Two girls encounter mysterious men who warn of Yaghishna’s approach. When she attacks them, they miraculously survive and kill her. They return home, only to be confronted by fiery, vengeful horses that cannot harm them. Ironically, when the elder sister tries to light a candle in gratitude, they both burn to death.
Source
Tales of Yukaghir, Lamut, and Russianized Natives of Eastern Siberia
by Waldemar Bogoras
The American Museum of Natural History
Anthropological Papers, Vol. 20, Part 1
New York, 1918
► Themes of the story
Supernatural Beings: The girls encounter Yaghishna, a supernatural entity, and mysterious men from the “Upper Land,” indicating interactions with otherworldly beings.
Divine Intervention: The girls’ miraculous survival against Yaghishna’s attack and the fiery horses suggests the influence of higher powers protecting them.
Tragic Flaw: The elder sister’s attempt to light a candle in gratitude, leading to their demise, highlights a fatal mistake stemming from good intentions.
► From the same Region or People
Learn more about the Yukaghir people
Told by Mary Shkuleff, a Russian creole girl, in the village of Pokhotsk, the Kolyma country, summer of 1895.
There were two girls. They had plenty to eat, and knew nothing bad. One time they were walking about, and saw some men on horseback ride by. They went home, and found five men in their house, before the burning fire. “Who are you?” — “We are people from the Upper Land. We came from on high, and Yaghishna is also coming. She is not very far off.” — “Ah! we are afraid. Take us along!” — “How can we take you? Our horses are few, and we are too many for them.” Indeed, only two horses were tied to the posts opposite the entrance. The girls cried from fright. Meanwhile Yaghishna came. She took both girls and laid them down on the ground. Then she struck them with a big knife; but the knife could not cut them, and not a single wound was inflicted upon either of them. She raised her knife again; but one of the girls snatched it out of her hands, and struck her directly in the heart. She died. The girls started for home.
► Continue reading…
They arrived there and wanted to have some tea. They prepared it, and were going to drink it. The elder sister said, “I am very hungry. Go and look in the storehouse. Perhaps you will find at least a dried fishskin.” Indeed, she found a piece of fishskin, and they ate of it. In the meantime they heard the clattering of hoofs outside. They saw horses that were breathing fire, and that sought revenge for the death of Yaghishna. They struck at the girls with their iron hoofs, and trampled them down; but they could not inflict upon them even the slightest wound. So they went away, all covered with foam and even their breath of fire was extinguished.
The girls wanted to thank God for their salvation. The elder one took a thin wax taper and wanted to light it; but with the taper her own finger flamed up. She was burnt to death, and her sister with her.
That is all. They live and live, and get much that is good. I visited them recently. They washed their house.
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