Siberia is rich in more than just snow. There is also endless space, harsh nature and the Novomarusino residential complex. And the people here are in tune with the surrounding climate and even in 35 degrees of heat they wear jackets with serious faces. Because anything can be expected, the region is wild, although developed. But there were times when trolleybuses had not yet traveled across Siberia, and cities had not yet been built for them. In these times, even convicts were not sent here, because they simply did not know the way here. And completely different people lived here. Those who could proudly fight now for the rights of the “indigenous population”. And they had completely different values. They lived in forests, along rivers, hunted bears and didn’t care about the oil price. Everything that now occupies most of the consciousness of a modern Siberian was indifferent to his ancestor.

Survival is what people did when placed in such harsh conditions. But it cannot be said that from dawn to dusk they fought only for life. They still managed to reproduce, cook stews, and even update each other’s news feeds by encoding the experience gained into fairy tales. Moreover, they are always instructive and meaningful, and not like now - in brochures before the elections. We were very inspired by the folklore of our ancestors and would like to bring to your attention one of the old fairy tales of the peoples of Siberia.

Itte was little when he became an orphan. The mother died the year Itte was born. The father is a hunter, he went to hunt the beast and never returned.

Grandmother Itte - her name was Imyal-Pay - took him in with her.

He's become a big boy, but he's afraid of everything. He doesn’t leave his grandmother’s side, he clings to his grandmother’s hem.

Grandma thinks:

How can I wean Itte from being afraid of everything, so that Itte can go fishing, hunt animals, and become a brave hunter?..

A fruitful year has arrived for pine nuts. When the nuts are completely ripe, they can be collected.

Grandmother Imyal-Pai says to Itta:

Let's go, Itte, collect nuts.

What is it? Let's go, grandma!

Grandmother sat down with a smile. She sat her down, pushed the little boy, and off we went.

It was a clear day. The sun is shining. Urman makes a quiet noise. The Tym River runs from sand to sand.

Granny and Itte drove across three sands, went ashore, climbed a mountain, and went into the taiga.

Birds sing in the taiga. You can hear the nutcracker knocking in the distance. The bird chooses nuts from the cones.

Grandmother and Itte began collecting nuts. The cedars raised their heads high and hid their cones in the branches. Old Imyal-Paya hits a twig with a mallet - the cones fall off on their own.

They poured a full load of nuts and got ready to go home. Grandmother left one birch bark bag with nuts on the mountain.

Oh, Itte, you forgot your wallet. Run and get it.

Itte ran up the mountain, and Imyal-Paya pushed the cloud away from the shore.

Itte looks from the mountain - grandma has left! Itte began to scream, began to cry:

Why did you leave me, grandma?..

Imyal-Paya did not look back even once. She rowed the oar hard, and soon the cloud disappeared from sight.

Itte was left alone in the taiga. He started running along the shore, looking for somewhere to hide. I searched and searched and found a hollow. He climbed into the hollow, curled up into a ball, and lay quietly.

The sun began to go down, the wind blew, and it began to rain. Taiga is noisy. Cedar cones fall and knock on the hollow.

Itta became scared. He thinks that the animals have come and will eat him.

Out of fear, Itte began to shout:

Eat everything, just don’t touch your head!

And no one touched him. There was just a knocking noise all around - the pine cones were falling.

No matter how afraid Itte was, he fell asleep little by little. No matter how much I slept, I woke up. He looks - it has become light. The sun is high. The birds are singing. Taiga makes a quiet noise.

Itte began to feel himself - was he safe?

He extended his left hand - here is the hand. He extended his right hand - here is the hand. Itte jumped out of the hollow and stood up. He looked - cones were attacking all around. Oh, so many cones!

Itte began to collect cones and forgot his fear. No one to fear!

Itte collected a large pile of cones. He looked at the shore: he saw - grandmother

Imyal-Paya has arrived. He waved his hand at grandma and shouted:

Why did you leave me alone? Grandmother tells him:

Don't be angry, Itte. You are human. Nobody can do anything to you. Human

Everywhere the owner. Now you won't be afraid of anything. And I spent the night not far from you, in the forest.

Itte thought:

Grandma says the truth - don’t be afraid

Itte made peace with his grandmother. They started collecting nuts again. Again we got a full blast. Let's go home.

The Tym River runs from sand to sand. The sun is shining high. Taiga makes a quiet noise.

Since then, Itte has become brave. Wherever he wants, he goes alone. So Grandma Imyal-Pai taught her granddaughter Itte not to be afraid.

Year after year time has passed. Itte grew up. He became a hunter - he became the bravest hunter.

“God created the striped chipmunk, and released the hare with a split lip...

And the people argued, laughed and answered with their ironic tales:

- No, the chipmunk became striped because grandpa bear stroked him.

- No, the hare’s upper lip was split in two because he laughed a lot. Remember when he scared the sheep?..

The people dreamed of conquering the forces of nature and expressed their dream in wonderful fairy tales. So, the Evenki women made iron wings for the boy, and he rose on these wings to the clouds. One woman in the Khanty camp wove a wonderful towel, on which her husband swam across the sea. And in Altai, the hero Sartakpai built bridges over stormy rivers, laid roads and even tried to make lightning illuminate the earth at night.

The peoples of Siberia composed many interesting epics and fairy tales. From these works, scientists learn about the life of the people, their ancient ideas about the world, their dreams and hopes.

