me!
Eleven pigeons again flew in pursuit of the fugitives. Meanwhile, the guy and girl moved on. And again they noticed the chase. One turned into a church, the other turned into a priest/.v
The chase reached the church and asked the parishioners if they had seen a pair of inseparable doves.
- “No, we haven’t seen anyone like that,” the parishioners answered.
The flock returned to the vumurt. The mill, they said, is really no longer in that place, but a little church appeared on the way.
- Why didn't you catch them? - asks the vumurt. - That's what they were.
I had to fly after him myself - he turned into a kite. I flew and flew - I didn’t encounter a mill, a church, or anything unusual on the way. Apparently they managed to get to the house. So, empty-handed, Vumurt returned to his place. And the fisherman’s son reached his home. And not alone, but with a beauty. Soon the wedding took place and they lived in peace and harmony.
Yadigar
In ancient times, the Udmurts had to defend themselves from enemy attacks. It was then that they had a leader-batyr named Yadigar. He had two horses: a piebald and a red one. The red one did not gallop as fast as the piebald one, but he was smarter: he always stopped before a dangerous place. The piebald horse was good for fast riding, rushing like a whirlwind, not making out the roads.
Yadigar was famous for his heroic strength and intelligence, but most of all, perhaps, for his amazing sword. He took a sword in his hands, mounted a fast horse and galloped around the enemies who were attacking the Udmurts. The enemies could not leave the circle. If anyone managed to do this, he could no longer fight. This is how the Udmurts defeated their enemies. But Yadigar did not always take the treasured sword with him. Returning from battle, he hid the sword in a chest and sometimes in a hurry forgot it. Therefore, he warned his wife:
If I forget my sword at home (and I will need it), I will send a warrior to you for “pie.” You put the sword in the pie and send it to me.
My wife did just that. Yadigar rode a pair of horses to fight, but loved to fight on a red horse. On a piebald he sent messengers on necessary business and home. The wife on this horse delivered the bread to him while it was still hot: the piebald horse raced for thirty to forty miles so that the bread did not have time to cool down.
Once the Udmurts fought with the Mari near the city of Elabuga, twenty miles away. Yadigar was not there. They sent a messenger for him. Yadigar quickly jumped on his horse and in his haste forgot to grab his sword. By this time, his first wife had died, and he married another. The second wife had not yet had time to study Yadigar’s habits. She also did not differ in intelligence and intelligence.
Yadigar came to the battlefield. The Mari, frightened by the batyr, retreated five miles. Yadigar thought that they were already defeated, and moved with the soldiers to Yelabuga. Soon they had to engage in battle, and Yadigar had few soldiers. Then he sent one for the “pie”. But his wife forgot to put in the sword and sent an empty pie. The Udmurts had to retreat. The Mari, having learned about the victory over the Udmurts, destroyed all the bridges along Yadigar's path, and at one large bridge near the village of Karmen they only sawed off the piles. Yadigar did not know this and rushed across the bridge. The red horse sensed danger and began to back away, but the piebald horse rushed forward. The hero fell under the bridge along with the horses, hurt himself, but remained alive. Then he said:
A piebald horse is not a horse, a second wife is not a wife.
The Mari were waiting for Yadigar across the bridge. When they noticed that he had failed, they ran to the bridge. Yadigar would have liked to gallop away, but the horses fell from the bridge and were hurt. He began throwing logs from the destroyed bridge at the Mari. The Mari were afraid to approach him until he dismantled the entire bridge. Only when Yadigar began to pull out the piles did they run up to him and knock him down. This is how they killed Yadigar Batyr. But the Udmurts remembered him for a long time and now sometimes remember him.
UDMURTS- this is a people in Russia, the indigenous population of Udmurtia (476 thousand people). Udmurts also live in Tatarstan, Bashkiria, Perm, Kirov, and Sverdlovsk regions. The total number of Udmurts in Russia is 676 thousand people. 70% of Udmurts consider their national language to be their native language. The Udmurt language belongs to the Finno-Ugric language group. The Udmurt language has several dialects - northern, southern, Besermyansky and middle dialects. The writing of the Udmurt language is based on the Cyrillic alphabet. Most Udmurt believers are Orthodox, but a significant part adheres to traditional beliefs. The religious views of the Udmurts living among the Tatars and Bashkirs were influenced by Islam.
The past of the Udmurts dates back to the Finno-Ugric tribes of the Iron Age of the 1st millennium AD. The territory of modern Udmurtia has long been inhabited by tribes of Udmurts or “Votyaks” (3-4 centuries AD). In the 10th-12th centuries, the Udmurts were under the economic and cultural influence of the Volga-Kama Bulgaria. In the 13th century, the territory of Udmurtia was conquered by the Mongol-Tatars.
In 1489, the northern Udmurts became part of the Russian state. In Russian sources, the Udmurts have been mentioned since the 14th century as Ars, Aryans, Votyaks; Southern Udmurts experienced Tatar influence, because until 1552 they were part of the Kazan Khanate. By 1558, the Udmurts completely became part of the Russian state. Under their own name, the Udmurts were first mentioned in 1770 in the work of the scientist N.P. Rychkova.
The traditional occupation of the Udmurts was agriculture and animal husbandry. Hunting, fishing, and beekeeping were of an auxiliary nature. Udmurt villages were located along the banks of rivers and were small - a few dozen households. The decoration of the home included many decorative woven items. Udmurt clothing was made from canvas, cloth and sheepskin. In clothing, two options stood out - northern and southern. Shoes were wicker bast shoes, boots or felt boots. There were numerous decorations made of beads, beads, and coins. The traditional dwelling of the Udmurts was a log hut with a cold porch under a gable roof. The diet of the Udmurts was dominated by agricultural and livestock products.
In the public life of villages, a large role was played by the neighborhood-type community, headed by a council - kenesh. For a long time, the clan divisions of the Udmurts, the Vorshuds, survived.
The religion of the Udmurts was characterized by a numerous pantheon of deities and spirits, among them Inmar - the god of the sky, Kaldysin - the god of the earth, Shundy-mumm - Mother of the sun, there were about 40 of them in total. Many ritual actions were associated with economic activities: gery potton - the festival of taking out plow, howl beetle - ritual eating of porridge from grain of the new harvest. Since the 19th century, many holidays began to coincide with the dates of the Christian calendar - Christmas, Easter, Trinity. Udmurts often had two names - a pagan one, given when they were named a midwife, and a Christian one, received at baptism.
The leading place in applied art was occupied by embroidery, patterned weaving, patterned knitting, wood carving, weaving, and birch bark embossing. Singing and dancing, accompanied by playing the harp and pipes, were widely developed among the Udmurts.
In the 18th century, the largest Udmurt factories were built in Udmurtia - Izhevsk and Votkinsk, which, in a transformed form, have retained their significance to this day. The region has turned into a major industrial center of Russia. Metallurgy, mechanical engineering and weapons production received the greatest importance.
