Two marriages

Two marriages (Kalmyk fairytales)

Once upon a time there were three brothers and their younger sister; they were orphans. It was time to share their inheritance. The brothers wanted to share their inheritance, and their younger sister said to the youngest of her brothers:

- Say that you want to take only your younger sister and our black cow with you and it will be sufficient for you, - she said.

It was high time to share the inheritance.

The youngest brother said to his elder ones:

- Take all our cattle for yourselves; I will take only our younger sister and our black cow with me, - he said.

The two brothers were glad to hear that. They were glad to consider themselves as people who had a lot of cattle. They shared their inheritance. The youngest brother took his younger sister and the black cow with him and left.

The younger siblings, who had only one cow, had plenty of milk, butter and arza *.

The elder brothers, who had a lot of cattle, were hungry and did not even have butter for tea *.

The elder brothers talked it over and came to their younger brother:

- You milk only one cow and have plenty of food; we milk seven or eight cows and starve. Let’s go to the khan and find out the reason, - they said.

- Well, let’s go then.

The three brothers went to the khan …

They came to the khan and the eldest brother said first:

- Our younger ones milk their single cow; we milk seven or eight cows; but they have plenty of food and we starve, - they said.

The khan answered them:

- Think it over and tell me tomorrow what the most beautiful and the fastest things are on the earth, - he said and saw them off.

They came home.

The two brothers came home and talked:

- What is the most beautiful thing on the earth? - one of them asked.

The other answered:

- Is there anything on the earth that is more beautiful than the blue silk of our grandmother that she wore long ago? - he asked the first one.

- No, there is not! - the first answered.

They were glad to consider themselves as people who knew what the most beautiful thing on the earth was. Then one of them asked:

- What is the fastest thing on the earth? - he said.

- Is there anything on the earth faster than our short roan * horse? - the other answered.

- No, there is not! - the first answered.

They were glad to consider themselves as people who knew what the fastest thing on the earth was.

The elder brother prepared to go to the khan.

The younger brother came to his younger sister.

The younger sister asked him:

- What has the khan said?

Then he said:

- He told them to say what the most beautiful and the fastest things are on the earth, - he said.

Then she explained to her brother: “If he asks you what the most beautiful thing on the earth is, tell him that the moon is, but the sun is more beautiful. As to the fastest thing, say that a wind is fast, but a thought is faster than a wind. If he asks you who told you that, tell him that nobody did, deny that anybody told you”, the sister told her brother.

It was high time to go to the khan.

They came to the khan and he asked the elder brothers first:

- Well, what is the most beautiful thing on the earth? - he asked.

Then one of the elder brothers said:

- Is there anything more beautiful than the blue silk of our grandmother that she wore long ago? - he said. And,

- No, there is not! - the other said.

- Well, what is the fastest thing? - the khan asked and one of the brothers said:

- Is there anything faster than our short roan * horse, with which we drive our sheep?

And the other said:

- No, there is not.

The khan asked the youngest brother:

- What is the most beautiful thing on the earth?

- The moon is, but the sun is more beautiful, - he answered.

- What is the fastest thing?

- A wind is fast, but a thought is faster, - he said.

- Who told you? - the khan asked.

- Nobody did, - he denied it.

- Then I will put you to death, - the khan threatened.

He was frightened and said:

- My younger sister told me, - he confessed.

- Well, go back. Tell your younger sister to come to me and sit neither in nor out tomorrow, - the khan ordered.

All of them went back.

As he came, his younger sister asked him:

- What has the khan said? - she asked.

- The khan asked me and I answered him. He asked me who had told me that. I denied it. As I denied it, he said that he would put me to death. I was frightened and said that my younger sister had told me. He has told you to come to him and sit neither in nor out tomorrow, - he told his younger sister.

The next day his younger sister came to the khan and opened the lower part of the kibitka * and sat between the lower part of it and the wooden grating *.

- Miss, what are you doing? - the khan asked.

