Written by V. Avdeev
Translated by A.A.Goldman

The Stealing of Tuyarima Kuo
(excerpt based on the Yakutian epic "Nyurgun Bootur the Swift")

Long ago in the land of Yakutia, Nyurgun Bootur was born. Growing with every passing hour, he became so strong that his strength frightened both those who lived underground and those in heaven.

And so they put Nyurgun to sleep and took him to the high iron mountain, where they locked him up in a stone cave with an iron door held fast with the thirty nine knots.

At the same time on the other end of the land of Yakutia there was born Tuyaryma Kuo - a girl of wonderful beauty, such beauty as never seen before.

Time passed, and Tuyaryma Kuo became even more beautiful; It-r her face was as white as the rising sun, her cheeks were even brighter than fiery-red foxes, her long black eyebrows were like silvery black sables, her beautiful lips were as red as juice from berries and she was as majestic as a swan. Word of her wonderful never-seen before beauty spread all over the world.

Once a storm began, the sky was covered with black clouds and in the day- time it became as dark as night. Terrible thunder rumbled and in the middle of the hot summer it started snowing, But it was not ordinary snow - huge rocks fell down from the sky together with the snow. And these rocks killed cattle, animals and people. It was the fiery Dragon flying, the son of the underground darkness, with three heads and six sharp-clawed bowlegs, and it was flying to steel Tuyaryma Kuo. All the heroes fled in terror; only the hero Kyun Dgiribina, the master of the Greysteel stallion raised his sword and rushed at the Dragon. They fought for seven days. Kyun Dgiribina was tired and the terrible Dragon struck him down, Then the Dragon slapped its tail and destroyed the house in which Tuyaryma Kuo was hiding. It grabbed the beauty by her black braids with one of its paws and with the other paw it grabbed the wounded hero Kyun Dgiribina and then the Dragon flew up the sky!

Tuyaryma Kuo cried out, begging for help, but no one dared to come to her rescue.

And there came bad times to the land of Yakutia. The whole army the Dragon swooped down and set the houses on fire, and slaughtered the people. And there was not a hero on the whole earth who could save the world from the Dragon and its army.

And then the shaman-udagan Ayii Umsuur climbed the iron mountain, ap­proached the sleeping Nyurgun Bootur and broke the magic ropes with the thirty nine knots.

And she said:

"Get up, hero! The time has come for you to use your strength, the time has come to help the people."

And the magic evil spell vanished. Nyurgun Bootur awoke, jumped up and the stone cave began tumbling down, and the iron mountain began to rock. The hero looked around, jumped on a cloud and descended to the ground on it. And on the ground a heroic stallion with stone hooves was awaiting him. Nyurgun Bootur jumped on his saddle and shouted:

"I have both strength and a hero's stallion, but I have neither armour nor a weapon to fight the Dragon."

Ana from the iron mountain the voice of Ayii Umsuur udagan was heard:

"Gallop to the blacksmith Baltany, there you will find everything you need. Gallop, your horse knows the way."

And they sped over high mountains, across wide rivers and reached an iron house from which there came thundering loud noise. The great blacksmith Baltany came out of it and spoke:

"At last the hero, for whom we have been waiting so long has arrived!"

And the blacksmith ordered his helpers, who were as tall as big trees, to fetch a weapon and armour from the cellars. Twice did Nyurgun Bootur try on the armour and twice it went to pieces. And the third time the helpers brought him such heavy armour, that they could hardly drag it to the hero.

Nyurgun Bootur put on a three-layered chain armour and the helmet of a hero; he chose a magic sword, flaming with blue fire for himself, took a club, weighing ninety nine puds and also he took a lance as thick as a log.

Nyurgun Bootur thanked the blacksmith, jumped on his horse and set out to defend his motherland. The Dragon's army saw the hero and fled. Nyurgun Bootur chased them till the very den of the Dragon. And the Dragon hid itself in its underground iron castle, which was surrounded with thirty traps. The moment Nyurgun Bootur descended to the underground kingdom, the Dragon flew up to him, wound himself round the hero and began to choke him. Then Nyurgun Bootur understood that he would not be able to tear himself away from the Dragon's coils and he felt his strength beginning to leave him. But if he died, who would save his motherland from the terrible Dragon? And Nyurgun Bootur cried out, and running with the Dragon, which was gripping him tightly, he crashed into the stone wall with all his might. From the blow the Dragon went to pieces. But it possessed ninety spells and scattering into fiery sparks, it turned into an enormous horrible giant with one eye and three arms, and in each arm the giant was holding a club. Nyurgun Bootur also swung his club, weighing ninety-nine puds'. They fought and fought. The moment the hero defeated the son of the underground darkness, the latter burst into sparks and again turned into a dragon, and then into a monster, and then into an enormous bear. So they fought for a whole month without a moment's respite until their clubs and lances broke. And then the Dragon proposed that they sleep and rest and continue the battle again. Nyurgun Bootur consented and both of them swore an oath not to attack the sleeping one. The Dragon fell asleep at once. And Nyurgun Bootur went in search of Tuyaryma Kuo.

He wondered the underground kingdom for a long time, encountered terri­ble monsters until finally he found the beauty Tuyaryma Kuo, chained to the wall together with her brother. Tuyaryma Kuo rejoiced when she saw him, and told Nyurgun Bootur how to defeat the terrible Dragon. The Dragon appeared to possess nine hundred spells, the beauty told him, and it recovered from every second blow. After listening to what the beauty told him, Nyurgun Bootur hid himself behind a huge rock near the wall to which Tuyaryma Kuo was chained.

Then the Dragon awoke and saw that Nyurgun Bootur was not there. It re­joiced and hurried to Tuyaryma Kuo. And it spoke:

"Don't be obstinate, be my wife! Now nobody will save you. A hero came here and fought with me, but the moment I fell asleep, he got frightened and fled."

"You are telling a lie, cursed Dragon! There has not yet been a monster which has frightened me!" cried Nyurgun Bootur, and the hero raised his sword and pierced the son of the underground darkness. The Dragon fell on the stones, and in rage Nyurgun Bootur raised his sword again. But Tuyaryma Kuo stopped him:

"Don't strike him for the second time. You will revive him by doing so! He will stand up again safe and sound and even stronger then before".

The hero obeyed the beauty and did not strike again, and the terrible Dragon vanished. Then Nyurgun Bootur broke the chains and released Tuyaryma Kuo and her brother Kyun Dgiribina. And then he mounted his heroic stallion with stone hooves and rode throughout his motherland to defend kind people from evil monsters.