(A Khakas folktale translated from Russian and adapted by Brenna E. Lorenz)
Once upon a time, in the far-off land of Khakassia, there lived a powerful and wealthy chieftain called Khara Khan. He and his wife and son lived in the biggest, most beautiful yurt in all of Khakassia. He owned vast herds of horses and cattle. He and his family dressed in the finest clothes and ate the finest food. But even so, Khara Khan and his family were not satisfied. They always wanted more, so Khara Khan demanded tribute and taxes from his people, so that over time, Khara Khan became richer and richer while his people became poorer and poorer.
One of the poorest was an orphan, a young hunter who lived in the smallest, most humble yurt of all. His only possessions were a fine horse left to him by his father, and a bow he had made himself. Every day, he would ride out onto the steppe on his fine horse and hunt with his bow. He was a good hunter, and he was able to earn a small living by selling his catches.
But as soon as he began to earn money, he was noticed by Khara Khan, who kept demanding more and more tribute from the poor hunter. Finally the day came when the hunter couldn’t pay the tribute, so Khara Khan took his horse.
Now it happened that in the same community there lived a poor elderly couple, and they had a beautiful daughter. The daughter loved the hunter and he loved her, and they decided to get married.
On the day they were married, the hunter’s wife said, “Why should we stay in this town and pour all our money into the hands of Khara Khan? There is nothing for us here. Let us leave and move to the middle of the taiga where no one will bother us.” The hunter agreed, so they went to the middle of the taiga, set up a small, cozy yurt, and there they lived very happily. The hunter went out into the woods with his bow and hunted all day, and when he came home with his catches, his wife would turn the hides into beautiful clothes and sell them.
One day, Khara Khan’s son went hunting in this very taiga, and he happened to come upon the yurt of the hunter and his wife. “I wonder who lives way out here?” he said to himself. He raised his bow and shot an arrow so that it went down the yurt’s chimney. Then he went and knocked at the door.
The hunter wasn’t home because he was out hunting, so it was his beautiful wife who answered the door. When Khara Khan’s son saw this beautiful woman, he could hardly make himself think. Finally he said, “One of my arrows went down your chimney. Bring it to me.”
“Get it yourself,” answered the hunter’s wife, so he did. Then he mounted his horse and rode off, but he no longer could think about hunting. All he could do was curse his eyes for not having seen this amazing woman before.
When he got home, he went to his father and said, “I want the hunter’s wife. Get her for me.”
Khara Khan said, “I took his horse for my tribute, but I don’t know how I can take his wife.”
Khara Khan’s son stamped his foot and said, “What’s the point of being rich if you can’t have everything you want?”
So Khara Khan said he would see what he could do. The next day he sent a servant to the hunter’s home in the taiga.
The servant said to the hunter, “My master Khara Khan wants to see you right away.”
The hunter was baffled as to why Khara Khan would wish to see him, but he went with the servant to Khara Khan’s big yurt.
Khara Khan said, “Tomorrow, first thing in the morning, you will come here and play hide-and-seek with my son. He will hide and you will search for him. And if you do not find him by noon, I will cut off your head.”
Of course, the hunter was distressed and puzzled. He went back home with his head hanging, and told his wife what had happened. “And I don’t know why!” he exclaimed.
As soon as his wife heard the story, she remembered the visit of Khara Khan’s son and realized what was happening. But all she said was, “Don’t worry. Eat a good supper and get a good night’s sleep, and tomorrow morning I will tell you how to find Khara Khan’s son.”
Early the next day, she woke her husband and said, “When you get to Khara Khan’s yurt, don’t knock at the door. Just walk in. Don’t speak to anyone there. Go all through the yurt and turn everything upside down. Then take all the plates and drop them on the floor. Once you have done this, go out behind the yurt and there you will see three identical horses tied to a railing. One of the horses will have its forelock hanging over its left eye and it will have a rusty spot on its bit. That is the horse you want. Get on its back and start hitting it around the eyes without pity. Also yank on its bit as hard as you can. I know you love horses, but you must do this, and then you will find Khara Khan’s son.”