A. M. Gorky called the fairy tales and epics of the peoples of Siberia pearls, and advised collecting and studying them.

But before the October Socialist Revolution, these works were almost unknown to the Russian reader.

During the years of Soviet power, under the leadership of the Communist Party, as we have already seen, the life of the peoples of Siberia was radically changed. Along with all the peoples of our homeland, they began to govern their own socialist state - the fraternal Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. All the peoples of Siberia have created their own autonomous Soviet socialist republics, autonomous regions or national districts. With the fraternal help of the great Russian people, all nomadic peoples, having created collective farms, settled down to a settled life. They replaced the smoky and cold yurt with a bright and warm house. In the taiga, trading posts and hunting and fishing stations have been built for hunters. There are roads everywhere. Cars arrived in the most remote areas. Tractors lifted centuries-old virgin soil. Factories and factories have been built in national republics and regions. All nations have created their own written language and eliminated illiteracy. Our own doctors, engineers, agronomists, candidates and doctors of science appeared. Our own poets, writers and playwrights have grown up. Their voices are heard throughout the country. Their books have been translated into Russian and published in Moscow, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk and other cities. Best works the peoples of Siberia show the arts to the working people of our homeland from the stage of Moscow theaters.

On the advice of Alexei Maksimovich Gorky, the writers lovingly and carefully collected “pearls of folk art.” From folk singers and storytellers they recorded oral works of art- epics, songs, fairy tales.

There are many wonderful Russian fairy tales recorded in Siberia. They were published in Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk and Irkutsk. Therefore, we publish here only fairy tales of those peoples whose work is little known. The Russian reader will be interested to get acquainted with what his talented neighbors have created over the centuries.

The tales in our book are different. Some of them are published in the form in which they were written down by Russian writers from storytellers, others are published in literary adaptation, others are written by writers, but they were created based on folk motives. The basis of all the fairy tales included in this collection is the same - folk art, folk wisdom.

There are fairy tales written under Soviet rule. They contain the joy and happiness of the people. There are also old tales about the fight against beys and khans. Young, brave, strong people, boys and girls, are entering this fight. They fight for joy and freedom for all working people. Sometimes they win thanks to their heroic strength, sometimes thanks to their intelligence and resourcefulness. Truth and victory are always on their side. It was an expression of the dream of a free life. The people realized their wonderful dream.

There are old tales about conquering the forces of nature. In the distant past, this was a bold dream. In our time, the dream has become reality: roads have been built, iron birds carry people over long distances with the speed of sound, lightning serves people, our cosmonauts in miracle ships are exploring the space separating the Earth from its neighbor the Moon, numerous “seas” created by Soviet people, changed the geographical appearance of the country.

Just yesterday, wild dreams were called fabulous. Today, through the work of the people, the fairy tale has been turned into reality.

Afanasy Koptelov.

ALTAI TALES

SARTAKPAI

In Altai, at the mouth of the Ini River, lived the hero Sartakpai. His scythe goes all the way to the ground. Eyebrows are like thick bushes. The muscles are knotty, like a growth on a birch tree - you can even cut cups out of them.

Not a single bird has ever flown past Sartakpai’s head: he shot without missing a beat.

Sartakpai always accurately hit the ungulate animals running in the distance. He aimed deftly at the clawed animals.

His archemaks (archemaks are leather bags thrown over the saddle) were not empty. There was always fatty game strapped to the saddle. The son of Aduchi-Mergen, hearing the stomp of the pacer from afar, ran out to meet his father to unsaddle the horse. Oymok’s daughter-in-law prepared eighteen game dishes and ten milk drinks for the old man.

But the famous hero Sartakpai was not happy, not cheerful. Day and night he heard the cry of the Altai rivers blocked by stones. Throwing from stone to stone, they were torn to shreds. They split into streams, bumping into mountains. Sartakpai is tired of seeing the tears of the Altai rivers, tired of listening to their incessant groan. And he decided to give way to the Altai waters to the Arctic Ocean. Sartakpai called his son:

“You, child, go south, and I’ll go east.”

Aduchi the son went to Mount Belukha, climbed to where the eternal snow lies, and began to look for routes to the Katun River.

The hero Sartakpai himself went east, to the fatty lake Yulu-Kol. With the index finger of his right hand, Sartakpai touched the bank of the Yulu-Kol - and the Chulyshman River flowed after his finger. All the passing streams and rivers, all the sonorous springs and underground waters, rushed into this river with a cheerful song.

But through the joyful ringing, Sartakpai heard crying in the Kosh-Agach mountains. He extended his left hand and with his index finger drew a furrow across the mountains for the Bashkaus River. And when the waters laughed, running away from Kosh-Agach, old man Sartakpai laughed with them.

– It turns out that I can also work with my left hand. However, it is not suitable to do such a thing with your left hand.

And Sartakpai turned the Bashkaus river towards the hills of Kokbash and then poured it into Chulyshman and led all the waters with one right hand down to the slopes of Artybash. Here Sartakpai stopped.

Tales of the peoples of the North

DEAR FRIEND!

The book you are holding in your hands is a collection of fairy tales. These are tales of different peoples of the Far North, Siberia and the Far East, living on a vast territory from the western to eastern borders of the Soviet Union, from the Kola Peninsula to Chukotka.

