Grazing cows

Part one

In Konar, a small village in Chuvashia, both the old and the young used to graze cows. The children played, lit bonfires, told stories, and the adults discussed the news. Uncle Mikula was among them, too. It was not so easy for him to chase his cow at his age, so he asked the children to help. They agreed, but not always willingly. Mikula came up with an idea to reward the kids with tales. Then helpers did not lack, and every evening the children were waiting for new stories.

Shumash and Votanpi

Look, how many gullies there are around. Such a beauty, they remind me of mountains, and that’s not just a coincidence.

Once upon a time there lived giants in Altai[1]. They loved their nature: mountains, rivers, forests. They enjoyed their peaceful life until strangers invaded them.

The giants were driven away from their native lands. They wandered in search of a new home. They reached our places to see forests and fields. The landscape was flat, like a frying pan. The grass was thick, the wildlife thrived.

The giants decided to stay here. However, they longed for their homeland in a way that words cannot describe. One of them, Shumash, missed the mountains a lot. Every day little by little he dug the ground near his hut. So he dug and dug, deep and far, and the landscape started to look like mountains. Shumash calmed down and even fell in love with his new homeland.

There was a girl called Votanpi[2] in the village of the giants. She admired how Shumash turned the plains into gullies. The girl liked him but didn't dare tell him about her feelings. The giant also liked Votanpi, but he wasn’t brave enough to talk about it.

One day, in a conversation, Shumash learned that Votanpi missed the river that they had in Altai: "I wish I could see it just once again." Shumash heard this and ran into the field. He turned to the sky, asked for a river to flow at the bottom of the gullies. "There will be a river, but only if you yourself turn into it," the sky replied.

The wind rose, carrying Shumash away. It rained for three days and three nights, and the gullies that the giant had dug filled with water.

Every day Votanpi came to admire the river and mourn for her loved one. She cried in the evenings, and her tears turned into a spring.

Even today, one can still see the gullies dug by Shumash in Vtorye Toyzy[3], and he himself flows as a river at their bottom. There is a spring nearby, Votanpi’s tears, which still quenches the thirst of locals.

[1] A mountainous place in the East of Russia.

[2] In Chuvash this name means “a shy girl”.

[3] A village near Konar.

Men and the mammoth

Back at the time when the mammoths walked on our land, there lived one tribe. The men hunted alone only. They caught small animals, which each of them brought to their own home.

One day the men gathered to talk about things. They realized that they could catch a mammoth if they hunted together. And so they did. What happened could not be better.

The men brought the mammoth and began to divide the meat.

"I'll take the biggest piece, hunting together was my idea," said the first one.

"No, it would be fair if I took more, I have a better spear," said the second man.

"I have seven kids, so give me the biggest piece," said the third one.

The fifth, and the tenth – all wanted to get a better piece. All night they argued, and in the morning, no closer to an answer, they approached the elder for advice. He said: "Go all at once to the carcass and take as much meat as you need." Each hungrily pounced on the mammoth and snatched a good piece for himself. Then the elder added: "Now, give to your neighbour the piece that you have taken for yourself. None of you could have caught a mammoth alone. But look what happened when you joined hands!"

Abroad

Can you see the field between Vtorye Toyzy and Imburti[1]? Once upon a time, there was a small village, and the people who lived there never left it. They did not dare cross the borders of their settlement.

The wind always blew from west to east. But one day it blew from east to west. Tikhan, who was stirring hay in the field, suddenly looked back. A strange wind, he thought, and decided to follow it.

And so he started his journey, in only the clothes he was wearing. He crossed the border without even looking back. He walked, walked, and suddenly came across another settlement. The people he met invited him to table.

"What are you eating? It’s yellow and fragrant."

"Honey," they said.

Tikhan tried the treat and liked it. He learned how to extract honey, and in return, he taught the villagers to cook khuran kukli[2]. "I must go, the wind may change any minute," he said, and went on.