Target: To form students’ knowledge about the history of their native land.
Tasks:
- Continue acquaintance with oral folk art;
- Develop the ability to retell what you read;
- Develop the ability to compose a continuation of a story;
- Develop speech and logical thinking;
- To cultivate love for the Motherland, kindness, friendship, courage, interest in the subject.
Equipment:
– Presentation on this topic.
– Video projector.
– Collection “Udmurt folk tales”.
During the classes
1. Organizational moment.
The long-awaited call was given.
The lesson begins.
2. Motivation.
A) Checking readiness for the lesson.
B) Communicate the topic and objectives of the lesson.
3. Updating of basic knowledge.
Checking homework. Solving a crossword puzzle on the history of Udmurtia.
- Man in Udmurt... (murt). (Slide 2)
- Founder of the arms factory in Izhevsk. (A.F. Deryabin.) (Slide 3)
- Vdyanoy in Udmurt. (Vumurt.) (Slide 4)
- The place is in the middle of nowhere. (Kuliga.) (slide 5)
- In the past, a person communicating with deities. (Priest.)
- The flower is a symbol of Udmurtia. (Italmas.) (Slide 6)
- A formidable king, during whose reign the Udmurt lands became part of the Russian State. (Ivan IV.) (Slide 7)
- Predatory bird. (Hawk.) (Slide 8)
(As you solve the puzzle, the cells of the crossword puzzle, previously drawn on a board or piece of whatman paper, are filled in.)
– What word came out in the highlighted cells? (Udmurtia.) (Slide 9)
– This is all our history, both fabulous and real. In 2013, it will be 455 years since Udmurts and Russians live together. They live together.
4. Perception of new material.
A) conversation
– Today you will get acquainted with Udmurt folk tales.
-What is a fairy tale? (Students' answers.)
– This is the definition given in the explanatory dictionary. (Slide 10)
A fairy tale is a narrative work of oral folk art about fictitious persons, events, mainly involving magical fantastic forces, of an everyday nature.
Fairy tales were created in the distant past, when people were dependent on nature, on the ability to recognize the habits of animals...
Every nation has its own customs, its own fairy tales. The Udmurt people were no exception.
– Remember what types of fairy tales are divided into. (Slide 11)
Name the characteristics of each species. (Students’ answers.)
Household: about the economic activity of a person or animal.
Magical: in fairy tales magic happens, transformations happen, there are magical objects.
About animals: the main characters of these fairy tales are animals.
But there is no clear boundary between types of fairy tales.
Physical education minute.
We worked great
Don't mind taking a rest now,
And charging is familiar to us
Comes to class for lesson.
Above the hand, above the heel,
Smile more cheerfully!
We'll jump like bunnies
We will immediately become more cheerful.
We stretched and sighed.
Have a rest...
The Udmurt people have their favorite fairy-tale characters: Lopsho Pedun, Aldar Ivan- two kind, cunning people who always help poor people and punish rich and evil people.
Often there are greedy priests, rich people and evil forces: Obyda - a witch, Vumurt - a merman, Shaitan - a devil (demon). (Slide 12)
b) Reading with stops. (Slide 13)
Introduction to the fairy tale “Aldar Ivan”.
– Now I will read you the beginning of the fairy tale “Aldar Ivan”.
– What happened next? How did Aldar Ivan deceive the rich man Zio?
Students are given 7–8 minutes to come up with the ending of the fairy tale. You can work in pairs.
In one Udmurt village there lived Aldar Ivan. He knew how to deceive people, and his fame spread throughout the region.
One morning on market day, Aldar went out to the outskirts of the village, to the birches planted along the road. He walks around the lawn, tramples the ditch by the road, as if looking for something. He walked up to a crooked birch tree, sat down on the root, and leaned his back against the trunk.
The rich man Zio went to the market to sell his goat. From afar he saw Aldar sitting under a birch tree.
– What are you doing here, Aldar Ivan? – Zio asked.
“There’s a birch tree falling, I’m propping it up,” Aldar answers.
- They say, Aldar, you are a master of deception, deceive me now! - Zio asks.
“I would have deceived him, but I forgot the bag of deception at home...” answers Aldar Ivan. Let me sit on your goat and bring the bag. I'll leave quickly. And you hold the birch until I return.
“Go, perhaps,” the rich man agreed and gave Aldar the goat.
- You, Uncle Zio, prop up the birch tree well, don’t move from your spot! Otherwise the birch tree will collapse,” says Aldar Ivan.
Zio sat down under a birch tree on the roots, leaning his back against the trunk. Aldar sat on the goat and rode to the village. Zio is afraid to move, props up the birch tree...
The sun had already passed noon. Aldar is still missing...
4 - 5 options for ending the fairy tale are heard, how Aldar Ivan deceived the rich man Zio.
– Do you want to know what really happened? (One of the episodes of the fairy tale is read out.)
6. Reflection.
– What did you like about the lesson?
– What new things did you learn?
– Whose continuation of the fairy tale did you like? Why?
– How do you evaluate your work in class? (Self-assessment of work in the lesson, assessment by the teacher.)
- Well done, thanks for the lesson!
Literature.
1. Collection “Udmurt folk tales”. Izhevsk “Udmurtia” 1976.
Internet resources.
2. http://images.yandex.ru/#!/yandsearch?text=photo hawk&img_url=wpapers.su%2Fdata%2Fm%2F12%2F621078.jpg&pos=19&rpt=simage
3. http://images.yandex.ru/#!/yandsearch?p=3&text= Photo hawk & img_url = owlsonline.squarespace.com%2fstorage%2fred-taled-hawk_681_600x4501.jp%3f__squaresp Ace_cacheversion%3D131999840579 & POS = 92 & RPT = SIMAGE
4. http://images.yandex.ru/#!/yandsearch?p=2&text=photo hawk&img_url=img1.liveinternet.ru%2Fimages%2Fattach%2Fc%2F4%2F79%2F270%2F79270545_4059800_1274102125_22.jpg&pos=61&r pt=simage
5. https://www.free-lance.ru/users/sasha-gorec/viewproj.php?prjid=768836
6. http://fun.ucoz.ru/news/2000-11-11-460
Udmurt fairy tales.
Tales about animals.
Fairy tales.
Realistic fairy tales.
“When a person’s inquisitive gaze begins to penetrate into what surrounds him, fairy tales about animals and plants appear. In them, ancient man tries to explain the reason for this or that feature of the representatives of the surrounding world. This is how fairy tales arise about why a bear hides in a den for the winter, why rye does not have an entire stalk, why a pea consists of two halves, etc. Of course, these explanations are still a pure figment of fantasy, but they are already evidence that a person wants to know everything, that it has become impossible for him to live in ignorance .