So the hunter hurried to Khara Khan’s yurt and did as his wife had said. He walked in and didn’t speak to anyone there. He went through the big yurt turning everything upside down, and then he threw all the plates on the floor. Then he went out behind the yurt and found three big, brown horses tied to the railing. The one in the middle had its forelock over its left eye and a rusty spot on its bit, so he jumped on its back and began hitting it around the eyes and yanking on its bit. Suddenly, the horse stood up on its hind legs and seemed to roll beneath him, and he found himself sitting on the shoulders of Khara Khan’s son! He jumped down and said to Khara Khan. “I have found your son.” The young man’s face was swollen and bruised and his mouth was bleeding.
“So I see,” said Khara Khan. “And tomorrow, my son will go to your home and search for you. If he finds you by noon, I will cut off your head.”
The hunter went home feeling hopeless and miserable, and told his wife all that had happened. But she said, “Don’t worry. He won’t find you.”
Early the next morning, while the hunter and his wife were still in bed, they were awakened by the sound of hoofbeats. Terrified, the hunter leapt up and cried, “He is already here and I have no idea where to hide!” But his wife reached up and touched his shoulder, and he immediately turned into a pair of scissors. She picked up the scissors and went to her worktable, where she began cutting up pieces of hide to make a pair of gloves.
Khara Khan’s son came into the yurt without knocking and began searching and searching the small yurt for the hunter. He couldn’t see how anyone could stay hidden in such a small yurt, but although he searched everywhere, inside and out, he couldn’t find the hunter. Finally, when it was noon, he stopped searching and stood angrily in the middle of the yurt, clenching his fists.
The hunter’s wife said, “Well, did you find what you were looking for?”
“No, I did not,” said Khara Khan’s son.
At that, the wife tossed the scissors on the floor, where they immediately turned back into the hunter, and she and her husband stood there laughing at the young man until he went out sulking and rode away on his horse.
When he got home, Khara Khan’s son said to his father, “I still want the hunter’s wife. Get her for me.”
Khara Khan said, “Why not get some other girl? There are many girls. The world is full of them.”
His son said, “Are you going to let that lowly hunter have the most beautiful woman in the world, and let your own son go wanting?”
So Khara Khan said, “I will see what I can do.” Again he sent his servant to fetch the hunter.
When the hunter came before him, Khara Khan said, “I have a little task for you. In the Black Taiga there is an old bear. I want you to go there and find this bear, and when you find him, ask him how old he is. Then come back here and tell me what he said. If you tell me wrong, I will cut off your head.”
The hunter went home hanging his head in despair, because he knew about this bear. No one ever went into the Black Taiga because the bear killed and ate anyone who went there.
But his wife said, “Don’t worry, dear husband. Get a good night’s sleep and tomorrow I will tell you what to do.” So the hunter went to sleep, but his wife stayed up all night sewing together little scraps of hide to make seven hats.
When her husband woke up the next morning, she gave him the seven hats and said, “In the Black Taiga is an old tamarack tree that grows higher than any other tree. Go to that tree, and under it you will see a cave, which is where the old bear makes his den. Lie down on your back in front of the cave, and put one pair of these hats on your feet, one pair on your knees, one pair on your hands, and the last one on your head. Then lie there quietly and wait to see what happens.”
So the hunter traveled to the Black Taiga. He could see the old tamarack tree towering above all the other trees, so he made his way to it, and underneath it he saw the black cave with bones of all kinds strewn around the entrance. He was terrified, but he lay down on his back and put one pair of hats on his feet, one pair on his knees, one pair on his hands and the last one on his head. Then he waited to see what would happen.
After awhile, the old bear shuffled out of the cave, and when he saw the hunter lying there, he stopped in surprise. Then he walked several times around the hunter, sniffing him all over. At last he said, “This tree has grown here for hundreds of years and I have lived here for all of my sixty years and never have I seen anything like this!” And because the bear didn’t understand what he was seeing, he ran off.
After the bear was gone, the hunter rose quickly and went to see Khara Khan. “The bear says he is sixty years old,” he said. Khara Khan knew that the hunter was correct, so he couldn’t cut off his head.