The young man walked and walked until he saw another village. This time, he was not surprised at all. Instead, he bravely went closer. He saw people standing in a circle and moving strangely.

"What are you doing here?"

"Dancing."

"Why?"

"That's our custom, and we really like it. Do you want to try?"

Tikhan danced, and he liked it. In return, he taught the villagers to sing, and he went on, because the wind could change any minute.

Tikhan had walked for days and nights until he came to a huge settlement. The people there were dressed differently. The most interesting thing was that they spoke a completely different language. Curious Tikhan stayed with these people a little longer. He learned their language and was surprised at the way they expressed their thoughts. They believed, for example, that seeing a woodpecker brought good luck, so instead of saying goodbye they wished: "May you see a woodpecker." Tikhan might have stayed with those people, but the wind kept blowing and blowing.

Tikhan went on. On the way, he learned how to make leather boots, cook strange dishes, to use familiar materials to make things that were completely unusual for his people. Tikhan travelled all over the world until he returned to his settlement from the east. He met his family and friends. They had long ago lost hope of seeing him again, "The border is there for a reason. As soon as you crossed it, we stopped waiting for you." Tikhan replied, “The border is not there, it is in your head."

[1] A village.

[2] Chuvash dumplings.

Maxim invents a trick

The trade route once passed through the Konar forest. Carts loaded with goods stopped to rest in the clearing over there. They say there was often a young man around called Maxim.

Maxim was not well-off at all, he did not particularly like to work either. Therefore, he learned to be tricky. Once he followed men to go fishing. "Oh, Ilyusha, look at the fish you caught. Something is wrong with it! You’d better not take it, give it to me, I'll feed it to the cats," and he cooked the fish himself, even telling everyone it was him who had caught it. Another day he wangled an invitation for lunch, "Aunt Marusya, are they coming to ask for your daughter’s hand in marriage soon? What are you cooking? Do you want me to come and try it, and then I'll tell you whether it's worth serving or not?"

Maxim often came to the merchants who had stopped to rest in the Konar forest: he would try to wangle things, exchange something or get it for free. If not, he would fiddle around.

One day, this is what Maxim came up with.

"Are you having a good rest?" he approached a traveller.

"I am."

"But you don't know what the rest of the journey will be like, do you?"

"As if you knew."

"I know something. Do you see that lone tree over there? It brings good luck to travellers. All you need to do is to bow to it, and bend down so that your hands reach the ground. It definitely helps. It helped my grandfather, and my grandfather's grandfather. It works indeed!"

The merchant took Maxim’s advice. He went to the tree and bowed to it. He did not notice how some coins rolled out of his pocket. That was exactly what Maxim was waiting for. He collected the coins when no one was looking, and hurried to another merchant to tell his story.

And so lived Maxim happily. All the travellers knew the tradition already, and just in case they bowed to the tree. Maxim in his turn collected and collected the coins.

Once several carts stopped to rest. A merchant approached Maxim: "This is not the first time I have seen you. You seem sturdy and smart. I happen to need an assistant at the market just like you. Come with me right now, I'll pay you well. You don't have to work hard, just keep an eye on the goods." Maxim was delighted, and he immediately agreed. He was running to the cart, when the merchant said: "Hey, where are you running to? Did you bow to the tree?" and he gave the young man a little push on the back. Maxim bowed, and the coins that he had collected during the day fell out of his pocket. The merchants saw this and got angry. They realized that some money was lacking in their pockets. Then they laughed at themselves for being so gullible and superstitious. They did not take the young man with them, but rumours spread about him in the village. After that, the villagers shunned Maxim.

But why?

There lived in Vtorye Toyzy Petyor. He had a wife and three daughters. Behind him there always walked his shadow – envy. All day and night long, Petyor thought about why Stappan, a fellow villager, was better off. His wife was better with the household. More to that, Stappan had a son, even two, and he got land in their name[1]. Stappan's trade was going better, and he inherited a mill, too. Petyor’s wife, on the contrary, grumbled all the time. They weren’t given land for their daughters, yet they were mouths to feed. The house was too small, the work was not going well. "Where is justice after all?" - Petyor asked not once.