In ancient times, man was largely dependent on the ability to recognize the habits and morals of animals. In tales about animals, the Udmurt - a hunter and nature lover - preserved and brought to the present day observations of the natural behavior of animals and animals. He treated them as his smaller brothers, although sometimes in some ways - in strength, agility, speed - they were superior to humans. Observing the successes and failures in communicating with the animal world, he began to pass on his experience to other generations through fairy tales about animals.
We now call fairy tales what for the first listeners were lessons in hunting and natural history, which taught us to respect the power of the bear, calling him “master of the forest” and even worshiping him in order to appease him and win him over. On occasion, however, he can be deceived: he is strong, but simple-minded. The wolf is weaker than the bear, but more impudent and stupid. In addition, he is always hungry, or rather, insatiable. The wolf is so stupid that even such harmless animals as a hare or a kid can outwit him. The long-tailed fox Vassa in the Udmurt fairy tale is cunning, as in the fairy tales of other peoples, flattering with the strong and arrogant with the weak, but she is also stupid. A rooster, a dove, and a cat defeat her without much difficulty. Over time, these tales ceased to be lessons in natural history: humanity has stepped far forward towards true knowledge. And fairy tales remained fairy tales.
Why do we still love fairy tales about animals? Is it because, firstly, they help us get to know our “younger brothers” - animals better and, secondly, allow us to critically and not without humor evaluate our own behavior and the actions of the people around us. Arrogance, bragging, arrogance, cowardice, deceit, attributed in fairy tales to the bear, wolf, fox and other animals, don’t they help us take a stricter look at ourselves and the circle of our acquaintances? Don't they instill in us modesty, benevolence, integrity, and selflessness? Yes, yes and yes! It is no coincidence that a characteristic feature of the modern Udmurt fairy tale about animals is the victory of a weak character over a strong and cruel one: a kid defeats a wolf, a rooster or dove defeats a fox, a cat defeats a bear. The heroes of fairy tales about animals, having retained traditional habits and characters, have now found a new life and perform a noble task: they help raise a new person to be kind, strong, generous, ridiculing everything that is inert, alien, and backward.
Fairy tales are younger than fairy tales about animals. They contain what has been achieved by man and what has so far seemed unrealistic. In other words, fairy tales capture the people’s dream of an omnipotent, omnipotent man living on earth and conquering time, space, fire, and water. He managed this with the help of magical means obtained through labor and kindness. The world of the Udmurt fairy tale amazes with its ordinariness and fantasy. Her heroes experienced hunger and cold, injustice and deception. Struggling with need and untruth, they perform miracles: they climb into the sky, descend underground, do not burn in fire, do not drown in water. Thanks to wonderful items and helpers, they defeat the strongest opponents. These tales reflect one of the first stages of man's struggle against the evil forces of nature, the victory of a tireless seeker and worker over them, the wealth of his soul and his moral beauty.
The wonderful gift received by the hero of a fairy tale is taken away from him by cunning and deceit by envious and evil people: merchants, priests, and rich people. However, the fairy-tale hero in the end achieves punishment for the offenders and again becomes the owner of the magical gifts intended for him. Why? Yes, because the people-creator and worker, at a time of lawlessness and oppression, believed in their creative powers and in the inevitable triumph of justice. True, he did not know in what ways this would be achieved, but he dreamed about it in fairy tales. He dreamed of wonderful helpers: a self-cutting axe, an invisibility scarf, rejuvenating apples, a self-assembled tablecloth, a self-dancing pipe, self-propelled bast shoes and others. They promised him a worthy reward for his work, relief from hard work, longevity, reduction of distances, good rest and much, much more, which would make life wonderful and amazing.
The hero of an Udmurt fairy tale is neither a king nor a prince, neither a king nor a prince. Most often it’s just Ivan or Poor Ivan. Sometimes it is a nameless soldier who has served the Tsar for a long time as a soldier and remains an orphan in this world: not a stake, not a yard, not a penny for a rainy day. And this is what is characteristic: the disadvantaged hero is not embittered, not bitter, but on the contrary, his heart is kind and sympathetic, his mind is bright and clear, his hands are dexterous and skillful. Such a hero confronts enemies strong and powerful. Yes, he not only fights, but also wins, as, for example, in the fairy tales “Poor Ivan”, “Gundyr Inmar and Prok the Headman”.
Why is the hero of a fairy tale omnipotent, omnipotent? Is it only because he became the owner of fantastic helping gifts? After all, these same gifts, falling into unkind hands, almost lose their good power. Probably, the point is not in them, but in the fact that the hero of a fairy tale usually acts not only on his own behalf, but also on behalf of those whose interests he defends more than his own - on behalf of the family, fellow villagers, and people. This is what makes him invincible and omnipotent. Evil forces opposing the hero in fairy tales appear either as traditional fairy-tale kings or merchants, or are personified in the form of a serpent, devils and the god Inmar himself. These forces stand in the way of the hero to happiness, prevent honest people from living, dooming them to troubles and extinction. But the hero overcomes them.
So, we can say that in a fairy tale the main and indispensable moments are struggle, exploits, and extraction. Therefore, all the forces operating in it are sharply divided into two camps: the heroes themselves, heroes in the literal sense, and their enemies. A feature of fairy tales is the technique of exaggeration and hyperbolization. The difficulties in them are exaggerated so much that they seem impossible, the carriers of an evil principle - insurmountable, the possibilities of magical objects - innumerable or inexhaustible. But for the time being, the main character does not particularly stand out in terms of intelligence, strength and skill. All he has is a kind heart, sensitive to injustice and people's grief. It is this kind heart that makes him omnipotent. Thanks to him, he receives magical assistants, magical objects or a magical skill as a reward. That is why fairy tales are called magical.
The youngest of all fairy tales in science are considered realistic, or everyday. When a person was completely dependent on nature, when his immediate future depended on luck in hunting or fishing, legends, myths, and fairy tales about animals served him as a living book of life, they reflected his experience. The experience was replenished, and the oral book about it was replenished. In a fairy tale, an ancient man begins not only to share his life experiences, but also to dream about such helpers, objects, such a skill that could make him many times stronger and more powerful. A poor man, in order to achieve a little prosperity, had to be dexterous and cunning, resourceful and quick-witted. Then tales began to appear about the poor - deceivers and cunning people who cleverly deceived the self-righteous and greedy rich. The heroes of these fairy tales have no magical helpers, no miraculous gifts or skills. They don’t need to make their way to the sun or descend into the underworld. And their goals are earthly and their means of achieving them are also everyday. They, driven to extremes by need, seek elementary justice, forcing the rich man, against his own desire, to return to the poor man what he or his brothers have earned. Their only wealth helps them in doing this: dexterity and intelligence.
The themes of everyday fairy tales are exceptionally diverse. You can find an example for literally all occasions in Udmurt everyday tales. Among them there are fairy tales on favorite themes, and they have their own favorite heroes. Thus, in most fairy tales the themes of the hero’s marriage, happiness, and fate vary.
