The boy who rides a ram and milks a mouse

The boy who rides a ram and milks a mouse (Kalmyk fairytales)

Once upon a time there was a boy who milked a mouse and rode a ram *. He milked his mouse and made koumiss *. When a herdsman of the khan came, the boy gave him koumiss.

- What delicious koumiss it is.

- Despite its delicious taste it can dissolve your occipital tendon.

- You are a boy who speaks venomous words.
- Venom * may be on the earth, melted fat * is in soup.
- You are a recalcitrant boy - he said.
- Recalcitrant * may be a horse, a ladle * is at market.
- We will not get along.

The herdsman rode his horse and told the khan about it. He fell into disgrace with the khan, and he obliged him to serve in the army for three months.

The boy made a spear of reeds, a sword of reed mace *, rode his ram harshly, causing him to rear; rode him hard, lashing on his groin; rode him hard, lashing on his thighs; rode him hard, lashing him on the croup, and got to the khan’s house with his clothes fluttering.

The khan’s wife looked at him and said:

- The boy who rides a ram and milks a mouse will disgrace the khan’s army.
- Shin-shanks cannot be eaten; words said on someone’s way are not words *; a goat’s head is not an example of beauty; and so, light-faced * khan’s wife, you are not a person to judge me, - the boy said and went away.

The khan’s wife told the khan about it. The khan called the boy,
- How have you sworn? - he said.
- I have ridden my ram, taken my spear of reeds and my sword of reed mace, and come to join your army by your order. Seeing me, your wife has said that the boy who rides his ram will disgrace your army. So I have said to her: “Shin-shanks cannot be eaten; words said on someone’s way are not words; a goat’s head is not an example of beauty; so, light-faced khan’s wife, you are not a person to judge me”.

The khan put his wife to death. The boy joined the army. The boy finished his service and came home, driving thirty red cows. He came back and lived happily.

The boy who rides a ram and milks a mouse * - means that he was poor.

Koumiss * - fermented mare’s milk.

“Recalcitrant” – “melted fat” *, “venom” – “ladle” * - the pairs of the words rhyme in Kalmyk sayings.

“Shin-shanks cannot be eaten, words said on someone’s way are not words” - an idiom, which implies that some bad words addressed to a person on his way mean nothing to him and they are not significant for a person to whom they are addressed, and they are not worth paying attention to them. A similar proverb in English is “Fools are wise as long as silent”.

Reed mace (bulrushes, cattails) * - a southern plant that grows in fresh and salt marshes and has sword-shaped leaves.

A light-faced person * - the word implies reddish-brown, golden-brown complexion and red, auburn hair; it was a gentle word to express one’s bad attitude, contempt for a person he spoke about or addressed.

Translated from Kalmyk into English by Danara Balayeva-Kokayeva
Перевод с калмыцкого на английский Данары Балаевой-Кокаевой

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