In the morning, the envy shadow withered, but in the afternoon, it lengthened again. Once the shadow took possession of Petyor, and he decided on a terrible thing: to burn down Stappan's mill. "Let justice be done," he decided.

People from all over the place rushed to put out the fire. No matter how hard they tried, nothing was left at the place of the mill. Grief came to Stappan's family. However, people were not indifferent. After all, Stappan always helped others: with a word, with a deed, or with a coin. Sometimes he lent his horse, sometimes he ground grains for free.

The whole village gathered for nime[2] to build a new mill. It was then that they found a chest in the foundation. Stappan’s grandfather had buried his riches. It was enough not only to rebuild the mill, but also to buy another horse.

It was then that Petyor howled: "How can this be true? Why should Stappan always be so lucky?"

Then the government changed. Stappan was accused of being a kulak[3]. Petyor was not. They took everything Stappan had and he went into exile in Siberia. Now Petyor did not ask for justice.

This story can have several endings. Either Stappan will be severely ill in Siberia, or he will come back home and start a better life. Or he will stay in Siberia, settle down there, and his whole family will live in the land of cedars and pines. After all, you never know what is there to come.

[1] Families got land for farming from the country only in their sons’ names. Girls were not given land.

[2] A Chuvash tradition. Fellow villagers help each other in very hard work, very often when building a house, [niˈme].

[3] If farmers were too reach in the opinion of the Communists, they were named kulaks, and their wealth was taken away.

The onions that caused tears

Two neighbours, Albina and Nina, lived in Konar, and their vegetable gardens were nearby, too. Often they talked to each other over the fence.

"Hi," one of them would say.

"Hello there," the other would reply.

Once Albina was very busy harvesting her onions and did not notice how Nina said to her over the fence:

"Hey, Albina!"

No response. "Why didn’t she reply? She is probably offended because I didn’t invite her to tea the other day... Well, let her sulk, I won't talk to her either," Nina decided.

The next day:

"Hi, Nina."

No response.

The neighbours began to avoid each other, and then stopped being friends at all.

Like it was in the tale of the fisherman and the golden fish

A boy named Misha lived in a nearby village. He liked fishing a lot, both in winter and in summer.

One day Misha was on the way to the Khutor pond when an old man came out of the forest.

"Salam, Misha. Are you going fishing? I am the spirit of this forest and these lands. Tell me, how many fish do you want to catch today?"

"Well, I'm usually unlucky. I probably won't be able to catch anything today," Misha said.

Sure enough, he did not catch anything.

Misha met the spirit of the forest again, and he was asked the same question:

"How many fish do you want?"

"Well, five," Misha replied cautiously.

Indeed, he caught five small fish.

For the third time, the spirit of the forest asked about the catch. Having thought, Misha replied: "You ask a lot and get a little. I want twenty."

Misha caught twenty fish.

The next time Misha, knowing that he would meet the spirit, prepared an answer: "I want to catch as many fish as there are in the pond." They say he is still sitting there catching all the fish.

Lost serenity

One day aunt Nadia woke up in the middle of the night realizing she had lost her serenity. She could not fall asleep again. The first thing after breakfast, she ran to the neighbours.

"Please help me! I've lost my serenity. Tell me, where do you find it?"

"We find ours in the garden."

"Can I work in your garden for a while?"

Nadia weeded all the beds. She grew tired, but could not find peace among the cabbage and tomatoes. At least she could sleep that night.

The next day Nadia asked her husband:

"Where do you find your serenity?"

"Fishing."

"Please take me with you."

