Once upon a time, people say, it happened. A khan lost his wife, leaving him with two sons. Some time passed, and the khan married for the second time. His new wife immediately took a disliking to the khan's younger son. One day, when the older son rode off with forty horsemen to set traps for falcons, she complained to her husband:
— Oh my lord! I have always felt that your younger son does not love me!
The khan became furious, believing his wife, and ordered two of his horsemen to seize the younger son and behead him.
The horsemen captured the younger son and took him into the forest. But on the way, they felt sorry for the young man and decided to let him go, taking off his outer clothing.
The younger son was left alone in the forest. Then he remembered that his older brother was hunting at that time. Without thinking long, he set off to find his brother. When he found him, he cried and told him about their father's cruel order. His older brother embraced him and said that he would not leave him alone in trouble. The brothers decided to leave the khan's lands together.
They walked for a long time, grew very tired, and lay down to sleep near a large stone by a stream.
In the morning, the older brother woke up, but the younger brother did not wake up, no matter how much he tried to rouse him. The older brother realized that the younger one had died. He wept bitterly, placed a gold ingot under his brother's head, and left a note: “Good person, here lies my only brother. Bury him properly. As for me, my strength is leaving me. In gratitude, take the gold for yourself.”
He went on alone. He met an old man and an old woman, with whom he ate and rested a bit.
— Not far from here lies my brother. He needs to be buried. I must go on, — said the horseman.
The old couple agreed to bury his brother.
The young man went further. He reached a city and saw that the townspeople were walking around in tears.
— Why are you crying? — asked the older brother.
— A dragon has attacked our city. And today it threatens to destroy everyone, — the people replied.
— If I save the city from the dragon, will the khan give me his khanate? — asked the horseman.
They took him to the khan, and he accepted the young man's condition.
The next day, the older brother set off to confront the dragon. The dragon told the young man that it would not touch the city if they brought it a ram and a girl every day. The young man conveyed the dragon's condition to the khan, who accepted it, and he himself ceded the throne to the older brother.
Meanwhile, the old couple found the dead younger brother. Suddenly, a snake crawled out from under a stone and attacked the old man, trying to sting him. But the old man was quick and killed it. At that moment, the young man revived.
— I must have slept soundly, — he said, getting up.
— You were not sleeping at all; you were lying enchanted by the snake we killed, — the old couple explained to him, and taking the gold, they went home.
The younger brother set off on his journey. He walked and also reached the city where his older brother was now ruling.
He came across a hut, peeked inside, and saw an old man and an old woman sitting on the floor on a mat, embracing their daughter and crying. The young man entered, greeted them, and asked what sorrow had befallen them?
— A dragon has settled in our city, which requires a ram and a girl to be brought to it every day. Now it is our daughter's turn, — the old couple replied, and they began to weep bitterly again.
— Give me a sword and feed me, — the young man requested. — I will go to the dragon in place of your daughter, disguised as a girl.
The old man and woman were delighted, fed the younger brother. In the morning, they dressed him in girl’s clothing, gave him a sword, and sent him to the dragon.
By that time, the dragon had grown hungry and was eagerly waiting for its next victim. Seeing the “girl,” it opened its mouth, but the horseman cut it in half with his sword. The dragon managed to wound the young man, and he fell, losing consciousness.
In the morning, the khan's horsemen brought a struggling ram to the dragon. They looked and saw the dead dragon lying there, with the disguised young man holding a sword. The horsemen dragged the younger brother to the lake, buried him in the sandy shore, and hurried to the khan with the news:
— Khan, we have killed the hated dragon. The city is now free!
The khan, overjoyed, rewarded both of them with gold.
Meanwhile, the old man and woman went to the lake to say a prayer. They saw a corner of their daughter's fur coat sticking out of the sand, which they had put on the brave young man who saved their daughter. They brought the young man home and began to nurse him back to health.
Time passed. The young man recovered from his wounds and one day went to the market. The khan's horsemen, who had posed as the city's liberators, saw him and were terrified that their deception would be revealed. They ran to the khan.
— Khan, — they fell before their lord. — One audacious young man has insulted us, your loyal horsemen!
— Hang him! — ordered the khan, taking the insult to heart from his horsemen who had freed the city from the dragon.
The delighted horsemen seized the young man and dragged him to the riverbank to finish him off there.
By the river, they encountered some caravan traders who had gathered on the shore looking for a ford. The traders saw the young man with a lasso around his neck, being pursued by the khan's horsemen, and asked:
— What are you going to do with this young man? What has he done wrong?
— We are carrying out the khan's order and taking him to execution, — replied the horsemen.
— Sell him to us, — the traders pleaded. — We must perform a sacrificial ritual to appease the river so that we can find a ford.
Tempted by the gold, the khan's horsemen gave the younger brother to the traders.
The young man heard all this and said to the traders:
— I know the language of water. I will help you cross the river, and for that, spare my life.
Having secured their agreement, the young man cut his pinky finger and whispered something, then blew on it. A few drops of blood fell into the water, and the river immediately became shallow, allowing the traders to cross to the other side.
Grateful, the traders gifted the younger brother a load that was packed on four camels and took him with them. Together they reached the city by evening. The next morning, the young man went to the market. He saw a horseman pushing a cart with a chest and shouting:
— I’ll trade this chest for the load of four camels.
The younger brother went to the seller and exchanged the chest for the load carried by the four camels. This chest was not an ordinary one, but a magical one. When the young man opened it, he found a beautiful girl inside. He fell in love with her at first sight and happily returned home.
— What is it that you bought? — asked the traders when he returned to the caravanserai. The young man opened the chest and showed them the girl. The traders' eyes lit up at the sight of such beauty, and they began to argue over who would possess the girl. They locked the young man in the chest and threw it into the river.
The chest floated down the river right to an old fisherman, who caught it, opened it, and saw the young man inside. The fisherman adopted the younger brother, and they began to live together.
Meanwhile, the traders, unable to decide who would be the owner of the girl, conspired to go to the khan so that he could judge them.
The girl told the khan how the young man had bought her and how the traders had thrown him into the river. From the girl's story, the khan recognized the young man as his younger brother. He ordered the execution of the two deceitful horsemen who had supposedly freed the city from the dragon, dispersed the traders, and commanded that the younger brother be found and given the beautiful girl as his wife.
Kyrgyz Tales