Especially popular among the Udmurt people are tales about the clever Aldar Ivan or Aldar Agai. This is certainly a poor, but smart man. Lately he has been somewhat displaced by Lopsho Pedun. An interesting story is happening before our eyes with this amazing hero. The antics of Lopsho Pedun remained as a memory of past times, as an example of humor that testified to the moral health of the Udmurt people.
An everyday fairy tale is a generalization, a typical reflection of life phenomena. And yet she is a fairy tale. Not a true story, not a separate fact of reality. It clearly shows the fairytale beginning, the fairytale essence. What is being told may have happened in some detail to someone somewhere in life, or rather, could have happened. A deft, smart worker, for example, could outwit the owner once, twice, several times. But this happened extremely rarely. In the overwhelming majority, it was the other way around: the owner would not be the owner if he did not profit at the expense of others, that is, at the expense of those who worked.
Some fairy tales show their age, that is, individual details can be used to tell approximately the time of their creation. However, for the most part, the tale does not reveal age. Only a specialist can sometimes figure it out. The fairy tale itself has no use for this: it is always young, always beautiful, just like the people who created it."
Candidate of Philology N Kralina.
To the 155th anniversary of the birth of G.E. Vereshchagin
Teddy bear hero
Three sisters went into the forest in the summer to pick lingonberries. In the forest they separated, and one got lost. The two sisters searched and searched for the third, but they did not find it. So the two of them went home. They waited and waited for her at home, but she didn’t come. We grieved for our unfortunate sister and forgot. Meanwhile, the sister, having gotten lost in the forest, wandered until nightfall and stopped for the night; climbed into the hollow of a large linden tree and slept. At night, a bear came up to her and began to caress her like a man: he stroked her on the head, then patted her on the back, making it clear that he would not do anything bad to her. The bear inspired confidence in himself, and the girl did not fear him. The girl cried and sobbed and resigned herself to her fate. In the morning the sun has risen and the bear leads her to his den. The girl went and began to live in a bear's den. The bear first fed her berries, and then began to feed her all sorts of things. The girl gave birth to a son from the bear, and he began to grow by leaps and bounds. A year later, the son says to the bear:
- Come on, daddy, fight!
- Let's.
They fought and fought, but the bear overcame.
- Feed me sweeter, daddy! - says the little bear to the bear.
The bear feeds his son sweetly, and the son grows by leaps and bounds.
The next year the cub again invites the bear to fight.
They fought and fought, and again the bear overcame.
- Feed me sweeter, daddy! - the little bear says to his father.
The bear feeds his son, and the son grows by leaps and bounds.
In the third year the son again says to his father:
- Come on, daddy, fight!
- Let's!
They fought and fought - the son took his father by the leg and threw him up. The bear fell and was killed.
- Didn't you kill your father, shooter? - asks the mother of her son.
“We fought with him, I overcame him, and he died,” says the son.
The mother sends her son to the snakes to weave bast shoes. The son took the pester and set off. He came to the snakes and saw many of them. He beats them and tears off their heads, which he places in the pestle. He puts on a motley of snake heads and goes to his mother.
- Well, did you weave? - asks the mother.
- Woven.
- Where?
- In the pester.
The mother put her hand into the pestle and screamed in fright.
- Go take them back to where you took them! - says the mother.
The son carried away the heads and returned.
The next day, the mother sends her son for bast shoes to her neighbors (brownies). The son went to his neighbors and sees many neighbors. He beats them and tears off their heads, which he places in the pestle. He puts on a full pestle and goes to his mother.
- Well, did you bring it?
- Brought it.
- Where?
- In the pester.
The mother put her hand into the pestle and was even more frightened.
“Go, shoot, take them back to where you took them,” the mother says to her son and scolds him.
The son carried away the heads and returned.
The son did not want to live with his mother and wanted to travel around the world, to measure his strength with whomever he could.
He went to the forge and ordered himself a cane worth forty pounds. He took his cane and went looking for adventure.
He walks and meets a tall man.
- Who are you? - he asks the man.
- I am a hero! - the latter answers. -Who are you?
- I am a strong man.
- Prove your strength.
The strong bear cub took a strong stone in his hand, squeezed it - and water flowed out of it.
- Well done! - exclaimed the hero and called him a strong man, and himself only a hero.
They move on and meet a man.
- Who are you? - they ask the man, announcing to him that one of them is a strongman, and the other is a hero.
- I am also a hero, but with little strength.
- Go with us!
The three of them went on their way. They walked and walked, you never know, they reached the hut. We went into the hut, and it was empty; We looked everywhere and found meat in the closet.
“Well, we’ll live here for now, and then we’ll see what to do,” the heroes consult among themselves.
“We’ll go to the forest to work, and you cook dinner for us here,” two heroes say to the third, with little strength.
“Okay, your order will be carried out,” says the hero.
Two went into the forest, and the third stayed to cook in the hut. He cooks dinner for the heroes from ready-made provisions and does not think that the owner will come. Suddenly the owner enters the hut and begins to pull the hero by the hair. He pulled and dragged him - almost pulled out all his hair; ate lunch and left. Bogatyrs come home from work and ask:
- Well? Have you prepared lunch?
- No.
- Why?
- There is no dry firewood, nothing to cook with.
We cooked it ourselves and ate it.
The next day, the hero whom the strongman met for the first time stayed to cook dinner.
Two heroes went into the forest to work, and the remaining one cooked dinner from ready-made provisions. Suddenly the owner appears and starts beating him. He beat and beat - he left him barely alive; ate lunch and left. Bogatyrs come home from work and ask:
- Well? Have you prepared lunch?
- No.
- Why?
- There is no clean water; Yes, but it’s muddy.
We cooked lunch ourselves and ate ourselves.
On the third day, the strong man stayed to cook dinner. He filled the cauldron with meat and cooked it. Suddenly the owner of the hut appears and begins to beat the hero. As soon as the hero hit the owner on the seat, he shouted with good obscenities: “Oh, don’t hit me, I won’t do that.” The owner left the hut and disappeared. The heroes come home from work and ask for food. The strong man fed them and told them the story of the owner of the hut; Then those heroes admitted that the same story happened to them. We ate and went to look for the owner. They found a large board in the yard, lifted it - and there turned out to be a large hole, and a belt was lowered down into the hole, serving as a ladder. The strong man descended by strap into the hole, ordering his comrades to wait for him at the hole, and found himself in another world. Under the ground there was a kingdom of three twelve-headed snakes. These snakes held captive the three daughters of the king of this world. The hero walked and walked through the kingdom of snakes and reached a huge palace. He went into the hallway and there he saw a beautiful girl.
“I am a strong hero,” he answers, “I came to look for the villain who offends us, heroes, in the hut.”