Unfortunately, Nadia could not find her serenity there either. While her husband was fishing, she managed to pick some grass for the rabbits, arrange the hooks according to their size, collected two bouquets and ate all the pies that she had brought. However, she got tired while running back and forth and was able to fall asleep at night.

Nadia never found her serenity. To forget about it, she works all day, weaves baskets and makes valenki[1]…

[1] Felt boots.

Moderation

Galya heard from someone that eating carrots was very good for her health. The minute she learned this she ran to the garden and grabbed two huge bunches of carrots from the bed. She ate the vegetable from morning till night for a couple of days. Soon her mother noticed that Galya had turned yellow.

Then Galya began to drink a lot of water to wash out all the bad things from the body. After a while she had a terrible headache, and she could not sleep. Then, Galya stopped drinking water completely and almost dried up. She had to call a doctor who said, "Even useful things can turn into poison. The most important thing is moderation. That’s what I’m going to prescribe you."

But where could Galya get moderation? She went to aunt Nadia.

"Aunt Nadia, if you happen to have any, could you please share some moderation?"

"Oh, honey, I'm afraid I don't have much of it left. Wait, I'll look for it."

Aunt Nadia gave Galya as much as she could. "Go to aunt Anna, she always has things stored."

"Aunt Anna, could you please share some moderation?"

"Take as much as there is."

"Where else can I get it?"

"Galya, moderation, remember?"

What does home mean?

Anouk decided to go to the city to sell some wild strawberries. She came to the market to see that there were five other women selling berries. They were inviting passers-by for a chat and quickly selling the goods whereas Anouk stood there modestly, afraid to say a word. If someone approached, she blushed, then turned white and lost her ability to speak.

Anouk had stood for half a day unable to sell her berries. Suddenly a man came up asking:

"How much are you selling it for?"

"For as much as you offer."

Anouk sold her berries for nothing. She stood there for a while longer and missed the last bus.

What to do? She asked aunt Lidya to host her for the night.

Anouk came to the relative when she was having dinner.

"Please come join me," aunt Lidya said.

"No, thank you, I already ate," the girl replied. In fact, she was hungry and had not eaten anything since breakfast.

"Come on, don't be shy and help yourself."

"Thank you, really. I'm not hungry. I'd rather like some water." "At least it'll dull the edge of hunger," – she thought.

Anouk was sitting there, silent. What was there to talk about? She asked about the aunt’s children and grandchildren. They chatted about the weather, about her day at the market. To make things worse, Anouk wanted to go to the toilet because of all the water she had drunk, but she was too shy to ask about the bathroom. It was a good thing that Lidya needed to go out for a while. She made Anouk's bed and ran away.

Not being in her own bed, Anouk struggled to fall asleep. She woke up very early and had to wait for Lidya to get up. As soon as the aunt appeared out of her bedroom, Anouk said a quick goodbye and disappeared behind the front door.

With the money earned Anouk bought a ticket home and two patty pies.

She came home, and it was heaven. She could go wherever she wanted, do whatever she wanted. She could sing if she wanted to, she could dance, or not talk at all.

Never again did Anouk go to sell strawberries.

"Please, tell us more!"

"Why is it only me all the time?" Each of you can tell stories with no end to it. Here is the beginning and think of the end yourself.

...They say there was a young man in these places who never lost hope. "It's all right," was his answer to everything...

2017

Part two

The cows had made it through another winter. The children had grown up. Uncle Mikula was leaning more heavily on his cane. Spring grass sprouted, villagers celebrated the awakening of nature with a goutweed soup and went out to graze.

Just like last year, the children began to beg for tales from uncle Mikula. "I have some new ones. The life itself tells us countless stories," said the old man.

Friends

Friends, Seroush and Sashouk, lived in Konar. They lived in the same building, growing up together. Seroush was a year older, so he considered himself a little more savvy.

"Sashouk, from today on we’ll speak Russian."

Sashouk agreed. They did so for a day. Sashouk even banned his parents from speaking Chuvash at home. The next day:

"Hi, where are you going?" – he asked Seroush in Russian.

