The Son of Tsar Muzarbi

Once upon a time, there lived a brave king named Muzarbi. The inhabitants of his kingdom could find no peace from the devs—creatures that had multiplied in the dense forests. During the day, King Muzarbi would patrol the mountain slopes and gorges, guarding his realm. Whenever he spotted a dev, he would shoot an arrow and lop off the monster's head as easily as plucking an onion.

At night, King Muzarbi would climb a tall tower and scare away the devs with his fierce, warlike cry.

King Muzarbi was courageous, and there was no one who could match his strength—not even his bow could be lifted by others.

But the time came, and King Muzarbi passed away. There was no one left to protect the people from the fearsome devs. The people abandoned their homes and took refuge in the mountains. The queen and her daughter also fled, living in a cave.

The girl would gather roots, spread them out to dry on the rocky ledges, while her mother cooked soup from the roots.

Days passed, and months went by.

One day, the girl went out to gather roots, and at that very moment, the queen gave birth to a boy—half-golden, half-silver. The mother was too ashamed to show her daughter this strange son and hid the child behind a large boulder. When the girl returned, she immediately sensed something was wrong from her mother's expression.

"What happened, Mother? Why do you look so sad?" she asked.

"How can I tell you, my dear? You have a little brother now, but he's very unusual. I hid him behind the rock."

The girl pushed aside the large boulder and jumped for joy—she was so delighted with her half-golden, half-silver brother.

The boy grew before their very eyes. Three days passed, and it seemed as though he had aged three years. On the tenth day, he struck down a kite with a stone. Seeing how skilled her brother had become, the girl fashioned a bow for him: she twisted a cord from hair, tied it to the ends of a stick, and made a bow that looked just like a real one. The boy began to hunt. He would leave in the morning and return in the evening, bringing game. He fed himself, his mother, and his sister.

The older the boy grew, the farther he ventured on his hunts. One day, he climbed to the top of a mountain and saw, far below in the valley, houses and a tower—so tall it seemed to touch the sky! The boy was amazed—he had never seen anything like it. He wanted to descend into the valley, to get a closer look, but it was already evening, time to return home.

Yet the boy couldn't resist. He ran down to the valley and approached the nearest house. He knocked on the door—no one answered. The house was empty. He knocked on another door—again, no one was there. He knocked on a third door—still no response. He pushed the door open and saw an old woman by the hearth. She turned to him in fear and asked:

"Where have you come from, my child?"

"From the cave, Grandma!"

"Run back quickly! The devs are prowling here, looking for people—they'll eat you alive! Everyone is hiding in the mountains. I'm old, I don't care for life anymore, that's why I'm staying at home," said the old woman. "The kingdom of the mighty Muzarbi has fallen. The king left no heir, and there's no one to protect the people from the devs."

The boy returned home and asked his mother where they had come from, where they had lived before.

"We didn't come from anywhere, we've always lived here!" his mother replied.

She hid the truth from the boy. The queen feared that he might go to Muzarbi's abandoned palace and be attacked by the devs.

The next morning, the boy rose at dawn and went back down to the valley to see the old woman again.

The old woman told the boy everything about King Muzarbi and showed him the tall royal tower. The boy ran to the very top of the tower and took the king's bow and quiver of arrows. Then he returned to the old woman and said:

"Go inside the house, and I'll hide behind it. I'll wait for the dev."

Soon, a dev appeared and approached the old woman's house. The boy shot a precise arrow, and the dev fell dead.

The old woman rejoiced—a brave protector had appeared! She helped the boy bury the dev in the ground.

The boy hid his father's bow and arrows at the old woman's house and went home. He told his mother nothing.

The night passed, and morning came.

The boy went down to the valley again to see the old woman. She sat under a tree, while the boy hid behind the house, waiting for the dev.

As soon as he hid, a dev appeared and approached the old woman:

"Tell me, you old hag, where has my brother gone?"

The old woman remained silent, as if she hadn't heard. The boy shot a precise arrow, and the dev fell dead.

The boy buried the dev and went hunting.

He returned home and again told his mother nothing.

The night passed, and morning came. Once more, the boy went to the valley and killed a third dev.

He continued to kill devs for six days in a row.

On the seventh day, the boy returned to the old woman and hid behind the house once more. Suddenly, the ground shook violently beneath their feet.

"That's Kaddev stomping, the twelve-headed monster!" said the old woman. "We're doomed, my child—you can't defeat him!"

The dev approached, roaring at the top of his lungs:

"Tell me, you old hag, where have my brothers gone? If you don't speak, I'll twist your head off!"

The old woman remained silent, as if she hadn't heard.

The boy drew his bowstring and shot an arrow—he struck off all twelve heads.

But the dev grew new ones.

The boy shot another arrow, cutting off the monster's heads again, but they grew back once more. He shot a third arrow—and for the third time, the heads regrew. The boy was at a loss, not knowing what to do.

Just then, a little bird, a warbler, flew by, perched on a tree, and began to chirp: "Sprinkle it with ash! Sprinkle it with ash!"
The old woman bustled about. She grabbed a ketsi (a type of container), scooped hot ashes from the hearth into it, and waited. The boy shot his arrows again and cut off all twelve heads of the deva. The old woman immediately sprinkled the deva with the ashes, and the heads did not grow back.