Downtrodden and backward in the past, in our country the peoples of the North are surrounded by attention and care. They created a unique culture, including rich oral folk art - folklore. The most common genre of folklore is fairy tales.

A fairy tale brightened up the difficult existence of people, served as a favorite entertainment and relaxation: fairy tales were usually told at leisure, after a hard day. But the fairy tale also played a great educational role. In the recent past, fairy tales among the peoples of the North were not only entertainment, but also a kind of school of life. Young hunters and reindeer herders listened and tried to imitate the heroes who were glorified in fairy tales.

Fairy tales paint vivid pictures of the life and everyday life of hunters, fishermen and reindeer herders, and introduce them to their ideas and customs.

The heroes of many fairy tales are poor people. They are fearless, dexterous, quick-witted and resourceful (Nenets fairy tale “The Master and the Worker”, Udege - “Gadazami”, Even - “The Resourceful Shooter” and others).

Fairy tales feature various elements of magic, prophetic powers (as, for example, in the Ket fairy tales “The Little Bird” and “Alba and Khosyadam” or in the Chukchi fairy tale “Almighty Katgyrgyn”), spirits - the masters of the elements (the underwater kingdom, the underground and heavenly worlds , spirits of water, earth, forest, fire, etc.) (for example, in the Selkup fairy tale “Mistress of Fire”, Oroch - “The Best Hunter on the Coast”, Nivkh - “White Seal”), death and revival (for example, in Evenki fairy tale “How the snakes were defeated”).

Tales about animals occupy a large place in the folklore of the peoples of the North. They explain habits in their own way and appearance animals (the Mansi fairy tale “Why does the hare have long ears”, the Nanai fairy tale “How the bear and the chipmunk stopped being friends”, the Eskimo fairy tale “How the raven and the owl painted each other”), they talk about mutual assistance between man and beast (the Mansi fairy tale “Proud Deer”, Dolganskaya - “Old Fisherman and Raven”, Nivkhskaya - “Hunter and Tiger”).

The main idea of ​​the fairy tale is simple: there should be no place for suffering and poverty on earth, evil and deception must be punished.

Dear friend! Read this book thoughtfully, without rushing. When you read a fairy tale, think about what it is about and what it teaches. As the poet Vladimir Mayakovsky wrote: “A fairy tale is a fairy tale, but you draw a conclusion from the fairy tale.” So think about what conclusion can be drawn from each fairy tale you read.

In the book you will come across words that may be unknown to you. They are marked with an asterisk; you will find their explanation at the end of the book. These are mainly the names of household items, household utensils, and clothing of various peoples of the North.

Read stories slowly, as if you were telling them to your friends or younger siblings.

Look carefully at the illustrations for fairy tales. Think about which episode of the fairy tale they relate to, what kind of drawing you would draw for this or that fairy tale. Pay attention to the ornaments, clothing, and household items of different peoples.

We wish you success!

NENETS TALE

Once upon a time there lived a poor woman. And she had four children. The children did not obey their mother. They ran and played in the snow from morning to evening, but their mothers did not help. They will return to the tent, they will drag whole drifts of snow on the pima trees, and take the mother away. The clothes will be wet, and the mother will be sushi. It was difficult for the mother. From such a life, from hard work, she fell ill. He lies in the tent, calls the children, asks:

Kids, give me some water. My throat is dry. Bring some water.

The mother asked more than once, not twice - the children would not go for water. Senior says:

I'm without pims. Another says:

I'm without a hat. The third says:

I'm without clothes.

And the fourth doesn’t answer at all. Their mother asks:

There is a river close to us, and you can go without clothes. My mouth was dry. I am thirsty!

And the children ran out of the chum, played for a long time, and did not look at their mother. Finally, the eldest wanted to eat - he looked into the tent. He looks: the mother is standing in the middle of the chum and putting on a malitsa. Suddenly the little girl became covered with feathers. The mother takes a board on which the skins are scraped, and that board becomes a bird's tail. The thimble became an iron beak. Instead of arms, wings grew.

The mother turned into a cuckoo bird and flew out of the tent.

Then the elder brother shouted:

Brothers, look, look: our mother is flying away like a bird!

The children ran after their mother and shouted to her:

Mom, mom, we brought you some water! And she answers:

Cuckoo, cuckoo! It's late, it's late! Now the lake waters are in front of me. I'm flying to free waters!

The children run after their mother, call her, and hold out a ladle of water.

The youngest son shouts:

Mom mom! Come home! Drink some water!

The mother answers from afar:

Cuckoo, cuckoo! It's too late, son! I won't come back!

So the children ran after their mother for many days and nights - over stones, through swamps, over hummocks. They wounded their feet until they bled. Wherever they run, there will be a red trail.

The mother cuckoo abandoned her children forever. And since then the cuckoo has not built its own nest, nor has it raised its own children. And since then, red moss has been spreading across the tundra.

TALA-BEAR AND THE GREAT SORCERER

SAMIC TALE

Tala the Bear got into the habit of wandering around the camp at night. He walks quietly, does not give a voice, hides behind the stones - waits: will a stupid fawn break away from the herd, or a puppy will jump out of the camp, or a child.