"Let’s go back to speaking Chuvash, it’s so much trouble otherwise," unexpectedly replied the friend.

Some time later, Seroush persuaded Sashouk to go pick the state farm peas in secret. The younger friend hesitated, but as always, agreed.

Sashouk's heart beat as if bursting out of his chest. They heard a car approaching. The friends bent down and weren’t noticed.

"I had a great time, it wasn’t scary at all," said Seroush.

"You are right," habitually agreed the friend.

Winter came. The cool boys, it turned out, did not wear hats.

"We won’t wear hats either," decided Seroush. And so it was.

The friends walked out to go to school. Sashouk, fighting tears and his ears red, endured it all. Later, however, he got a sore throat. That wouldn’t stop cool guys from being cool, right?

Sashouk took a sick day and stayed at home.

"Do you crave anything special today?" the mother asked the boy.

"Please ask Seroush what they are having for lunch today," the boy with the sore throat replied.

About his word

In Konar there was a boy named Oleg. No matter what, he couldn't keep his word. They say that he stopped going to the library because he kept forgetting to return the books. "I'll bring them next time, I promise," he used to say. But he couldn't keep his word. It would fly away, and then there is no way to stick to it.

"Let me copy your homework, I'll help you later, too," another word he couldn’t keep. "All right, all right, I'll feed the chickens, don't worry," yet another one.

The words that Oleg could not keep gathered in the air.

"I’ll keep my word, next time I will not forget to pick up my brother from the kindergarten," said Oleg.

"Whoo, what a bunch of nonsense!" was his mother’s reply.

Oleg was living with his nonsense for a while. It only disappeared into thin air when he learned to keep his word again.

What will people say

No matter what happened, the village people were always worried about what other people would say. They did it without thinking, without realizing it.

"Mum, don’t worry too much trying to please others. Some, you know, do not think much about it, they do as they please," said Irina, who had just left to study in the city.

"Let it be as you say, give it some time," the mother replied, without arguing.

Irina came to the village for a holiday. She was hanging up the laundry to dry in the yard[1] while the mother was teaching her wisdom:

"Look at how you hung it. What a mess! What will people say?"

"Who cares?"

"Look at this. The neighbours hung their clothes orderly so that there's some space for you left. While you were sleeping, aunt Galya whipped up butter and brought some for you. On the one hand, we surely worry about "what people will say", but on the other hand, we think about the comfort and convenience of others."

[1] There is a common area to dry laundry.

He lost his voice

You do not remember, of course, but there was a folk choir in Konar led by Guriy Fedorovich and Vera Philippovna. Both men and women used to rush to the community centre after work to rehearse songs together.

Once the choir got an invitation to Chuvash television. How unlucky, one of the singers lost his voice. What to do? "The evil spirits took your voice, no doubt. Here is what you can do. At midnight, at the crossroads between Konar and Vtorye Toyzy throw a raw egg over your left shoulder. Spin around seven times and say: "Give me my voice back," seven times. Then run home never looking back," a friend from the choir advised.

The next day the singers gathered to go to the city. The ‘voiceless’ man was there, too. He whispered to the friend:

"I did exactly as you said, and look, it helped, I can join the performance today!"

"Really? What I told you was a joke. How come you got well?"

The meaning of life

Last year I told you about how aunt Nadia had lost her serenity. Did you know that once, when she was a little girl, she was trying to find the meaning of life. People couldn’t help her back then, so she decided to look for the answer in nature.

One evening, Nadya went outside and asked the full moon:

“You can probably see better from up there. Tell me, please, what is the meaning of life?”

“Nadya, do you like it when you can feel the warmth of the sun with your skin?”

“Of course. It feels so nice that it makes me smile.”

“Isn’t there meaning in that? During the day I bask in the sunshine, and I feel good. And in the evening, I do my best to keep things bright for you,” said the moon.