The old woman rejoiced, kissed the boy, and thanked him:

"The devas will hear that we have defeated Kadev, and they will hide, not daring to attack people anymore!"

The boy returned to his mother and again asked her:

"Tell me, who are we? Whose son am I?"

Once more, the mother did not reveal the truth to her son.

Then he told his mother and sister where he had spent the seven days.

The girl could not hold back and confessed to her brother that they were the children of King Muzarbi.

The boy persuaded his mother and sister to return to the palace.

The sun disappeared behind the mountains. Night fell. The son of King Muzarbi climbed to the top of a high tower and let out a mighty cry that echoed through the mountains and valleys. The devas trembled in fear and hid in remote gorges.

The people heard the cry and could not believe their ears! Could King Muzarbi have come back to life?

The people rushed to the palace to find out who was scaring the devas from the tower. When they learned that it was the brave son of King Muzarbi, who had defeated the most fearsome devas, they returned to their abandoned homes.

The cruel mother of Kadev also heard about the son of King Muzarbi and realized that it was he who had killed her son. She ran to find where Kadev was buried. She ran through the forest, banging her head against the trees in fury—they fell one after another. The old woman nearly flattened the entire forest. She found the place where her son was buried faster than the wind and began to water that spot every morning.

Three days passed, and then a voice was heard from beneath the ground:

"Kind soul, sweep away a bit of the earth!"

The old woman swept away a handful of earth, and Kadev emerged, whole and unharmed.

The old woman turned her son into a fly and locked him in a box. Then she took a pair of tiny boots and went to the palace, standing by the gates. The son of King Muzarbi came out of the palace, and the old woman approached him.

"Listen, young man, you are not the son of King Muzarbi. You do not resemble him," she said.

The prince was offended.

"You don't believe me?" the old woman asked. "Look, these boots fit King Muzarbi, but they won't fit you!"

The cunning old woman handed the son of Muzarbi the boots, which were ridiculously small.

The young man tried every which way to put on the boots. He grew tired, exhausted himself, and twisted his ankle. He stood there, unable to move!

Then the old woman unlocked the box and released the fly. The fly transformed into the twelve-headed Kadev. Kadev lunged at the son of King Muzarbi. But the young man, even standing on one leg, lifted the deva and threw him to the ground. The old woman saw that the prince was overpowering her son. She sprinkled Kadev with bran, and he regained his mighty strength. Kadev jumped to his feet, knocked the young man down, and killed him.

Kadev and the old woman went away.

The son of King Muzarbi lay lifeless. The servants found the prince but did not dare to inform the queen. They called his sister. The girl ordered the servants to carry the young man to the cave where they had hidden from the devas.

For three days and three nights, the girl mourned her brother, drenching him with bitter tears. Out of pity for her, the leaves on the trees trembled, and the branches bent toward the ground. On the fourth day, the young man opened his eyes and stretched as if he had been asleep for a long time. He rose, alive and unharmed.

The brother and sister returned to the palace. The prince climbed the tower and shouted to the entire kingdom:

"King Muzarbi has come back to life! King Muzarbi has come back to life!"

Then he went to the kind old woman who had helped him defeat Kadev and said to her:

"Gather some hot ashes. Kadev will soon come to fight King Muzarbi."

And so it happened.

Kadev heard the cry and rushed to defeat King Muzarbi, just as he had defeated his son.

But the son of King Muzarbi was not idle. He shot an arrow at Kadev and knocked off all twelve of the monster's heads. The old woman, without delay, sprinkled Kadev with hot ashes. To ensure Kadev would not come back to life, they threw him into a bottomless pit.

"It would be good, my son, to finish off the other devas," the old woman said to the boy. "On the full moon, they all gather on the hill under the old oak tree to celebrate."

The son of King Muzarbi took a chain and went to the old oak tree on the hill. He climbed the tree and tied himself to the trunk with the chain, as the old woman had advised. He sat in the oak tree and waited.

Soon, the shaggy devas gathered under the tree and began their celebration. They danced and sang. The ground shook from the stomping of their feet, a hurricane rose, and the oak tree bent toward the ground. The prince shot precise arrows and killed all the devas.

He returned home and told the people how he had dealt with the devas.

"I didn't know, my son, that you were so brave," the queen mother said to him. "I was afraid the devas would destroy you, which is why I didn't want to return to our palace. I see now that you are a worthy son of King Muzarbi. Now sit on his rashi (a mythical creature) and find Kadev's mother. Free the people from the cruel old woman. She causes much harm to travelers."

The son of King Muzarbi mounted the rashi, flew over the mountains and gorges, and saw a house on a steep cliff. He approached and saw: on the roof of the house sat an old woman, terrifying in appearance—one of her teeth reached into the ground, while the other stretched toward the sky. In her hands, she held a huge spindle, spinning sheep's wool.

The boy grabbed the cruel old woman and threw her off the cliff.

And so came the end of the devas in that kingdom.

And so came the end of the tale.

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The Son of Tsar Muzarbi

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