- He is the devil, in this kingdom he appears to be a twelve-headed serpent, and there he appears to be a human man. I have been living in his captivity for several years now. Won't you defeat him?
The girl gives the strongman a sword and says: “With this sword you will defeat him.” But the snake was not at home at that time. Suddenly he appears and says: “Ugh! Ugh! Ugh! It smells like an unclean spirit."
The strong man raised his sword, struck the snake on the heads and cut off twelve of its heads at once.
The strong hero took the princess with him and went to another twelve-headed snake. They went into the house, and there the hero saw an even more beautiful maiden.
- Who are you? - the princess asks the strongman.
“I am a strong hero,” he answers, “I came to look for the villain who offends us, heroes, in the hut.”
- He is the devil, in this kingdom he seems to be a twelve-headed serpent, but there he appears to be a simple man. I have been living in his captivity for several years. Won't you defeat him?
The girl handed the sword to the hero and said: “With this sword you will defeat him.” But the snake was not at home at that time. Suddenly he appears and says: “Ugh! Ugh! Ugh! It smells like an unclean spirit." The strong man raised his sword, hit the snake’s heads and chopped off all twelve heads in two blows.
The strong man took another girl, even more beautiful, and went to the last twelve-headed snake, who was stronger than the others.
They went into the house and there they saw a girl of extraordinary beauty.
- Who are you? - the girl asks the strongman.
The strong man answers the same as he did to the first two girls.
“They are all devils,” says the girl, “one is stronger than the other, here they seem like snakes, and there like people.” This last snake is the strongest. I have been living in his captivity for several years now. Won't you defeat him?
The girl hands the hero a sword and says: “With this sword you will defeat him.” But the snake was not at home at that time. Suddenly the strong man hears a voice in the entryway that says: “Ugh! Ugh! Ugh! It smells like an unclean spirit." He came out with a sword into the hallway. There he met the serpent and began to fight with him. The strong man cut off only one head of the snake, and the snake returned back to gather his strength. The strong man says to the beautiful princess: “If the snake defeats me, the kvass on the table will turn red, then you throw your shoe in front of me, and I will kill the snake.”
So, having gathered his strength, the snake appeared again and said: “Ugh! Ugh! Ugh! It smells like an unclean spirit."
The hero came out to meet the snake and entered into battle with him. The serpent began to win. The princess looked into the vessel with kvass and saw that the kvass had turned into blood, then she took her shoe, left the house and threw it in front of the hero. The hero struck and immediately cut off all eleven heads of the snake. The hero collected the heads of all the snakes and threw them into a crevice in the rock.
The strong man took the girls and went to the hole to climb the belt into the local light. He shook the belt and put the girl on it. The fellow heroes lifted the girl up, and the girl said that there were three more people in the other world. They picked up all the girls one by one. Having raised the girls, the heroes decided not to raise their comrade, thinking that he would take the girls for himself, and did not raise him. The heroes have left and cannot resolve the dispute - who should own one of the maidens that the strongest of all snakes had: she was so beautiful that it could neither be said in a fairy tale nor described with a pen. The heroes came with three maidens to their father king and said that they freed the maidens from the snakes, and at the same time each asked the beauty for himself. The girls said that the heroes only raised them from another world, and they were freed from the snakes by another who remained below under the hole. The king sent his swift-winged eagle for the hero. The eagle mounted the strongman and flew to the king. There, at the king's house, a dispute arose between three heroes over a beauty: everyone wanted to marry the beauty. The king sees that one is not inferior to the other and says: “I have a large bell with which I notify the people about the most important events in my kingdom. Whoever throws this bell further, I will give my daughter for him.” The first one came up and didn’t touch the bell, the other one came up too, and finally the strong man came up... he kicked the bell with his foot - and the bell flew off behind the royal palace.
- Take my daughter - she is yours! - the king said to the strongman.
And the hero-bear cub took the king’s daughter for himself, took her and lived happily ever after, while his comrades were left without wives. The cane is worth 40 pounds and now lies in the hut.
(Yakov Gavrilov, village Bygi.)
Finger and tooth
Two brothers went into the forest to chop wood. They chopped and chopped and chopped up a big pile. We need to chop wood, but there are no wedges. One began to make wedges and inadvertently cut off his finger; the finger galloped along the forest path. Another brother began to chop wood... The wedge bounced off - and right into the teeth; one tooth was knocked out with a wedge, and the tooth jumped after the finger.
They walked for a long time, for a short time, close or far - they reached the priest's house. It was already night, and the priest’s family was deep in sleep. Here the finger and the tooth are consulting among themselves on how to steal the priest’s knife and stab his bull. Suddenly I saw a fan in one of the windows and climbed into the hut. He looks for a knife there but doesn’t find it.
- Well, will you be back soon? - asks the tooth under the window.
- I can not find! - the finger answers.
The priest heard a human voice in the house, got up and looked, but his finger got into the priest’s shoe, and the priest didn’t see it. Again the priest lay down and fell asleep. The finger came out of the shoe and looked for the knife.
- Well, how long? - the tooth asks again.
“I can’t find it,” the finger answers.
The priest heard the scream again and woke up; he got fire and is looking for it; the finger again climbed into the toe of the shoe and from there looked out to see if he could see a knife somewhere. I searched and searched for the priest, but I couldn’t find him; Meanwhile, the finger spotted a knife on the bench by the closet. So, when the priest went to bed, he got out of his shoe, took a knife and ran out into the street.
- Well, which one will we kill? - a finger and a tooth ask each other when they go to the bulls’ barn.
“Whoever looks at us, we will kill him,” says the finger.
“Okay, but we won’t stab here, we’ll take the bull into the forest, and no one will bother us there,” the tooth expresses his opinion.
They caught the bull that looked at them and took him into the forest; there they stabbed it, and the finger was left to be gutted, and the tooth went to get firewood to cook the meat. The tooth hauled a full pile of firewood, tied it up, but couldn’t carry it. Suddenly a bear comes and the tooth says to him:
- Clubfoot! You put the burden on your shoulder and carry it.
And the bear was hungry like a wolf and ate the tooth. The tooth passed through the bear and shouted to the finger:
- Brother, help me out quickly, the bear ate me.
The bear got scared and ran, jumped over the block and hurt himself to death. They both went out to get firewood and somehow dragged the load. While the finger was starting the fire, the tooth went to the Votyak’s hut to fetch the cauldron and began to cook. They boiled a whole bull and ate it. Having eaten to our fill, we went to bed. A hungry wolf came and ate them both while they were sleeping.
(Vasily Perevoshchikov, honorary Vorchino.)
Fearless Noble
The soldier served for twenty-five years and saw neither fear nor the king. His superiors send him home. Having seen neither fear nor the king during his service, he says to his superiors:
- What would it take for you to show me the king at least once!
They reported this to the king, and the king demanded the soldier to come to his palace.
- Hello, serviceman! - the king tells him.
