Ayoga Fairy Tale

On the bank of the Amur River there lived a girl named Ayoga. She was very pretty, but she spent all day gazing into her little mirror and admiring herself. She never had time to help her mother.

One day her mother asked, "Ayoga, go to the river and fetch some water." Ayoga took the bucket and went down to the river. But instead of filling it, she sat for a long time admiring her reflection in the water.

Her mother waited and waited and then called again. "My hands hurt, and the bucket is heavy," said Ayoga, and she did not come. So her mother asked the neighbour's daughter, "Will you bring me some water, dear?" The neighbour's girl ran off at once and brought the water.

Her mother thanked the girl and gave her a sweet flatbread. When Ayoga saw this, she grew angry. "Why didn't you give the bread to me?" "I gave it to the girl who brought the water," said her mother.

Ayoga sulked and ran to the river. "I don't want to be a girl. I'll be a goose!" she shouted. At that moment her neck grew long, her arms turned into wings and her body was covered with feathers. Ayoga became a goose and swam away.

Her mother wept and called, "Ayoga, come back!" But the goose only answered, "Honk, honk, I won't come back." Ever since, geese fly over the Amur, and Nanai mothers tell their daughters the tale of Ayoga.