Page 61 - Animals of the Sakhalin Region in myths and legends

I am an owl. I led a free and happy life by the sea rich in fish. I loved to
sit on trees near dwellings that were closer to the forest. I used to sit and
look at people. Someone went to the river on the fish-beam, who is already

cooking fish, and who does nothing — only smoke with a pipe.
Once I saw a girl. Oh, and a beautiful one! So beautiful that, probably,
from one end of the coast to the other there is no one like her. I looked
and looked at the girl, followed her every movement. When she went
somewhere, I flew a little to the side of her — accompanied. When she
entered the dwelling, I sat down on a tree and waited for her. The longer
she was gone, the more melancholic I became. It was especially depressing
at night. But I sat in a tree and waited for dawn, waiting for her.

I realized: I fell in love with this girl. I fell in love so much that if I didn’t
see her, I didn’t want to fly or fish. I didn’t even want to live — that’s how
deeply I fell in love with her!
And she lived with her brother. They called him Yairsupo. This means
— a person who raised himself. That’s right, he was smart, independent,
brave. Everyone respected him. How to talk to such a person? But I made

up my mind. He flew into the man’s dwelling and sat down opposite him.
The man who raised himself seems to have guessed that I was not a bird
at all. Maybe he thought I was some kind of spirit. He politely wished me
good morning. And that’s it, he didn’t say anything else.
Then I spoke:
— Even though I’m not very prominent and strong, — I said, — but I
want to see your sister in my house, closer to the front door, where my wife
is supposed to sit.

The man who raised himself frowned and got angry:
— Oh, you! .. Useless bird in hard feathers. But how did such a thing
come into your little head? .. I myself cannot imagine that my sister ... for
you? .. married! Get out!
Hearing these offensive words, I was also very angry. With a noise
he flew out of the dwelling, darted from side to side, almost hit a rock,

wanted to fly into the sea, but, noticing a high pole, decorated with inau
shavings, he sat down on it. For any Ainu, it is a talisman for pleasing
the gods, a companion and a mediator who understands their weaknesses
and weaknesses of people. It has the ability to influence the deities, and,
therefore, you need to ask them and ask for what you want. Yes, at that
moment I was sure that without inau I would not achieve anything.
I hooted so hard and piercingly, moaned and screamed that from all
my screams large animals were alerted in the forest and small ones were

frightened, fish splashed in the water, people came out of their homes. And

59