“HOW SAD...”
Once upon a time, there was an old man. Every new day, he greeted with the same words: “How sad...”
One day, a passing traveler asked him:
— Why do you say these words every morning: “How sad...”?
And then the old man replied:
— I feel that I have little time left to live. Well, call my children and grandchildren, and I will tell them what I regret.
The traveler did as the old man asked, and when everyone gathered, the old man told his story. Here is what he said:
— When I was very young, I became an orphan. When I turned twelve, I began to herd cattle for a bay. Years went by. One day, misfortune struck me: wolves attacked the flock I was herding. They killed many sheep, and when the bay saw this, he could not contain his anger, wrapped me in a raw camel skin, tied it with sinews, and threw me into the steppe. In the hot midday sun, the skin tightened so much that my lungs and heart shrank to the size of a little finger nail, and only late in the evening, when the skin and sinews softened from the humid air, did I get a chance to breathe a little...
— And you regret having to endure such torments? — the traveler asked, unable to hold back.
— No, — replied the old man. — I survived and lived a long life, as you can see, is it worth regretting that?
And he continued his story:
— Perhaps I would have found my death in the steppe, but fortunately, one night there was a heavy rain. It rained for a long time, and the skin and sinews softened so much that I managed to free myself from them. I wandered wherever my eyes looked until I stumbled upon a cave, where I spent the night. In the morning, I came out of the cave and saw a beautifully dressed young man.
I was completely naked, so I hurried to hide back in the cave, but the young man noticed me, approached the entrance, and asked:
— Hey, man, come out here!
— I am naked, batyr, — I replied.
— If you are really naked, then wait, I will bring you some clothes.
He left, and I began to ponder whether to stay there or go somewhere else. But while I was thinking, the young man returned and threw me some clothes into the cave.
When I got dressed and came out, I saw before me such a handsome young man as I had never seen in my life. By that time, I was already twenty, and the young man looked only about sixteen. The young man began to ask me how and why I ended up here in such a state, and I told him everything without hiding anything. Then he put me on his horse behind him and brought me to some bay, commanding in a voice that brooked no refusal:
— This young man will stay with you for ten days, and let him not know refusal in anything!
Having said this, the young man galloped away. For ten days, I ate fresh meat and drank plenty of kumys, so when my savior came for me at the appointed time, I was as healthy as a whole herd of horses.
— Follow me! — commanded the young man.
When we arrived at a hidden glade surrounded by high mountains, I saw two saddled horses, and next to them were kurdjuns filled with something. After strapping the heavy kurdjuns to the saddles, we continued on our way.
Suddenly, the young man turned to me and said:
— Hey, young man, I am a girl, and besides my father and mother, no one knows this. I am a volostnaya in these parts, but fate has destined me to be with you. Show me where you live, and we will go to meet your relatives. And in our kurdjuns, there is so much gold that it will last us until the end of our days, and even for our children and grandchildren, if we do not become lazy!
Oh, my amazement knew no bounds! We rode in silence for a while. I, lagging a bit behind, was examining my companion, my savior, and could not determine whether this was really a girl or if a boy was playing a trick on me? And if it really was a girl, how could she be a volostnaya?
When we arrived at a river, I decided to finally make sure what my savior was really like.
— I am hot, — I said, — let’s swim in this river.
— You can’t swim here, — came the reply, — there is a huge monster nearby that could carry me away.
— Monsters have long disappeared from the earth; maybe they exist somewhere in impenetrable rocks, but what would they do here? — I insisted.
— Fine, but let’s swim one at a time; I’ll go first, and you take the gun and keep your eyes on me, don’t get distracted, if a monster appears — shoot without hesitation. Remember this and don’t let go of the gun!
Now I was convinced that I was in front of a girl! She undressed and went to the water. What a figure she had, what graceful movements, like a doe! In my admiration, I forgot everything in the world, laid the gun at my feet, and followed the girl...
But I had hardly taken a few steps when suddenly a monster swooped in and carried the beauty away in an instant...
From that moment on, regret settled permanently in my heart. Yes, I got a lot of gold, I lived to a respectable age, and became a respected person. But there is not a day that goes by when I do not regret that I cannot sit with her in the same yurt, drink tea, and have a heartfelt conversation. And I will never understand what I regret the most: that I met her or that we parted...
— How sad! — thus the old man concluded his story,
Kyrgyz Tales
