Part - 2
Chotur thanked his friend, said goodbye, and set off on the road that his adoptive father had advised him against. Terrifying beasts ran out to meet him from time to time, but they did him no harm.
Chotur traveled for a long time, grew tired, and decided to rest. He dismounted from his horse, tied it up, and let it graze. He then sat down to the side. At that moment, he noticed a snake skin.
“Let me see if the stone really has miraculous power,” he thought.
With this thought, Chotur took the stone out of his pocket, ran it over the skin, and the snake immediately came to life.
The revived snake suddenly spoke. It said to the young man:
— I want to be your friend for bringing me back to life. Remember the word I will say. As soon as you find yourself in trouble, repeat it, and I will come to your aid.
And the snake taught Chotur a magical word.
The young man continued on his journey. He stopped to rest again. Dismounting from his horse, he saw a dead mouse.
“Will it come back to life too?” the young man thought and ran the stone over the back of the dead mouse.
The mouse immediately revived. It thanked Chotur for bringing it back to life and gave him a whisker from its mustache.
— Keep this whisker with you always, and if any misfortune befalls you, I will see you and come to your aid, — said the mouse.
The young man continued on his way. A few days later, he saw a dead wasp on the road and revived it as well. In gratitude, the wasp gave him several hairs from its body and said:
— If you encounter any sorrow, burn the hairs, and I will hurry to your aid.
Chotur traveled further and came across a skull overgrown with grass.
“This person is unlikely to do me any harm,” the young man thought and ran his magical stone over the skull. Immediately, instead of a dry skull, a dark-skinned horseman appeared before Chotur. The horseman was tall and strong, but his eyes were small and wicked.
Chotur told the horseman how he had managed to revive him. The horseman listened to him, said nothing, only smirked. And they set off together on their journey.
One day, when they stopped to spend the night on the road, the horseman said to Chotur:
— Prove that we are now friends: trust me with your magical stone for this night.
Chotur gave the horseman the stone. In the morning, the young man asked for his stone back, but the horseman only smirked in response.
Chotur did not argue with his companion, and they continued on their way.
The horseman and Chotur traveled for a long time and finally found themselves in a waterless, hungry desert. They were tormented by thirst. Suddenly, they saw a crow flying in the sky.
— A crow cannot live in a waterless area! — exclaimed Chotur. — This means there is water nearby!
And indeed, soon they approached a deep well. The horseman said to Chotur:
— You are thinner than me, and your shoulders are narrower, so it will be easier for you to descend into the well than for me. Let me tie you with a rope and lower you down, and when you fill your tubeteyka with water, I will pull you up.
Chotur agreed. He tied himself with the rope, took off his tubeteyka, and descended into the well. He filled his tubeteyka with water and handed it to the horseman. The horseman took the tubeteyka with water but did not pull Chotur up — he left him in the well, mounted his horse, and rode away.
The young man cried bitterly. Suddenly he saw that the water in the well had run dry, and a little mouse ran up to him.
— I saw in a dream that you were in trouble, so I gathered all the mice, and they dug through the ground and lowered the water. Somehow you will get out of here.
Meanwhile, a caravan with goods approached the well. The caravan drivers wanted to draw water from the well but saw that it was dry and that a young man lay at the bottom. Then the caravan chief ordered:
— Immediately pull this young man out of the well! Someone must have thrown him in there with evil intent.
Chotur was pulled out of the well, fed, and given water. Then the caravan drivers put him on a camel and took him with them. After a while, the caravan arrived in a large city.
While the caravan drivers were selling their goods, the young man went to explore the city and got lost. The caravan left without him, and Chotur was left alone in an unfamiliar city. He wandered the streets for a long time and reached the khan's palace. “Whatever happens, I will go to the palace,” Chotur decided.
The khan saw the unfamiliar young man, called him over, and began to ask questions. Chotur told the khan everything that had happened to him.
The khan listened to him and said:
— Stay in my city, rest, and then you can set off again with renewed strength.
By the khan's order, a separate yurt was set up for Chotur, and he was given clothes and food. And the young man began to live in this yurt.
Then the khan gifted him a horse and equipped him for the journey. Chotur set off again — to the distant city of Baghdad.
The Tale of Chotur the Orphan. Part - 1