- Khan, you have told me to sit neither in nor out. So I have come and sat, - she answered the khan.

The khan realised that the girl was clever and married her at once.

Once a man with his sterile mare came to our village, tied his mare to a cart and entered the house. When he went out, he found a dead horse foal, lying between the dried wooden cart and the sterile mare.

When the owner of the mare was going to take the foal, the owner of the dried wooden cart said that it was his foal. They argued, asking each other if the dried wooden cart could give a birth to the foal and if the sterile mare could give a birth to the foal.

While they were arguing, the khan came and gave the foal to the owner of the dried wooden cart, his fellow-villager.

The owner of the sterile mare got offended and thought it over for two or three days.

Once he came to the khan and found his wife, alone.

- Mister, why are you hanging around? - the wife of the khan asked.

- I feel offended because of the loss of my horse foal, - the man said.

- You should go out and wait for the khan; he will come. When he comes, follow him and say: “Khan, will you give me an archim * of thread?” So the khan will ask you what you are going to do with it. Then say: “I will set a fishnet in a dry place”. “Can a fishnet be set in a dry place?” he will scold you. Then say: “’Can a foal be born of dried wood?’ and go away”, the khan’s wife told the man. “If he asks you who told you that, say that nobody did”.

The man listened to advice of the khan’s wife and went out.

As the khan came and sat, the man entered.

- Khan, khan, will you give me an archim of thread? - he asked.

- What will you do with the thread? - the khan asked.

- I will set a fishnet in a dry place, - he said.

- Can a fishnet be set in a dry place? - the khan scolded him. Then the man said:

- Can a foal be born of dried wood? - and went away.

He called the man.

- Who told you that? - he asked.

- Nobody did, - he said.

As he kept denying it, the khan said:

- I will put you to death.

The man was frightened.

- Your wife told me, - he said. So the man got the foal.

Then the khan became angry with his wife and wanted to send her back.

- Well, go back. Take all the things that you like from this home and go back, - he told his wife.

He arranged a party in honour of his wife, who must leave …

The khan’s wife made the khan dead drunk and seated him in a carriage at about midnight.

When the dawn came, the khan realised that he had been beaten * and married her again.

The khan and his wife returned to their home and routine and lived happily.

Arza * - Kalmyks made a beverage of koumiss (fermented mare’s milk); it was called arza. They took two boilers of cast iron with a slightly arched long wooden tube between the boilers, which was inserted into their holes, and poured three to four pails of koumiss into that boiler, which was bigger than the second one; it was above a trivet * - a big three - cornered boiler; the second boiler was empty and was in a trough with cool water. A fire was made in a trivet with kizyak * - cow pats dried in the sun. The boilers were covered with their lids so as not to access air and people boiled the milk in the first boiler, keeping it above a trivet for an hour and half or two hours, and the mare’s milk was distilled from one boiler into the other boiler through the tube; drops of condensed steam penetrated into the empty boiler through the tube and then three to four bottles of a transparent beverage resulted. It was a strong beverage and could make one drunk; if one wanted to make the beverage stronger, he should boil it for longer - it became stronger, but its volume was less, and on the contrary, if one wanted to make it softer, he should boil it less and its volume was more.

Butter for tea * - Kalmyks used to put a piece of butter into milk tea.

Roan * - a brown horse with a mixture of white or coloured hairs on its body, and with a black mane and tail.

A kibitka * - a circle-shaped dwelling of Kalmyks with a conical roof and only one common room; it was constructed of six wooden gratings, which were joined to one another with leather loops, and the gratings were covered with felt from outside.

A grating * - the dwelling was constructed with a lot of crossed wooden, round-formed and equal poles, which were covered with thick felt from outside.
A lower part of a kibitka * - a lower part of thick felt, which covered the gratings from outside of the dwelling and could be raised and opened.

An archim * - the ancient measure of length; it equals 71 centimetres.

Beaten * - he lost as he was charmed by his wife and she won.

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

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