The Hunter's Son

Once upon a time, there lived a hunter. Every day, he would go into the forest, bring home game, and feed his family.

One day, the hunter descended into a small hollow, and suddenly, a white deer appeared before him. Its fur shimmered and sparkled.

"Shoot at me!" said the deer in a human voice. "If you're lucky, you'll hit me, but if you miss, you will die."

The hunter shot an arrow and missed. He returned home gloomy.

"My time to die has come," he said to his wife. "I aimed at the white deer and missed!"

After saying these words, the hunter died. He had a son.

One day, the boy was playing outside, shooting arrows with his friends using a small bow. Passersby looked at the hunter's son and said, "If only he had his father's bow, he would become a great hunter!" The boy ran to his mother and asked where his father's bow was. His mother, afraid that her son would also become a hunter, had hidden the bow. The boy begged and pleaded.

Finally, the mother could no longer resist and told her son the truth:

"Your father was a hunter and died while hunting. I don't want you to meet the same fate, my son. That's why I hid the bow and arrows. But if you insist, go up to the attic, and you'll find the bow and a quiver of arrows there."

She gave him the key to the attic. The boy unlocked the door and froze in place: all around him were stuffed birds, hares, foxes, and jackals. Finally, he noticed his father's bow hanging on the wall. He tried to take it down but couldn't. He ran back to his mother in tears.

"Don't cry; you'll become as strong as your father," his mother comforted him. "Go to the gorge beyond the village. There are two streams there: one is muddy, and the other is clear. First, bathe in the muddy stream, then in the clear one."

The boy bathed and became so strong that the bow and arrows felt like a feather to him. He shot three arrows at a tree far in the field. All three arrows struck close together, one beside the other.

After this, the hunter's son decided to go hunting. He wandered through the forest until evening and found himself in a small hollow. Suddenly, the white deer appeared before him. Its fur shimmered and sparkled.

"Shoot at me!" said the deer. "If you're lucky, you'll hit me, but if you miss, you will die!"

The boy's arrow struck the deer right in the heart.

He brought the deer's hide home and hung it on the wall. The white hide glowed, illuminating the room with a radiant light. Pearls and diamonds shimmered on its fur.

Word of the miraculous hide spread throughout the kingdom. It even reached the king. The king sent a servant to verify the rumors. The servant didn't have to search long for the hunter's house: a bright light poured from its window! The servant crept up to the window, peeked inside, and was nearly blinded—the hide of the white deer sparkled and shone so brilliantly!

He ran back to the palace and reported to the king about the pearl-and-diamond hide.

"Your Majesty, it is not fitting for a commoner to be richer than you," said the viziers to the king. "Take the hide from him."

The king would have gladly taken it, but how? He couldn't just storm into the house! What would people say?

"Why think so much, Your Majesty?" said the chief vizier. "Invite the hunter's son to a feast. He's uncouth and won't know how to behave properly. Then we can say he is unworthy of owning the magical hide and take it from him."

The king immediately invited the hunter's son to the feast.

The boy's mother was a wise woman. She immediately guessed why her son was being summoned to the palace.

"Be careful, my son, and behave politely," she instructed him. "Don't laugh until the king laughs. Don't speak unless he speaks to you. Don't leave the table before the king and the viziers. When they serve the food, take only a small portion from each dish; don't eat too much. After the feast, the king will go for a ride. Don't ride ahead of him or fall behind, even if the horses gallop."

At the palace, the hunter's son behaved exactly as his mother had instructed. The king was amazed by the boy's politeness. He became furious with his viziers and scolded them when the hunter's son returned home.

"Brainless fools! You can't even give good advice! If you can't take the hide, I'll have your hides instead!"

The viziers trembled in fear, sitting and thinking of how to carry out the king's order. Finally, they came up with a plan.

"Command the hunter's son to build you a palace out of the bones of a dragon," said the chief vizier to the king. "The dragon will swallow the boy, and the white deer's hide will be yours. And if he builds it, order the hide to be moved to the palace. Say it's not fitting for a magical hide to hang in a commoner's house."

The king liked the viziers' advice. He summoned the hunter's son and ordered him to build a palace out of the bones of a dragon.

"Have mercy, great king! I am not a carpenter or a mason; I know no craft. How can I build a palace?" pleaded the boy.

"I don't care! If you don't build it, your mother will mourn you!"

The hunter's son returned home dejected and told his mother about the task the king had given him.