Nadya thanked the moon for the answer and walked on.

“Dear sacred oak tree, please tell me, what is the meaning of life?”

“I too live, enjoying in the sunlight. And I give you fresh air and shade,” said the oak.

“Thank you for that,” said the girl.

“There is great meaning in your gratitude too,” replied the oak. And Nadya walked on.

“And you — what do you live for?” she asked the squirrel. The squirrel handed her a hazelnut.

“Isn’t it tasty?”

“It is.”

“How could you not live, when you can eat something so delicious every day? It’s not life — it’s a dream!” said the squirrel with a smile.

Nadya went home. She washed the dishes and swept the floors. Then she put on her favourite soft socks, wrapped herself in her favourite blanket. She opened a book of her favourite fairy tales and brewed her favourite raspberry tea. “It’s not life — it’s a dream,” she smiled, just like the squirrel.

Seven-stemmed oak

Not far from Konar grows a seven-stemmed oak. They say it is sacred. Today, I will tell you a tale about this tree.

Once upon a time, there was a man named Yeseney. One day he went to look for his lost bull to find it drinking water from a spring. Yeseney looked around: there were good lands in that area. He decided to move closer to that spring. They say that was how the village of Staroe Aktashevo was founded, and Yeseney lived his whole life there.

One day Sekhime the granddaughter was left home with Yeseney. The grandfather, by then an old man, fell asleep in the sun. Sekhime was chasing chickens in the yard and suddenly fell into a vat of water dug into the ground for the cattle. She was so scared that it took her time to be able to finally cry out to wake Yeseney up.

From that day on, Sekhime's fears grew bigger and bigger. Then she was afraid of everything: water, dogs, cats.

Her parents didn't know what to do, so they took her to the healer. The wise woman said: "Take the little girl to pick some acorns, then keep those at home. Every time she is afraid of something, plant an acorn in the forest and give it the name of what she is afraid of."

The trees ‘Water’, ‘Cattle’, ‘Door’ grew in the forest. Sekhime grew up, too. On the day of her sixteenth birthday, she went alone into the forest. She buried together all the fears of an adult. That is where the seven-stemmed oak tree grew, and Sekhime happily lived her life without fears.

Swallow

In Syundyukovo[1], in the family of Shelemi the blacksmith, there was a girl growing up. Swallow was her name. She was like everyone else, but a little naive. Sometimes, when her father was not at home, she, trusting people, gave his goods to others on their word of honour. Stories happened all the time. Swallow was once playing with other children on the street and exchanged her wooden toy for a cat. That very night the cat got out of her house and returned to the owners.

"My innocent girl, how will you get through life?" her father grieved.

One day Swallow went to work in the field with her mother. And there was Matyuk passing by: "We saw a magpie in the gully, it can talk, it tells things you haven’t heard of."

Swallow ran to the gully. And sure enough, there was a magpie sitting on a willow tree.

"Hello, magpie. Please share some wisdom with me," the girl was curious.

"Eat some wheat and you’ll have the wit! Eat some wheat and you’ll have the wit!" the magpie chirped.

Swallow ran to look for some wheat grains. She ate a handful to have the wit to see that she was cheated again.

[1] A village near Konar.

Aidar of all Trades

You must have been to the village of Khutor Shinery, or, as we call it, Khutory. Very few people live in that village these days, but in the past, life there was in full swing. The villagers were hard workers. Travellers going to the Oktyabrsky market or to the Marposadsky forest for firewood were so astonished by Khutory that they often said: "That’s where paradise is!"

There lived in the village a young man, his name was Aidar. He had just turned sixteen. They say he was very peculiar.

Once men were sitting in the evening outside, relaxing and talking about the upcoming day.

"I need to saddle the stallion tomorrow, I can’t tame it though," said one.

Aidar jumped in to offer his help.

"You're a stallion yourself, have you ever saddled one?"

