Читать книгу Abkhazia in legends - Lina Belyarova - Страница 11

Sasryqwa the Nart hero was born supernaturally, being carved out of stone and tempered in a smithy. He sets out on many adventures; he tames a wild horse, conquers a voracious dragon in the Underworld Kingdom, and rescues people from misfortune. To warm up his frozen brothers, Sasryqwa twice acquired fire: on one occasion, he obtained heaven’s fire from the sky by shooting down a flaming star and at another time, Sasryqwa headed for the World’s edge, where, after fierce combat with a monster, he captured the earth’s actual fire for the Narts. However, his brothers referred to him as an illegitimate brother, envying his strength and fame, and, in the end, they caused him to perish.

One of the legends says, one day, Sasryqwa the Nart hero, mounted his steed and rode out on his journey. He rode on and on for a good way till he came to a steep mountain and went up its top. Looking around he saw some smoke curls. So he started off again with the thought that where there was smoke, there might have been fire. But the Giant blocked the way to the fire. So Sasryqwa dispersed his horse Bzou and flew into the Giant’s right ear and flew out of his left ear. There in the Giant’s dwelling place he took some burning coals and tried to come back the same way, but unfortunately, dropped hot coals, and the Giant’s shaggy ear caught on fire. The creature woke up, and Sasryqwa together with his horse found himself in the palm of his hand.

“Hey, nasty Apswa (Abkhazian)! How did you get here? And what is your name?” the Giant roared out.

To this Sasryqwa replied:

“I am just the servant of Sasryqwa the Nart hero.” “Oh, well, nasty Apswa, tell me the truth whether there exists a real life Sasryqwa the hero performing wondrous exploits?” the Giant roared again.

Sasryqwa started assuring the Giant that there was no one in the world mightier than Sasryqwa the Nart hero and that no one in the world would be able to repeat his exploits. The Giant felt a wish, however, to prove that he was yet mightier than Sasryqwa and began inquiring of him what such exploits the Nart hero was capable that he, the giant, would not be able to perform. To trick the Giant, Sasryqwa began spinning the stories of feats, after attempting to perform of which, the Giant any time was defeated, and Sasryqwa had nothing to do but cut off the head of the neatly caught creature. And here the silly Giant guessed at last that there in front of him stood Sasryqwa the Nart hero.“Hey, Sasryqwa!” the Giant cried, “no, you won’t be able to cut off my head. But if you are such a brave fellow, I will reward you for your service before my death. Listen to me, your sword will be bent like a straw, so take better mine if only you manage to free it from its sheath. Pull my sword out and push it on a smooth surface of the ice covering my body up to my neck so that it might hit my neck and cut my large vein. This vein is miraculous. Make of it a belt for Satanay – Gwasha, the most beautiful and smartest of women, and for yourself, the unrivalled hero. And you will become immortal…”