- I wish you good health, Your Majesty! - the soldier answers.
- Well, why did you come to me?
“I served, Your Majesty, for twenty-five years and saw neither fear nor you; So I came to look at you.
“Okay,” said the king, “go to the front porch and rub my chickens!”
And this meant not allowing any generals without money into the king’s palace.
The soldier came out and stood at the front porch door. Various high-ranking officials, generals, etc. come. The soldier does not let them in without money. There is nothing to do, they give him money.
The next day the king calls the soldier to him and says:
- Well? Lost my chickens?
“I lost it, Your Majesty, it will be on my way,” answered the soldier.
- Well done, be you for your courage “Fearless nobleman.” In addition to this rank, I give you Ermoshka as a servant, a pair of horses from my royal stable and a golden carriage; I provide you with a ticket - go to all four corners of the world.
The Fearless nobleman got into the golden carriage, took Ermoshka on the box and rode off to another kingdom. We drove and drove - we reached two roads, and between them there was a post with the inscription: “If you go to the right, you will find happiness, if you go to the left, you will be killed.” Where to go? The fearless nobleman thought and said to Ermoshka:
- Go left.
Ermoshka was frightened, but there was nothing to do: you will not be taller than the master. And they went along the left road.
We drove and drove and saw a dead body on the road. The fearless nobleman says to Ermoshka:
- Bring this dead body here.
Ermoshka is coming... he approaches the body and shakes his whole body in fear. The Fearless nobleman sees that Ermoshka is afraid of the dead body, like a cowardly woman, and goes after the dead body himself. He took it and put it in the carriage next to him.
They're coming again. We drove and drove and saw a man hanged on a birch tree, already dead. The fearless nobleman sends his servant:
- Go, Ermoshka, cut the rope and bring the body here.
Ermoshka is walking, shaking all over with fear. Fearless got out of the carriage and went to the dead body himself; crossed the rope on which the body was hanging, took the body, brought it and put it in the carriage on the other side of himself.
“Well, don’t be afraid now, Ermoshka: there are four of us,” says Fearless.
They are all driving through the forest. We arrived at a huge house, which, as it turned out, belonged to robbers. Fearless, without asking anyone, he drove into the yard; Ermoshka ordered the horses to be taken to the stable, and he himself went into the hut. Robbers are dining at the table in the hut, as can be seen from their fierce faces; The chieftain himself sits in the front corner with a large spoon in his hand. Ataman says to Fearless:
- You’re Russian, we’ll make you hot: hare’s meat is delicious - he eats a lot of bread.
Fearless, without saying anything, approaches the table, snatches a large spoon from the ataman’s hands and tries the cabbage soup.
- Sour, rubbish!.. Here's a roast for you! - Fearless says to the ataman, hitting him on the forehead with a spoon.
The chieftain widened his eyes and looked, what kind of person is so impudent? Ermoshka enters the hut...
“Bring a good pike perch from the carriage, Ermoshka,” says Fearless to Ermoshka.
Ermoshka brought in a dead body. The fearless one took a knife from the robbers' table and began to cut the dead body... he cut off a piece, smelled it and said:
- It smells! Rubbish! Bring another one.
Ermoshka brought something else. Fearless cut off a piece, sniffed and spat:
- Ugh! And this pike perch smells.
The robbers went mad with fear.
- Let's get some fresh ones! - Fearless shouted to Ermoshka... Ermoshka himself shuddered in fear, and his pants slipped off.
- Come on quickly! - Fearless shouts.
Ermoshka goes to the table, lifting his pants, and shaking like a leaf. The robbers ran out of the hut, leaving only one chieftain. Fearless hit the chieftain on the forehead with a large spoon and killed him; then he raked out all the stolen gold from them, sat down and rode forward.
We drove and drove and reached the kingdom. They drive up to the city, and there on the balcony of the palace the king looks through the telescope and wonders: who is this guy riding in the golden carriage? We reached the palace, and the king asks Fearless what kind of person he is, where he comes from and what has been given to him? Fearless, calling himself the Fearless Noble, said that he traveled to other kingdoms looking for adventure.
“These are the ones I need,” says the king. “Not far from here, on an island, I have an excellent palace, but the devil settled in it and stole my eldest daughter, whom I loved most of all; go to the island, save the devil from my palace, bring your daughter to me. If you do this, take any of my three daughters and in addition you will receive half of my kingdom; If you don’t fulfill it, say goodbye to your head.
“Okay,” says Fearless, “I’ll carry out your orders.”
Fearless left the carriage with money and horses with the king and went with Ermoshka to the lake, among which there was a palace: he got into a boat and sailed along the lake, and Ermoshka remained on the shore. He swam across the lake and reached the palace. He entered the palace and saw a copper pipe from the devil in the hallway on the window. He took the pipe and lit it and smoked it; the smoke spread into other rooms. Suddenly in one of the rooms he hears the voice of the devil, who says:
- Ah, Rusak! The Russian spirit has not yet been heard here. Go ahead, little devil, take a good look at his sides.
The little imp ran to Fearless. Fearless took him by the tail and threw him out the window. The devil sends another little devil. Fearless threw that one too; sends a third - the third suffered the same fate. The devil sees that the little devils are not returning, and he goes himself. Fearless, taking him by the tail and horns, bent him into a ram's horn and threw him out the window. Then he went through the rooms to look for the royal daughter. I found her sitting by the bed and next to her there was a guard - an imp. He threw the little devil out the window, and took the king’s daughter by the hands and led her out of the hut. I got into the boat with her and sailed back. Suddenly, many little devils grabbed the boat to capsize it. Fearless, in order to scare the little devils, shouts:
- Fire! Let's fire quickly, I'll burn the whole lake!
The little devils got scared and dived into the water.
Fearless brought his daughter to the king. And the king says to the Fearless:
- Well done, Fearless! Choose any of my three daughters and get half of my kingdom.
Fearless chose the youngest daughter and received half the kingdom. He lived a little with a young woman and said:
- Why do I live at home? I’ll go wander around the world again, see if I see any passions.
Wife says:
- What other passions do you have? There are no worse passions in the world than devils, and it didn’t cost you a damn to survive the devils from the palace.
“However, I’ll go and take another walk, maybe I’ll see something.”
And Fearless went to look for terrible adventures. He wanted to rest on the river bank; lay down not far from the river, laid his head on a block of wood and fell asleep. While he was sleeping, a cloud rose and heavy rain began to pour down. The river overflowed its banks and the water surrounded him too; A few more minutes passed and he was covered with water, only his head remained at the top. Here one brush sees a good place in the bosom of the Fearless; climbed there and lives there. Meanwhile, the rain stopped falling, the water went into the banks, and everything became dry, and Fearless was still sleeping. Suddenly he turned over on the other side, and the fin of the ruff began to prick him. The fearless one jumped out of his seat - and let’s run, shouting at the top of his lungs:
- Oh, fathers! Oh, fathers! Someone is there.