"Go back to the palace, my son. Ask the king for seventy carts and cart drivers. Have them forge arrows weighing fifty poods each, and make the viziers pay for it all. Then go to the land of Kajeti. There, in a dense forest, lives the dragon. Leave the cart drivers at the edge of the forest, and spend the night in the thicket. You can only kill the dragon at dawn if you approach it from the direction of the rising sun."

The boy did everything as his mother instructed.

The king gave him seventy carts and cart drivers. They forged arrows weighing fifty poods each, and the viziers paid for everything.

The boy set off for the land of Kajeti. He spent the night in the forest where the dragon lived, and at dawn, he crept up to the beast from the east.

The dragon lay with its tail thrown over its head. It heard the boy's footsteps, turned its head toward him, but saw nothing—the rays of the rising sun blinded it.

The brave boy shot three arrows and killed the monster. He returned to the cart drivers, woke them, and sent them to inform the people of Kajeti that he had rid them of the dragon.

The Kajeti people gathered and danced around the slain beast, rejoicing that they were free from the insatiable dragon. Then they led the hunter's son to the king of Kajeti. The king thanked the boy and asked how he could reward him.

"I need nothing," replied the hunter's son. "Help me butcher the dragon and load its bones onto the carts."

The Kajeti people eagerly set to work and quickly fulfilled the boy's request. Then they accompanied him and helped him build the palace out of the dragon's bones.

The hunter's son invited the king and the viziers to admire the palace. The enormous palace was terrifying! The king looked at it and fainted.

It took the king a while to regain consciousness. When he came to, he praised the boy for his diligence and courage and ordered him to remain at court.

"You will accompany me on hunts," said the king. "And you will move the deer's hide to the palace made of the dragon's bones. Such a magical hide deserves to hang in such a palace."

The viziers frowned, displeased that the king had brought the son of a common hunter so close to him. The boy had already cost them so much money, and now he would be a nuisance on hunts. The viziers conspired to kill the hunter's son. They learned that the Iron Demon possessed a golden pillar and said to the king:

"You have a wondrous palace, Your Majesty, and the hide of the white deer is extraordinary. The only problem is that the hide doesn't shine equally in all directions. It would be best if it hung on a golden pillar in the center of the palace."

"That would be good, but where can we find a golden pillar?"

"From the house of the Iron Demon. Command the brave hunter's son to bring that pillar to your palace."

The king didn't think twice about how difficult this task would be for the young man.

"Bring me the golden pillar from the house of the Iron Demon. If you fail, your mother will grieve!" said the king to the hunter's son.

The boy went to his mother for advice. Who else could he turn to in such a difficult time? Once again, his mother helped him with her wisdom:

"Ask the king for a cart, a cart driver, and a strong arrow. The Iron Demon lives beyond three tall mountains. On Fridays, he goes hunting, and that's when you can take the golden pillar. Remember, you cannot defeat the Iron Demon in open combat."

The king ordered the viziers to give the hunter's son a cart, a cart driver, and an arrow. The viziers forged an arrow weighing fifty poods at their own expense. The hunter's son bent it and broke it. They forged another arrow weighing seventy poods. The boy broke that one too. They brought him an arrow weighing ninety poods—it didn't bend or break.

The hunter's son prepared for the long journey. He crossed one high mountain, then another, and climbed the tallest third mountain. From the summit, he saw the house of the Iron Demon at the foot of the mountain.

It was a Friday. The boy shot the arrow from the mountaintop at the Iron Demon's house. The bowstring hummed, the arrow sang, and the house collapsed. The golden pillar supporting the roof fell.

The hunter's son descended with the cart driver into the valley. They loaded the golden pillar onto the cart and brought it to the king.

The king rewarded the hunter's son and allowed him to visit his mother, while he ordered the viziers to place the golden pillar in the palace made of the dragon's bones. They hung the radiant deer's hide on the pillar. The king couldn't stop admiring it.

Meanwhile, the Iron Demon returned from the hunt and saw that his house was destroyed, and the golden pillar was gone.

Enraged, the Iron Demon followed the trail of the humans. The mountains trembled from his stomping. He burst into the palace made of the dragon's bones, where the king and the viziers were. The Iron Demon tore down the glowing hide of the white deer, grabbed the pillar, and began smashing everything and everyone around him! He destroyed the palace—the dragon's bones scattered everywhere.

The Iron Demon took the golden pillar and the pearl-and-diamond hide with him.

From that day on, the hunter's son stopped hunting and killing animals. He lived a peaceful and quiet life with his mother.

*Note: "Vešapi" is a winged dragon.*

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The Hunter's Son

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