Buryat people

Buryats (self-name - Buryats), people in Russian Federation, one of the many peoples of Siberia. The main population of Buryatia (273 thousand people), also live in the Irkutsk region (80 thousand people), including in the Ust-Ordynsky district (54 thousand people), in the Chita region (70 thousand people), including in the Aginsky district ( 45 thousand people), in the Far Eastern Federal District (10 thousand people). In total there are 445 thousand people in the Russian Federation (2002). Buryats also live in the north of Mongolia (35 thousand people) and in the northeast of China. The total number of Buryats is more than 500 thousand people.

During the period of the first Russian settlers in the Baikal region, cattle breeding played a predominant role in the economy of the Buryat tribes; semi-nomadic among the western and nomadic among the eastern tribes. The Buryats raised sheep, cattle, goats, horses and camels. Additional types of economic activity were hunting, farming and fishing, which were more developed among the Western Buryats; There was a seal fishery on the coast of Lake Baikal. Beliefs of the Buryats - historically, the spiritual sphere of society was formed in Buryatia under the mutual influence of Buddhism, shamanism of indigenous peoples and Old Believers. From the end of the 16th century. Tibetan Buddhism (Lamaism) became widespread. From the middle of the 17th century. The first Orthodox churches and chapels appeared in Transbaikalia. (more about the beliefs of the Buryats HERE http://irkipedia.ru/content/verovaniya_buryat)

Buryat men's and women's clothing differed relatively little. The lower clothing consisted of a shirt and pants, the upper one was a long, loose robe with a wrap on the right side, which was belted with a wide cloth sash or belt. Married women wore a sleeveless vest over their robes - udje, which had a slit in the front, which was also lined. Women's favorite jewelry were temple pendants, earrings, necklaces, and medallions. The Buryat headdress is called malgai. Outerwear is called degel. Buryat shoes are gutul. The robe's corners, bottom, and sleeves are decorated with ribbon geometric patterns, and circular elements are scattered across the surface.

Buryat folklore

Buryats live in Buryatia (the capital is the city of Ulan-Ude), in the Chita and Irkutsk regions. In the territories where the Buryats now live, many tribes lived in the 17th century. Having merged, they formed the Buryat nation. In the 17th century, the Buryats became part of the Russian state.

Before the revolution, the Buryats used the Mongolian script. In 1931, its own written language was created. The founder of Buryat literature is the outstanding writer Khotsa Namsaraev (1889-1959). Famous poets are Nikolai Damdinov (born in 1932) and Dondok Ulzytuev (1936-1972). Buryat folklore is rich, the heroic epic “Alamzhi-Mergen”, “Geser” is widely known.

The first researcher of Buryat ethnography and folklore was the exiled Decembrist Nikolai Bestuzhev (1791-1855), an artist and writer who lived in a settlement in Selenginsk from 1839.

Buryat folklore - oral folk art, began to take shape in pre-Chinggis Khan times; it was a form of knowledge of life, artistic perception of the world around us. Buryat folklore consists of myths, uligers, shamanic invocations, legends, cult hymns, fairy tales, proverbs, sayings, and riddles. Myths about the origin of the Universe and life on earth. Uligers are epic poems of large size: from 5 thousand to 25 thousand lines. The content of the poems is heroic.

The history of the Buryat ethnic group and its culture are closely connected with Central Asia. This is convincingly evidenced by the pinnacle of folk poetic creation - the epic "Geser". The name of this epic hero - a champion of goodness and justice - sounds like a symbol of the common cultural and moral values ​​of the peoples inhabiting a vast territory from the Himalayas to Lake Baikal. It is not for nothing that the epic "Geser" is called the Iliad of Central Asia.

Tales of the Buryats

In the fairy tale tradition, on the basis of ethnic and linguistic community, the kinship of Mongolian, Buryat and Kalmyk fairy tales. An undoubted typological similarity is also found with the fairy-tale epic of neighboring Turkic-speaking peoples - Altaians, Tuvans, Khakassians and Yakuts. These similarities come from the initial adequacy of the natural habitat, forms of farming and the way of thinking of the historical ancestors of these peoples.

Let's move back for a moment to times gone by, to an ancient Buryat yurt, lost in the steppe space. In it, the evening warmth emanates from the hearth and from the breath of people who came to the yurt to listen to the famous storyteller in these parts - Ontokhoshin. He sits on the hoimor - the northern side of the yurt, traditionally intended for respected guests. In the steppe, from time immemorial, artistic expression and performing skills have been highly valued. It is not for nothing that there is a popular proverb, which when translated sounds something like this: “The storyteller sits on a mat of honor, and the singer sits on a hill.”

Source: Children of the Beast Maana. Tales of the peoples of Siberia about animals. / Compiled by Erta Gennadievna. Paderina; artist H. Avrutis, - Novosibirsk: Novosibirsk book publishing house, 1988. - 144 p., ill.

CHICKEN AND CAT

“I like you, chicken,” the cat once said. “You’re gray and I’m gray, we need to make friends.”

The chicken didn’t believe her and said:

“I remember how your mother stole my chicken last year.” Is it possible to rely on you? You know that I never offend anyone. And you cats are notorious bullies. If you can, then prove your loyalty, cat!

The cat did not find what to answer and was very upset.

But a few days later the cat came to hunt for mice in the old threshing floor, where there was a haystack.

Suddenly the chicken cackled in fear and rushed under the stack.

"What's happened? — the cat thought. “Probably she needs help...”

The cat ran after her and saw a hawk falling from the sky on her. From above, he did not notice the difference, because the cat and the chicken were both gray.