"I'll learn along the way, I'm not a fool after all," the young man replied.

The men were convinced by his answer. Indeed, Aidar came the next day. At first, the stallion did not want to let the young man near it, but in the end it gave up.

"How do you do that? You sing, you handle horses, you do woodwork. Everything comes easily to you."

"This is what my grandpa told me right before he died: don't say no, take part in everything you can. The things I did remembering these words! And here is what I realized: we are who we think we are."

Ernouk

On a sunny Friday, a girl was born in Vtorye Toyzy on the Lower Street. The parents called her Ernouk[1]. Her eyes, the colour of hazel nuts, her hair, the colour of lime honey. From her very childhood Ernouk’s beauty fascinated the villagers.

The baby girl grew a little and began to follow her mother everywhere. She learned to work in the garden. She helped with the cattle, too, all being a game to her.

The neighbourhood girls loved spending time with Ernouk. She could make dolls out of flowers and twigs. She knew how to play with the boys, too. Sometimes they pretended to ride horses, or they played tag.

In Vtorye Toyzy, young people led round dances. Ernouk went for her first dance. The boys were unable to take their eyes off her. The girls wanted to stand next to her in the circle.

Ernouk was smart, too. She could read and write. She went to the market with her father and learned to speak a little Russian there.

Ernouk lived her life with joy, with pleasure. She married Enri, and Stappan was born, a boy as beautiful as his mother. I think I told you last year what happened later to Stappan's mill.

"What secret of life do you know, please share with us," the villagers would ask Ernouk.

"Greet people with a smile, and then you will see for yourself. That's what my mother taught me," Ernouk would reply.

"Well, uncle Mikula, this one is definitely a fairy tale," the children said when the old man finished his story. "Everyone has to have some kind of misfortune. Ernouk's life is as sweet as honey. The universe does not work that way. If they are beautiful, perhaps they are stupid. If handsome and smart, maybe they are poor. The rich probably do not have any friends. There has to be something! To be honest, life is not like this fairy tale."

"If you say it’s not possible, then it will be unreal indeed," said the old man.

[1] The Chuvash word for Friday is ‘Erne kun’, and the girls born on Friday were called Ernouk.

A 117-year-old man

"There also lived a man in Vtorye Toyzy, his name was Semyon Borisovich," said uncle Mikula the next day.

"That must be my great-grandmother's grandfather!" Sasha was delighted.

"It is.

Semyon's father, Boris, participated in the battles in the Caucasus and brought his wife from there. The young woman wasn’t much part of the village life, and that's probably why, when the young family moved out of the paternal household, they built a house on the outskirts.

Semyon grew up tall and strong, and started a family. They lived in prosperity and had a lot of land. Semyon turned out to be a man with a strong character. The neighbours never disputed against him.

One day, this happened. Somebody’s sheep trampled Semyon’s land not far from Staroe Aktashevo. "If I see these sheep again, I will kill them," he told the owners of the sheep in anger. However, the same thing happened again. Semyon, keeping his word, slaughtered one sheep, and pinned the head on a fence post.

There was a trial. Semyon would be released if he asked for forgiveness, he was told. Semyon did not consider himself guilty, so he never apologized. So, he was exiled to Siberia.

Semyon was amazed by the abundance of the Siberian nature. From there he brought cedar shoots and grew the Siberian tree in his garden in the Vtorye Toyzy.

Time passed. There was no space left in the village cemetery, and a new one had to be opened. When Semyon died, according to a Chuvash tradition, as the oldest and most respected person, he was the first to be buried in the new cemetery. Even today, people come to Semyon’s grave to ask for blessing from him, the elder of the cemetery."

Semyon lived a long life. They say he lived to be 117, but we do not know if it’s true.

Autumn came. The children went to school. Perhaps uncle Mikula would no longer be able to graze his cow, he grew tired too soon. "There will surely be other storytellers," he assured the children.

2020