A ruff fell out of his bosom.
- Well, I don’t think anyone has seen such passion! - he says, walking back to his wife.
And they live well and make good money.
(This tale was recorded from the words of the peasant, honorable Arlanov, Pavel Mikhailov.)
Kukri Baba
In the spring, the mother sent her three daughters to the forest to get brooms to sweep up litter, and the girls got lost in the forest. We wandered and wandered in the forest and were tired. What to do? One of the sisters climbed a tall tree and looked around to see if she could see any clearing. She looked and said:
- Far from here, blue smoke rises to the sky, like a thread.
The second sister didn’t believe it and climbed the spruce tree. He looks in one direction and says:
- Far from here, a blue smoke as thick as a finger goes to the sky.
The third sister did not believe it and climbed the spruce tree. He looks and says:
- Far from here, a blue smoke as thick as an arm goes to the sky.
We noticed this place, got off the spruce tree and went. They walked and walked and reached the hut. We went into it.
An old woman, Kukri Baba, of a disgusting appearance, sits on the stove and breastfeeds a child, and the child has a severe scab on his head. She saw the girls and said:
- Don't you want to eat, girls?
“We should probably eat,” the girls answer her.
Kukri Baba came down from the stove... scraped the scab off the child’s head and treated the girls, saying:
- Well, eat, girls.
The girls turn their eyes away from the disgusting sight of the scab, which causes them to vomit. Kukri Baba says:
- If you don’t eat, I’ll eat you myself.
What to do? She took one and vomited it; She took another, and a third - she also vomited. The girls want to leave.
“No, I won’t let you in,” says Kukri Baba. - Jump over the big stupa - I’ll leave.
She has a large wooden mortar in the corner of the door, so she brought the girls there and told them to jump over it. Two sisters jumped over and left, but the third could not jump over and stayed with Kukri-baba.
Kukri Baba left the hut and said to the girl:
- You, girl, rock the baby and sing: “Eh!” Eh! ABOUT! ABOUT! Sleep, sleep." Don't leave the hut.
She came out of the hut, and the girl was rocking the child and crying. Suddenly a rooster comes to the girl and says:
- Sit on me, girl, I’ll take you away.
The girl sat down and rode the cock.
Kukri Baba came home and saw one child, but no girl. And she went in pursuit of the girl. She caught up and threw a wooden pestle at the rooster, the rooster dropped the girl. Kukri-baba took the girl and took her back to her hut.
The hare comes and says:
- Sit on me, girl, I’ll take you away.
The girl sat on the hare and rode. Kukri Baba caught up with them and threw a wooden pestle at the hare - and the hare dropped the girl.
Again the girl rocks the baby and cries.
A thin horse arrives, covered in dirt and droppings.
“Sit on me, girl,” says the horse.
The girl got on a dirty horse and rode off. They see that Kukri Baba is chasing them. We reached the water, and there was a large log lying on the water. The girl got off the horse and walked along the log. So Kukri-Baba is walking along the log... The girl went ashore, shook the log - and Kukri-Baba fell into the water. And so she, the villainess, ended.
The girl came home at night, when everyone in her household was asleep. She grabbed the door ring... she knocked and knocked, but they didn’t open it: no one heard. She went to sleep in the hay field, and there someone ate her at night, leaving only her hair.
In the morning, the girl’s father and the boy went to the hay field to give food to the horses. The boy found the hair and said to his father:
- I, darling, found the strings.
“Okay, child, take it if you find it,” the father answers.
The boy brought the hair into the hut and put it on the table. Suddenly the hair began to lament in the plaintive voice of the eaten girl:
- Father, mother! Hands and fingers knocked on the door - you didn’t open it.
Everyone got scared and threw their hair into the oven. In the furnace, the ashes speak too. What to do? The family is not happy to live, even if you leave the house.
So the women raked out all the ashes... took out the remains - and threw the ashes in the forest. From that time on, there were no more lamentations in the oven.
(Recorded from Pavel Zelenin.)
Once upon a time there lived two neighbors in the same village. Both had one daughter. Their daughters grew up and became brides. One neighbor’s daughter is being wooed by rich and poor, but he still doesn’t want to give his daughter away; No one is wooing the other, despite the fact that his daughter is the most beautiful of beauties; and her father really wanted to give her away.
- If only the devil came to woo my daughter! - says the latter when he saw his neighbor’s matchmakers.
The next day, matchmakers in rich attire, like city merchants, came to him and wooed his daughter.
- How can I marry you rich people when my means are meager? After all, marry off to rich people and have a rich feast,” says the man.
“We don’t know who is what, we only need a suitable, hard-working bride, and we found such a girl in your daughter,” the matchmakers answer.
The man agreed and betrothed his daughter to a merchant groom who was right there. They had a wedding and are going home with the bride, or rather the newlywed.
- Where are you from? We betrothed a girl, had a wedding, you are already taking the bride away, but we ourselves don’t know where you are from or who you are,” a quick-witted old woman, the bride’s grandmother, decided to ask.
- In fact, we don’t know at all where our fiancé and our matchmakers are from. It’s as if we sold our daughter. “This matter is wrong, we need to find out everything,” all the family members say and ask the matchmakers.
“We are from Moscow, the city, we are engaged in trade,” say the matchmakers.
The old woman promised to accompany her granddaughter even to the transport, which was not far from the village. Grandma got into the cart and off we went; We reached the river, and the grandmother was ordered to get out of the cart. As soon as grandma got out, the whole train went down into the water and was like that. Grandma howled like a wolf here, but there’s nothing to do, you can’t turn it back.
“We gave the poor thing for a wumurt, we’ll never see her again,” the grandmother lamented, returning home.
She returned home and with tears in her eyes told her family about what she had seen. The family grieved and stopped.
Seven years passed, and they began to forget their daughter.
Suddenly, at this time, the son-in-law appears and invites the grandmother to be a midwife at the birth of her granddaughter, who, the son-in-law says, is in the last stages of pregnancy. The grandmother got into her son-in-law's carriage and drove off. The son-in-law reached the same river and went down into the water. The grandmother only had time to gasp when she found herself in the river, but did not drown; there, in the water, the road is the same as on land. We drove and drove and arrived at a large house; They got out of the carriage and went into the house. There they took the grandmother into her granddaughter’s room, and they threw themselves into each other’s arms. It's time to give birth. They heated up the bathhouse. The pregnancy became pregnant, and the grandmother accepted the baby. They went to the bathhouse, and there other women gave the grandmother a bottle of ointment to smear the child’s eyes, and warned the grandmother that she should not apply this ointment to her eyes, otherwise she would go blind.
