Thawtar Swe - Strange Stories

Ko Nyan Shuen and U Kap Sae

Long ago, in the cold highlands of Kazakhstan, there lived a poor man named Aldar Kotsi. He had nothing but his own horse. But he was a man of humor and wit, and he would recite and recite. He was famous for his jokes.

In this region, there is a man named Shigelbai who is very stingy, despite his wealth. Shigelbai is very famous in the poor and needy area. It is very difficult to get a bite of food or a drink of water from him.

One day, Aldakoshi decided to have a match with Shigelbai and rode out on his horse. When his friends and neighbors heard about this, they were delighted and said, "What a great match!"

"Aldakoshi, why don't you eat some lamb stew from Shigelbai and drink some milk and cheese?"

Aldakosi said, "Just tell me where he lives now."

"We're not close to each other. No one has told us where he went with his family. You're the one who's looking for him."

Aldakosi rode his horse for many days across the vast plains. He searched for his friend with unwavering determination. Finally, he saw a hut in a thicket of reeds.

“Ha... this... must be Shigelbai’s house,” Aldakosi remarked. That’s right. Shigelbai had deliberately come to live in this reed forest to hear the sound of the reeds moving in advance if anyone came to his hut. This was to hide his food and drink if he knew anyone was coming.

Alda Kosi, who had realized this, thought of reaching his tent without hearing a sound. The reeds were so thick that neither his horse nor his people could make a sound. So he looked for a way. The clever Alda Kosi thought of something. He got off his horse and gathered pebbles. When he had enough, he threw them into the reeds with his first handful. Hearing the sound of the reeds moving, Shigel Bai came out of his tent and looked to the north and south... "Who is that?" he asked.

Unable to answer, he returned to his tent after a while.

He fired the second time at Alda. Shigelbai came out again and asked the same question. He didn't answer. Then he went back inside. When he fired the third time, Shigelbai didn't come out. He thought it was no one, it must be the wind, and he was doing whatever he had to do in the tent.

At that moment, Aldakoshi pulled his horse from his hands and rushed into the reeds. But he did not succeed in going all at once. He advanced a little, like throwing stones, and then, after a short pause, he finally approached the entrance to Shigelbai.

When I opened the door of the tent and looked inside, I saw that the tent was filled with mattresses and chairs, fur blankets, and boxes stacked in different sizes, all belongings of the wealthy.

Beside the large stove in the center of the tent, the Shigelbai family members were boiling a pot of mutton stew hung on a rope over the stove.

Shigelbai opened the pot and was still filling the lamb with the seasonings, salt, and pepper, and stuffing the minced lamb into the lamb casings (like sausages).

His wife was kneading flour, his daughter was plucking feathers from a goose, and their servant was roasting a ram's head.

After seeing all of this, Aldakosi suddenly opened the door and rushed in, suddenly greeting everyone with a "Hey Shigel Bai."

At the same time, Shigelbai closed the pot of mutton stew with his eyes wide open. He sat down to eat the mutton stew he was making. His wife sat down on the bowl of wheat she was kneading. The daughter covered the plucked goose with her gown. The servant hid the rain behind her.

Within moments, Shigelbin was about to say goodbye to Aldakosi...

"Oh... you've arrived, what's so special about our plateau?"

Aldakosi sat down somewhere...

"There are so many unique things... I can't even tell you enough."

"So, let's talk a little bit"

"I saw a huge snake on the way here. The tip of its tail was bigger than the lamb sausage you're making."

Shigelby's face went blank. Aldakosi continued...

"You won't believe it, that snake's head was as big as the one your servant was burning with fire. When it passed in front of me, its mouth was like a pot of boiling mutton. It sizzled, sir. So I got off my horse, found a big stone, and hit the snake's head. It crumbled into pieces like the wheat your wife was threshing. If I'm lying, may my head be as bare as the goose under your daughter's dress."

Shigelbai sighed heavily and said nothing to Alda Kosi. He didn't even offer him anything to eat or drink. Alda Kosi, as if he didn't see anything, spoke in a way that was only a guest. And so, it was late at night. The pot of mutton was boiling and the aroma was filling the tent.

Aldakosi, who had just returned from a long journey, was so hungry that his mouth was dripping with saliva. Shigelbai knew this and deliberately said...

"Hey, my pot of soup, you're still half as hot as it is."

Then Alda Kosi suddenly took off his shoes and put his feet up...

"My shoes... You guys can stay here for two years, rest in peace."

Knowing that Alder Cosi was about to faint, Shigel Bai skipped dinner and went to bed. His family also fell asleep. Alder Cosi also lay down on a bench and wrapped himself in a blanket.

But the first to fall asleep, as the host was confident, was Shigelbai. When Shigelbai's snoring echoed through the hut, Aldakosi, who had not yet fallen asleep, got up from his bed and began to mow the sheep alone. Then he put Shigelbai's old shoes back into the pot.

Then he lay back down on the bed and observed the situation.

After a long time, Shigelbai woke up. After a short rest, he was sure that Aldaco was asleep, so he got up and woke his wife and daughter.

"Get up..get up, let's eat our lamb"

But the three sons, mother and father, were still trying to pick up his old shoes. They couldn't even cut them with a knife in the dark. They could cut them, but they couldn't chew them in their mouths. Then Shigelbai...

"That's it.. that evil creature has come and our lamb is not cooked. It's okay. Leave it as it is. Put it back in the pot. When there's no more fire, we'll cook it properly and eat it again."

Thus, they put the pieces of their old shoes back into the pot. Then, he had his wife bake cakes with the wheat she had kneaded the evening before, just to eat.

When the bread was cooked, Shigelbai could not wait for it to cool, so he stuffed it into his large overcoat and left the tent, intending to eat it while watching his horses, sheep, and goats outside. However, as dawn was breaking, Aldaco followed him...

"Oh, Shigelbai, where are you going? I'll be back early tomorrow morning. Where are you going without saying goodbye?" (Their custom) they said to Shigelbai, and when they hugged him, the freshly baked cakes they had put in their clothes burned Shigelbai's stomach.

Shigel Bai could bear it for a while. But after a while, he couldn't bear it anymore, and he realized that Alda Koci had done it on purpose. He shook the cakes out of his coat and angrily...

"Ha... let the dogs eat these."

Then Aldacosi said, “Ha... Instead of letting the dogs eat such delicious cakes, I will feed them to you,” and started to eat them, saying, “Ha... Your wife makes good cakes, I haven’t had such delicious cakes for a long time,” and he began to grin. Shigelby said nothing, but with a frown on his face, he mounted his horse and set off into the pasture.

When I returned in the evening, I... God... God, I found Alda Kosi in his tent...

"Hey...you said goodbye to me in the morning, saying you'd be back."

"Yes, but if I feel like staying here, I won't be able to go back."

Shigelbai was unable to evict the stubborn guest and had to give up.

The next morning, Shigelbai prepared to go out to pasture and told his wife...