The cat quickly turned on her back and grabbed the hawk with her sharp claws. Then death came to him, the villain.

Then the hen came out of her hiding place and said:

- Now I believe you, cat. Only a true comrade can do this.

And someone still thinks that a cat and a chicken can never be friends!

MOUSE AND CAMEL

(Translation by A. Prelovsky)

One day a very large and very stupid camel argued with a small but smart mouse.

“I will see the sunrise before you,” said the camel.

No, I,” said the mouse.

Where are you going? You're no bigger than my eyelash. I'm a mountain compared to you. How can you compete with me?

They argued and argued and decided to make sure. They began to wait for the morning.

The camel reasoned: “I am a hundred times larger than this mouse. This means I will notice the sunrise a hundred times faster. And since the earth is round, no matter where the sun rises, I will still see it. And still the first!”

Stupid camel! He didn’t know that the sun always rises in the east!

The camel stood facing south and began to look. And the little mouse climbed onto the camel’s hump and began to look east.

- Here it is, the sun! I saw you before! Oh you camel! - the mouse screamed and jumped to the ground.

The camel turned around and saw that the sun had already risen and seemed to be laughing at him. He got terribly angry. Not on yourself, of course, but on the mouse.

He rushed in pursuit of her, trying to trample her. But the clever mouse managed to hide in the ashes from yesterday's fire.

Since then, every time the camel sees ash, it lies down and begins to roll on it. He gets dirty from head to toe, gets up happy and thinks that this time he has dealt with the mouse he hates.

The mouse, you see, is to blame for being smarter than the camel!

WOLF

(Translation by G. Kungurov. Artist H. Avrutis)

The wolf ran to the river. Looks like the foal is stuck in the mud. The wolf wanted to eat him.

The foal moaned:

- First you pull me out, and then eat me...

The wolf agreed and pulled the foal out of the mud.

The foal looked around:

- Wait, wolf, don’t eat me: I’m dirty. Let me dry, clean off the dirt, then eat.

The foal dried in the sun and became clean. The wolf opened its mouth. The foal said:

“Look, wolf, I have a golden seal hidden in the hoof of my hind leg.” Take it, you will become rich, everyone will envy you...

The wolf was happy.

The foal raised his leg. The wolf began to look for the golden seal in the hoof.

The foal hit the wolf on the forehead so hard that the wolf turned over with its belly up. Crying, tears flowing in streams.

The foal ran away.

The wolf got angry and thought:

“Why didn’t I eat it right away? What is he to me - a son or a brother?

A stallion grazes near the cattle. The wolf bared his teeth and growled:

I will eat you!

Sit on my back,” says the stallion. “I’ll pump you up, then eat me.”

The wolf sat on the stallion. He rushed faster than the wind. He ran under the fence, and the wolf hit the top pole so hard that he fell off the stallion and lay there for a long time as if dead. He stood up, staggering, and trudged towards the ulus.

There pigs grazed and dug the ground.

The hungry wolf shouted:

- I'll eat you.

- You, wolf, first listen to how we sing.
And the pigs squealed loudly.

The men came running and the wolf barely carried off his legs. He went back into the forest, and a hunting dog met him.

“I’ll eat you,” says the wolf.

I saw the carcass of a goat and was delighted. He grabbed it with his teeth and fell into a trap.

KHARTAGAY

(Translation by A. Prelovsky)

In the most ancient times, the hunter Hartagai saw a flock of wild chickens in a clearing. Without thinking twice, Hartagai set up nooses and nets, and the chickens were caught in them. Hartagay brought them home and put them in the barn. The chickens guessed that Hartagai was going to cook dinner from them, and they prayed:

- Good Hartagay, don’t kill us! For this we promise you to lay eggs. You will always be full, rich and satisfied with us.

Hartagai did not kill chickens.

But one day Hartagai heard that the chickens were conspiring to fly away when he went hunting again.

Hartagay took a knife and cut the wings of the chickens, and put the feathers in his traveling bag. And he went into the taiga.

The chickens are sad. They flap their clipped wings, but cannot fly into the sky. Then the rooster jumped onto the fence and said:

- Don’t worry, chickens, all is not lost yet. In the morning I will ask Hartagai for our wings. If he doesn’t give it in the morning, I’ll ask at noon. If he doesn’t give it back at noon, I’ll ask again in the evening. And if he doesn’t give it back in the evening, I’ll ask at midnight.

The rooster raised his head to the sky and crowed loudly. But Hartagai did not hear him: he was far away in the taiga.

One day after another the rooster crows, but Hartagai still does not return. Something must have happened to him. Either the beast attacked, or something else. The hunter never returned.

And the chickens still hope to fly home to their native wild forests. That is why the rooster is still crowing - calling Hartagai, asking him for his wings. It calls in the morning, during the day, in the evening and at midnight.

PIG AND SNAKE

(Translation by A. Prelovsky. Artist H. Avrutis)

A greedy poisonous snake crawled every day to the old barnyard to bask in the sun and at the same time hunt. The ground was black, the snake was also black, it was difficult to notice.

The rumor about the insidious snake spread far. Geese, calves, chickens - everyone began to avoid the old yard.

Only the fat, fat pig, as if nothing had happened, rummaged under the fence, swam in puddles and slept in the sun. She didn’t even notice that she was left alone in the yard.