When there was no one in the bathhouse, the grandmother smeared her right eye, and suddenly a miracle happened: the grandmother began to walk in the water and on the water, like a special animal. After visiting her granddaughter, she began to get ready to go home. He also invites his granddaughter with him, but she says that she cannot go to them; go yourself more often. The grandmother began to say goodbye to her in-laws and matchmakers, but they did not let her walk: “Let’s harness the cart,” they said. They harnessed the cart and sent the grandmother away.
At home, the grandmother told about her granddaughter’s life and life, about her visit to the matchmakers, she praised them as best as possible, and the family could not be surprised.
The next day, grandma went to the store to do some shopping. Entering the shop, she asks the merchant about the price of the goods, but no one sees her. They look back and forth - there is no one.
“What a miracle,” says the shopkeeper. - Who is speaking?
The grandmother guessed that she was invisible to strangers and that the ointment made her invisible. She took from the store what she needed, without any money, and went home. Grandmother was glad that she took everything for nothing.
The next day she went to the store again. In the shop he sees people carrying goods out and putting them in a cart.
-Where are you taking the goods? - asks the grandmother.
“To another merchant,” people answer and ask her how she sees them?
“I see it as you see,” the grandmother answers.
-Which eye?
- Right.
Then one approached the grandmother and tore out her right eye, and then a miracle happened again: the grandmother became visible to everyone, but with her left eye she could not see the goods being taken out of the store. The grandmother howled from pain in her right eye and walked home crookedly. Only then did she realize that they were the Wumurts, with whom she might have been visiting, but for some reason she did not recognize them.
Now let's say something about the Wumurts. These vumurts transported goods from shop to shop. Whoever believed in the faith of the Wumurts, they carried goods from the shop of an unbeliever, and carried only those goods that were placed without blessing, that is, without prayers. In this way, goods passed from shop to shop, and from this one merchant became poor and another became rich.
(Elizar Evseev.)
Grigory Egorovich (Georgievich) Vereshchagin (1851-1930)
The first Udmurt scientist and writer who left a rich and varied creative heritage. He wrote the well-known poem “Chagyr, chagyr dydyke...” (“Grey, gray dove...”), which spread in the form of a folk song, the centenary of its publication was celebrated by the public in 1989 as the anniversary of the first original printed work of art in the Udmurt language and all Udmurt literature.
G.E. Vereshchagin wrote poems, poems, plays in the Udmurt and Russian languages. Of these, during his lifetime he published only more than a dozen poems in his native language. Four of his poems (“Lost Life”, “Skorobogat-Kashchei”, “Golden Fish” and “Batyr’s Clothes”) were first published today, thanks to the efforts of researchers.
During his lifetime, G.E. Vereshchagin became famous not only in Russia, but also abroad (in particular, in Hungary, Finland) as an ethnographer and folklorist who collected, researched and published materials relating to history, language, customs, traditions, beliefs and religious rituals, as well as artistic culture (songs, legends, traditions, fairy tales, riddles, proverbs, sayings, etc.) of the Udmurts and Russians, who lived mainly in the Glazov and Sarapul districts of the Vyatka province, located between the Vyatka and Kama rivers. His ethnographic essays include not only the necessary scientific information. Despite the fact that they were written in Russian, they were essentially the first works of Udmurt fiction and received high recognition, although not as artistic experiments, but as scientific works. In particular, each of his monographs: “Votyaki of the Sosnovsky Territory”, “Votyak of the Sarapulsky District of the Vyatka Province” are original essays (or even stories, as some researchers call them) of an encyclopedic nature about the life of the Udmurt people of that time, which were awarded a silver medal Imperial Russian Geographical Society, a well-known scientific center for the study of the ethnography of the peoples of Russia at that time. At the age of thirty-seven, in 1888, as a teacher of a provincial primary school, taking into account the value of the materials provided by him from the place of observation, G.E. Vereshchagin was honored to be elected as a member-employee of this most authoritative scientific society at that time.
The linguistic research of G.E. Vereshchagin turned out to be fruitful. He compiled Udmurt-Russian and Russian-Udmurt dictionaries, which remained unpublished, and published the book “Guide to the Study of the Votsk Language” - “the first original research work in the field of observation of the Votsk language,” as stated in the preface to the book, signed by the Votsk Academic Center. Regarding the works of G.E. Vereshchagin, the words “first”, “first” have to be used quite often.
G.E. Vereshchagin was not a scientist in our traditional understanding: he did not defend dissertations, did not receive academic titles and degrees; being a simple school teacher (later a priest), he actively collected ethnographic and folklore material, and these scrupulous and systematic local history research formed him as a general ethnographer. The Udmurt people, the region inhabited by them, became for him a kind of “training ground” where he learned the science of a comprehensive study of folk culture. It was this desire that turned G.E. Vereshchagin into a scientist with a wide range of interests, combining an ethnographer, folklorist, religious scholar, and onomastics researcher.
The good name of G.E. Vereshchagin also went down in history in connection with the Multan trial (1892-1896), which was sensational throughout the world and shameful for the tsarist authorities, during which at two sessions of the district court he acted as an expert ethnographer on the side of the defense. The very fact of his involvement in this role testified to the recognition of his competence in the field of ethnography of the Udmurts. V.G. Korolenko, who took an active part in protecting the defendants, the honor and dignity of the entire Udmurt people and in exposing the criminal actions of the authorities during this process, highly appreciated the role of G.E. Vereshchagin’s examination in the court’s acquittal.
In the extensive scientific heritage of Grigory Egorovich Vereshchagin, the book “Votyaks of the Sosnovsky Territory” occupies a special place. It marked the beginning of an intense and purposeful scientific search to which the scientist devoted his entire life.
The work was first published in 1884. Since at that time there were no ethnography departments at scientific institutions and universities, all research in the field of ethnography of Russia was concentrated in learned societies. One of these centers was the ethnographic department of the Imperial Russian Geographical Society, in the News of which the scientist’s monograph was published.
Exactly 120 years ago, in 1886, G.E. Vereshchagin’s book with minor additions was republished. It was highly appreciated by contemporaries and has not yet lost its value as a collection of the richest ethnographic material about the Udmurt people. Thanks to the uniqueness of the materials contained in the work, the reliability and detail of the factual descriptions, G. Vereshchagin’s monograph constantly continues to attract the attention of Udmurt scholars. We can find references to this work and references to its factual material in a significant number of modern publications devoted to issues of economics and material culture, social and family life, religion, spiritual culture and art of the Udmurt people. It has become almost a rule to check your knowledge of the facts of Udmurt ethnography “according to Vereshchagin.”
(Published from: Vereshchagin G.E. Collected works: In 6 volumes. Izhevsk: UIYAL Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 1995. Vol. 1. Votyaks of the Sosnovsky region / Responsible for the issue G.A. Nikitin; A word to the reader: V. M. Vanyushev; Afterword by V. M. Vanyushev, G. A. Nikitina. T. 2. Votyaks of the Sarapul district of the Vyatka province / Responsible for the issue by L. S. Khristolubov.)