The federal agency of culture and film
Pilot Big animation studio
Present
We live in Russia.
The Russian coat of arms is a golden two-headed eagle, mighty and proud.
In its center is St.George,
stabbing a wicked dragon with his silver spear.
The Russian flag has three colors:
white, blue and red.
The capital of our country is Moscow.
Russia is the largest country in the world.
To cross it from one end to the other
you need to travel by train for nine whole days!
At the far east end of Russia, on the banks of the Bering Strait,
on the Chukotka Peninsula,
live those brave hunters and fishermen, the Eskimos.
The Eskimos also carve in bones funny images of their lives,
With skin-sewn small boats - kayaks - Eskimos use harpoons to hunt walruses and seals,
and even large whales!
Among animals they especially revere the toothy orca, patron saint of the sea hunt.
But the main hero of their legends has always been the raven.
Eskimos live in remarkable warm houses called Yarangas.
To heat a Yaranga, a single candle is enough.
In the long polar night, when the sky glows with the northern lights,
old men by the campfire tell the children Eskimo fairy tales,
and each of them is like a precious gem.
Mountain of Gems
ABOUT A RAVEN based on Eskimo fairy tales
- Hey!
There once lived a hunter and a bear.
They lived as neighbors, didn't quarrel, and were even in some way friends.
One day, they went fishing...
And they caught a fish... Just one.
But a very good one...
It was a grand fish, but they couldn't agree on how to share it.
They started arguing: the bear said he caught it, the hunter said he did.
Tired of arguing, they sat down next to the fish...
They did not know what to do.
- Let's tell stories...
- The one whose story is better will get the fish!
- All right, - said the bear.
- What about?
- About a raven, for example!
- Let me go first, though!
- Yeah, sure - agreed the hunter.
- Okay, listen to this story...
This happened long ago, say the elders - even my great-grandfather was not born yet...
An owl and a raven lived together.
They lived as friends and didn't quarrel.
They hunted food together, and shared it all...
They lacked nothing...
And both were white.
- Here we have become old men,
- but we've never experienced being beautiful...
- All the other animals have beautiful plumage:
red, black, gray, mottled...
- But we are all white, always white...
Only in the short summer are we even visible...
- True... no one can see us when we sit in the snow.
- Let's decorate each other - first you paint me, and then I paint you!
- Okay
- Oh!
Go on.
- Beautiful!
- Now sit down, let me paint you as well!
- A-aaaarr!
- What have you done?
- I worked so hard to decorate you nicely!..
- You are beautiful now!
- But you just made me black!
- Now all my children will also be...
black!
- Get away from here!
- Go away!
Since then, the raven is black, and the owl is mottled.
They are not friends any more, and no longer live together.
The owl tries to avoid meeting the raven - she's afraid of him.
Well, what do you think?
- Yes, it's a good story...
- Now listen to mine...
This is a very old song...
The elders say,
that in a cozy nest lived three little snow buntings...
The elder sister flew out every day for food,
while the younger sisters sang their favorite song.
Sun, come warm the earth, do hurry,
All the birds will then be merry.
Our snow bunting sister will bring us soon
insects, larvae and midges!
The raven heard the song, flew to the little birds and said:
- You sing well, birdies!
- Sing me this song one more time, a bit louder!
Then the raven snatched the song in his beak and flew off.
He flew to his nest, sat down and sang:
Sun, come warm the earth, do hurry,
Then we'll have more to eat and be merry.
Rabbits and mice will run by every day,
so our lives will be happy and gay!
Aya-buna-kar-kar! Aya-buna-kar-kar!
Then the elder snow bunting sister came home and saw
her nestling-sisters crying bitterly.
- What are you crying about? Who hurt you?
The sly raven took our song from us!
That's bad!
- Where did that wicked raven fly off to?
- Over that way, where the cliffs loom over the sea!
- Do not cry, I will ask a human to help.
- Why did you fly to me, little bird?
- Good man, help us!
A wicked raven has stolen our song!
- You sing a good song to the sun,
I often listen to it in the mornings and enjoy it.
- Tell me, where does this raven live?
- Over there, where the cliffs loom over the sea.
Meanwhile, the raven opened his beak, stuck out his tongue and sang,
The song was twirling on the tip of his tongue.
- I'll teach him a lesson!
- Oh!
And the little birds, as soon as the sun shyly rises each morning, once more sing their song
and remember the good hunter.
From that time the raven has had no voice; he's forgotten how to sing.
K... Krrr...
- Well, what do you think?
Did you like the story?
I did...
And they had an another quarrel:
The bear said that the hunter's story was better, but the hunter favored the bear's!
Long did they argue, and finally agreed on a draw.
They decided to divide the fish in half.
They turned around - but the fish wasn't there!
They got angry and started to swear,
but in vain - the raven had flown away.
They sighed they went back to fishing.
What else was there to do?
But they agreed in advance that anything they caught
would be shared evenly. (Direction & animation Aleksey Alekseyev)
And that they would tell stories at home, on a full stomach. (Art: A. Alekseyev, Mihail Aldashin)
Voices A. Alekseyev, A. Yaroslavtsev
Intro by S. Merinov & team
Subs by Niffiwan & Eus