The goose tried to warn her about the danger. And she answered him: “oink” and “oink”! The goose didn’t understand what the pig wanted to tell him, so he left.

Everyone has already come to terms with the idea that sooner or later the pig will not be satisfied.

But something completely unexpected happened.

One day, a pig was wandering around the yard, as usual, picking the ground with its nose and grunting with pleasure. And she was so carried away by this matter that she did not even notice how she stepped on a sleeping snake.

The snake woke up and remembered that it was hungry. The snake raised its narrow predatory head with a terrible forked sting and bit the pig on the side. But the pig did not feel pain - just know that it was digging in the ground, the roots crunching on its teeth.

The snake got angry. Let's bite the pig anywhere, its rage has blinded it.

The evil snake did not know that its poisonous venom was not at all scary to the pig. I didn’t know that a pig doesn’t even feel a bite.

The snake jumped around the pig for a long time until it noticed it. And when I noticed, I was very surprised:

- What a big worm! Let me try...

I bit off the tip of the tail - delicious! And the pig ate the whole snake, nothing was left of it.

Thus came the end of the evil and terrible snake. Chickens, geese, calves - everyone returned again to their old barnyard.

But when they thanked the pig for delivering them from the snake, the pig responded: “oink” and “oink”!

They never understood what the pig wanted to say.

CRANE

(Translation by G. Kungurov. Artist H. Avrutis)

The crane collected birds from all over the world. He wanted to become their king. All the birds flocked together, except for the smallest one, her name was Buk-sergine. A beautiful bird, a songbird, like a nightingale.

The birds waited for her for a long time. The crane stretched out its long neck and looked to see if the beautiful bird would fly in soon. The crane could not stand it and went to look for Buxergine. I met her and asked her angrily:

Why haven't you been flying for so long? All the birds are waiting for you.

I was flying from a distant land, I was tired. You see, I’m sitting, resting, feeding.

The crane got really angry:

“Because of you, I still haven’t become king!” - And he began to peck Buxergine. She broke her right wing.

Buksergine began to cry, birds flew in and asked:

- What happened to you?

“The crane got angry with me, it broke its wing, I can’t fly.”

Then the birds began to rustle:

- ABOUT! We don't need such an evil king. He will break all of our wings.

The birds began to judge the crane and decided to punish it. They said:

— When the crane flies to warm regions and back, it must carry Buxergine on its back.

And now you can see: a crane flies, and a small bird always sits on its back.

SNOW AND HARE

(Translation by A. Prelovsky)

Snow says to the hare:

I have a headache for some reason.

“You’re probably melting, that’s why you have a headache,” answered the hare.

He sat down on a tree stump and cried bitterly:

I feel sorry, I feel sorry for you, snow. From the fox, from the wolf, from the hunter, I buried myself in you, hid. How will I live now? Any crow, any owl will see me and peck me. I’ll go to the owner of the forest and ask him to keep you, the snow, for me.

And the sun is already high, it’s hot, the snow is melting, running in streams from the mountains.

The hare became sad and cried even louder. The owner of the forest heard the hare. He listened to his request and said:

“I can’t argue with the sun; I can’t save snow.” I’ll change your white fur coat to a gray one, in the summer you will easily hide among the dry leaves, bushes and grass, no one will notice you.

The hare was happy.

Since then, he always exchanges his winter white fur coat for a summer gray one.

MAGIE AND ITS CHICKENS

One day a magpie addressed her chicks with the words:

“My children, you have already grown up, and the time has come for you to get your own food and live your own life.”

She said so and, leaving the nest, flew with the chicks to the neighboring grove. She showed them how to catch midges and insects, how to drink water from a taiga lake. But the chicks don’t want to do anything themselves.

“Let’s fly back to the nest,” they whine. “It was so good when you brought us all sorts of worms and shoved them in our mouths.” No worries, no hassle.

“My children,” the magpie says again. “You have become big, and my mother threw me out of the nest when I was very little...

What if we all get shot with arrows? - the chicks ask.

“Don’t be afraid,” the magpie replies. “Before shooting, a person takes aim for a long time, so that the nimble bird will always have time to fly away.”

“All this is true,” the chicks began to chatter, “but what will happen if a person throws a stone at us?” Any boy can do this without even aiming.

In order to take a stone, a person bends down, answers the magpie.

What if a person has a stone in his bosom? - asked the chicks.

“Whoever with his own mind has come to the idea of ​​a stone hidden in his bosom will be able to save himself from death,” said the magpie and flew away.

HUNTER AND PERSISTENT WIFE

(Source: Polar bear and brown bear: Fairy tales of the peoples of Russia in retellings by Mark Vatagin; comp., introductory article and note by M. Vatagin; Artists A. Kokovkin, T. Chursinova. - St. Petersburg: Republican Publishing House of Children's and Youth Literature " Lyceum", 1992. – 351 p.)

In former, distant times, there lived a brave hunter, a sharp shooter. He always hit without missing a beat and never came home empty-handed.

