Page 74 - Animals of the Sakhalin Region in myths and legends

They say that a long time ago, when the good spirit of Kheveki
inhabited the Earth, in these parts he settled two people — a Russian and
an Evenk. And I created only one reindeer for them. When Heveki started
sculpting a reindeer, he did not know who he would give it to.
Then he thought again and came up with a solution:
— I create only one reindeer. I will give you his kneecap. Whoever
takes it away from the other will get the reindeer. The Russian and the

Evenk agreed:
— Right. We will take away the kneecap from each other.
The Russian man was very strong. He did not calculate his strength
and crushed it with his fingers so that he stretched out the cup and tore a
bone from it. Most of the cup remained in the fingers of the Evenk.
Haveki said:

— Let the Evenk get the deer. He has less strength, but he held the cup
firmly and did not tear off the bone. For the Russian man, I will create
other animals — large and tall, only he will be able to cope with them.
Heveki also blinded a second cup with the same stretched and torn
bone, stuck the cups on the knees of the deer’s hind legs and breathed
living spirit into it. After that he gave the deer to the Evenk.
Both people were very pleased that Heveki did not offend anyone.
Since then, the Evenks have had reindeer.

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