When Khara Khan’s son found out that the hunter was still alive, he stamped his foot and cried, “I still want the hunter’s wife! Get her for me!”
Khara Khan said, “I don’t think I can.”
And his son said, “If you don’t get me the hunter’s wife, then you are not my father and I am not your son.”
So Khara Khan said, “I’ll see what I can do.” One more time, he sent his servant to fetch the hunter.
When the hunter came before him, Khara Khan said, “Twenty years ago, my father died, and I dressed him in the finest embroidered coat for his burial. Then ten years ago, my mother died, and I dressed her in the very finest of embroidered shawls for her burial. Well, now I have need of that coat and that shawl. I want you to travel to the land of the dead and get them for me. I’ll give you one month to bring these things to me, and if you don’t, I will cut off your head.”
The hunter went home to his wife in despair and told her what Khara Khan had said. She said, “Don’t worry, my darling husband, I will tell you how to do this thing.” She gave him a ball of string and the skull of a dog.
“Take this ball of string and toss it before you. Follow it wherever it rolls. Eventually it will roll into a cave. Go into the cave and keep going. It will be very dark and you will be frightened. When you feel the fear starting, put down the dog’s skull and keep going some more. The dog’s skull will protect you from the dead. When you leave the cave, leave the skull behind and it will keep the dead from following you out of the cave.”
So the hunter did as his wife had instructed. He tossed the ball of string and followed it a long way and then a short way for many a day and many a night until at last it rolled into a cave and disappeared. The hunter went into the cave and kept going. It became darker and darker, and then he began to feel as though there were people whispering all around him in the dark. He grew afraid, so he put the dog’s skull down and kept going.
At last a voice whispered, “What are you doing here, orphan?”
The hunter said, “Khara Khan sent me here to fetch the fine embroidered coat of his father and the fine embroidered shawl of his mother. He has a need for them.”
More whispering ensued.
Then another voice said, “When we died, we left our son with the biggest yurt in all of Khakassia, with vast herds of horses and cattle, and riches of all kinds. But this was not enough for him and his family. Now he wants our coat and our shawl. So go back to Khara Khan and tell him this. Because of their greed, Khara Khan and his wife will be transformed into woodpeckers, and they will spend the rest of their days pecking black wood and eating grubs. And their son, for his greed, will be transformed into a magpie and he will spend the rest of his days pecking at dung and eating the worms he finds there. Now go, orphan, and take that dog’s skull with you. Its barking is keeping us from our rest.”
The hunter made his way back out of the cave, but when he came to the dog’s skull, he left it there. “Let it bark,” he said. Then he retraced his steps and travelled for many days and many nights before he came home to his yurt in the taiga.
But when he came to the yurt, his wife wasn’t there, and the hearth was cold. Quickly, the hunter made his way to the village. And there he saw a big celebration in progress. Khara Khan’s son was preparing to wed the hunter’s wife!
As he approached the ceremony, he could hear his wife saying, “A month hasn’t passed. I can’t marry you!”
“It doesn’t matter. He’s not coming back,” said Khara Khan’s son.
“I am here,” said the hunter.
Khara Khan’s son and servants seized the hunter and brought him before Khara Khan, who was sitting at a grand feast with his wife and all of his wealthy friends. “So, you have returned,” said Khara Khan. “And do you have with you the things that I told you to bring?”
“I traveled to the land of the dead,” replied the hunter, “and spoke with your father and mother, and they said to tell you this: ‘Because of your greed, you and your wife will be transformed into woodpeckers, and you will spend the rest of your days pecking black wood and eating grubs. And your son, for his greed, will be transformed into a magpie and he will spend the rest of his days pecking at dung and eating the worms he finds there.’” As soon as the hunter spoke these words, Khara Khan, his wife and his son turned into birds and flew away. The wedding guests fled in terror.
The people of Khara Khan’s tribe were so happy to see the end of Khara Khan that they gave the title of Khan to the hunter, along with the big yurt and everything in it. Then they took Khara Khan’s huge herds of horses and cattle and divided them evenly among all the people. After that, everyone was rich and no one was poor.