But one day he walked through the forest all day and until the evening he did not meet either an animal or a bird. Tired, exhausted, he went to bed. He sleeps and sees a strange dream: a yellow fog fell on him, and then a motley fog approached. The hunter wakes up and sees a yellow fog approaching him. He got scared, grabbed his bow, put in an arrow, but a human voice came from the fog:

“Don’t shoot at me, brave hunter, I won’t harm you.” The fog became even thicker, denser and turned into a yellow snake with motley, thundering wings. The motley-winged serpent said:

Let's be friends, brave hunter, sharp shooter. I need your help. For many years I have been waging war with the yellow-winged snake and cannot defeat it. Together we will defeat him.

“I’m ready to help you,” said the hunter.

Then let’s go to the valley where the battle will take place,” said the motley-winged serpent.

They came to a wide valley.

“Our battle will be long,” said the motley-winged serpent. “We will rise to the sky three times and descend to the ground three times.” When we rise for the fourth time, my enemy will overcome me, will gain the upper hand; when we go down, he'll be on top and I'll be on the bottom. At this time, do not yawn: I will turn his yellow head towards you, and you shoot at his only eye. This eye is in his forehead, in the very middle of his forehead. Now hide in this hole, soon the yellow-winged snake will rush from the sky right at me.

The hunter hid in a hole.

Soon a yellow-winged serpent rushed from the sky. The battle has begun. The snakes, grappling, rose to the sky three times and sank to the ground three times. The forces were equal. But then they rose to the sky for the fourth time, and the yellow-winged serpent defeated the motley-winged one. When they descended, the Yellowwing was on top and the Spottedwing was below. But the mottled wing quickly turned the head of his enemy towards the hunter. The sharp shooter was just waiting for it. The string of his bow was drawn. A moment was enough for him to shoot an arrow and pierce the yellow eye of the yellow-winged serpent. And then a yellow poisonous fog fell to the ground, from which all the trees in the forest withered and all the animals died. The hunter was saved by a motley-winged snake. He covered his friend with mighty dense wings and kept him under them for three days and three nights until the yellow poisonous fog dissipated.

And when the sun shone again, the motley-winged serpent said:

“We have defeated a formidable enemy.” Thank you, hunter. The yellow-winged snake caused a lot of harm. Every day he swallowed three beasts and devoured the fiery serpents, my subjects. If it weren't for you, he would have killed me and eaten all the fire snakes. Let's go visit me. You will see my palace, my subjects, my old parents.

The hunter agreed, and he and the serpent descended into a deep pit, and from there, through an underground passage, they entered a palace sparkling with gold and precious stones. On the floor lay fiery snakes curled into rings. One hall was followed by another, even richer one. And so they came to the largest hall. In it, two old motley-winged snakes sat near the hearth.

“These are my parents,” said the snake. The hunter greeted them.

This hunter saved me and my entire khanate,” said the snake. “He killed our old enemy.”

Thank you,” said the old snake’s parents. - You will receive a reward for this. If you want, we will give you as much gold and precious stones as you can carry. If you want, we will teach you seventy languages, so that you can understand the conversations of birds, animals and fish. Choose!

“Teach me seventy languages,” said the hunter.

“Better take gold and jewelry,” said the snake’s old parents. “Life is not easy for someone who knows seventy languages.”

No, I don’t want gold, teach me languages,” the hunter asked.

Well, have it your way,” said the old motley-winged snake. - From now on you know seventy languages, from now on you hear the conversations of birds, fish and animals. But this is a secret. You must keep it from people. If you let it slip, you will die that same day.

The hunter left the khanate of the motley-winged serpent and went home. He walks through the forest and rejoices: after all, he understands everything that animals and birds say among themselves. A hunter came out of the forest. Here is the yurt. “I’ll go into it,” he thinks. And the dog barks:

- Come here, traveler. Even though this is a poor man’s yurt, our host is kind and will treat you. We have only one cow, but the owner will give you milk, we have only one black ram, but the owner will kill the last ram for the guest.

The hunter entered the poor man's yurt. The owner greeted him politely and seated him in a place of honor. The host's wife served the guest a bowl of milk. The poor man invited the hunter to spend the night, and in the evening he slaughtered a black sheep for him. As they ate, the dog whined:

“Good guest, drop the lamb shoulder, I’ll grab it and run out, the owner won’t be angry with you.”

The hunter dropped his spatula. The dog grabbed her and ran away. And then she barked:

— A kind guest treated me to a delicious spatula. I won’t sleep all night, I’ll guard the yurt.

The wolves came at night. They stopped near the poor man’s yurt and howled:

Now we will rein in the horse!

My owner has only one horse, he cannot be eaten. If you come any closer, I'll bark loudly. The owner will wake up, his guest-hunter will wake up, and then you will be in trouble. Better go there to the rich man, pick up his fat gray mare, he has a lot of horses, and his dogs are hungry, they won’t want to bark at you.

Tales of the peoples of the North

DEAR FRIEND!

The book you hold in your hands - storybook. These are tales of different peoples of the Far North, Siberia and the Far East, living on a vast territory from the western to eastern borders of the Soviet Union, from the Kola Peninsula to Chukotka.

Downtrodden and backward in the past, in our country the peoples of the North are surrounded by attention and care. They created a unique culture, including rich oral folk art - folklore. The most common genre of folklore is fairy tales.

A fairy tale brightened up the difficult existence of people, served as a favorite entertainment and relaxation: fairy tales were usually told at leisure, after a hard day. But the fairy tale also played a great educational role. In the recent past, fairy tales among the peoples of the North were not only entertainment, but also a kind of school of life. Young hunters and reindeer herders listened and tried to imitate the heroes who were glorified in fairy tales.

Fairy tales paint vivid pictures of the life and everyday life of hunters, fishermen and reindeer herders, and introduce them to their ideas and customs.

The heroes of many fairy tales are poor people. They are fearless, dexterous, quick-witted and resourceful (Nenets fairy tale “The Master and the Worker”, Udege - “Gadazami”, Even - “The Resourceful Shooter” and others).

Fairy tales feature various elements of magic, prophetic powers (as, for example, in the Ket fairy tales “The Little Bird” and “Alba and Khosyadam” or in the Chukchi fairy tale “Almighty Katgyrgyn”), spirits - the masters of the elements (the underwater kingdom, the underground and heavenly worlds , spirits of water, earth, forest, fire, etc.) (for example, in the Selkup fairy tale “Mistress of Fire”, Oroch - “The Best Hunter on the Coast”, Nivkh - “White Seal”), death and revival (for example, in Evenki fairy tale “How the snakes were defeated”).

Tales about animals occupy a large place in the folklore of the peoples of the North. They explain in their own way the habits and appearance of animals (the Mansi fairy tale “Why does a hare have long ears”, the Nanai fairy tale “How a bear and a chipmunk stopped being friends”, the Eskimo fairy tale “How a raven and an owl painted each other”), they talk about mutual assistance between people and beast (Mansi fairy tale “Proud Deer”, Dolgan - “Old Fisherman and Raven”, Nivkh - “Hunter and Tiger”).

The main idea of ​​the fairy tale is simple: there should be no place for suffering and poverty on earth, evil and deception must be punished.

Dear friend! Read this book thoughtfully, without rushing. When you read a fairy tale, think about what it is about and what it teaches. As the poet Vladimir Mayakovsky wrote: “A fairy tale is a fairy tale, but you draw a conclusion from the fairy tale.” So think about what conclusion can be drawn from each fairy tale you read.

In the book you will come across words that may be unknown to you. They are marked with an asterisk; you will find their explanation at the end of the book. These are mainly the names of household items, household utensils, and clothing of various peoples of the North.

Read stories slowly, as if you were telling them to your friends or younger siblings.

Look carefully at the illustrations for fairy tales. Think about which episode of the fairy tale they relate to, what kind of drawing you would draw for this or that fairy tale. Pay attention to the ornaments, clothing, and household items of different peoples.

We wish you success!

NENETS TALE

Once upon a time there lived a poor woman. And she had four children. The children did not obey their mother. They ran and played in the snow from morning to evening, but their mothers did not help. They will return to the tent, they will drag whole drifts of snow on the tree trunks, and take the mother away. The clothes will be wet, and the mother will be sushi. It was difficult for the mother. From such a life, from hard work, she fell ill. He lies in the tent, calls the children, asks:

Kids, give me some water. My throat is dry. Bring some water.

The mother asked more than once, not twice - the children would not go for water. Senior says:

I'm without pims. Another says:

I'm without a hat. The third says:

I'm without clothes.

And the fourth doesn’t answer at all. Their mother asks:

There is a river close to us, and you can go without clothes. My mouth was dry. I am thirsty!

And the children ran out of the chum, played for a long time, and did not look at their mother. Finally, the eldest wanted to eat - he looked into the tent. He looks: the mother is standing in the middle of the chum and putting on a malitsa. Suddenly the little girl became covered with feathers. The mother takes a board on which the skins are scraped, and that board becomes a bird's tail. The thimble became an iron beak. Instead of arms, wings grew.

The mother turned into a cuckoo bird and flew out of the tent.

Then the elder brother shouted:

Brothers, look, look: our mother is flying away like a bird!

The children ran after their mother and shouted to her:

Mom, mom, we brought you some water! And she answers:

Cuckoo, cuckoo! It's late, it's late! Now the lake waters are in front of me. I'm flying to free waters!

The children run after their mother, call her, and hold out a ladle of water.

The youngest son shouts:

Mom mom! Come home! Drink some water!

The mother answers from afar:

Cuckoo, cuckoo! It's too late, son! I won't come back!

So the children ran after their mother for many days and nights - over stones, through swamps, over hummocks. They wounded their feet until they bled. Wherever they run, there will be a red trail.

The mother cuckoo abandoned her children forever. And since then the cuckoo has not built its own nest, nor has it raised its own children. And since then, red moss has been spreading across the tundra.

TALA-BEAR AND THE GREAT SORCERER

SAMIC TALE

Tala the Bear got into the habit of wandering around the camp at night. He walks quietly, does not give a voice, hides behind the stones - waits: will a stupid fawn break away from the herd, or a puppy will jump out of the camp, or a child.

However, no matter how you hide, footprints remain in the snow. The mothers saw those footprints and said to the children:

Don't ski downhill late in the moonlight! Tala the bear is close. He’ll grab you, take you to his stupid place, and take you away for lunch.

The moon has risen, and naughty children are still sliding down the slide.

Tala the Bear crawled out from behind the stone, opened his kitty bag, placed it across the road, and lay down further away.

The guys rolled down the hill and flew into the bear's bag!

Tala grabbed the bag, threw it on his shoulders, went home, rejoiced: “I’m carrying a load of guys! We’ll eat deliciously!”

He walked and walked, got tired, hung his bag on a spruce branch, lay down under the tree and began to snore.