Translated from Uzbek to English by Mukhammadiyeva Sevinch Zaripovna
Uzbekistan, Tashkent
Gooden and Baden
Once upon a time, there was a young man named Gooden who lived in a village. He only had a skinny horse. As time passed, there was no work in the village, and Gooden’s situation got worse. So, he decided to leave and find work elsewhere with his horse. While traveling, he met a man on foot and they started talking.
“Where are you headed?” asked Gooden.
“I’m going to a distant city to find work,” replied the man.
“What’s your name?”
“Baden.”
“And yours?”
“Gooden. Our names match well. Let’s be friends, work together, and travel together,” said Gooden. They agreed to be friends.
Gooden, feeling sorry for Baden who was on foot, gave him his horse. As soon as Baden got on the horse, he whipped it and quickly disappeared. Gooden was left surprised and thought, “He called himself a friend but acted like an enemy.” Pale and weak, he continued his journey on foot. Night fell, and he lost his way in a dense forest.
It was late autumn. The trees were bare without leaves. Gooden wandered, searching for a path. Night fell, and stars appeared in the sky. Gooden found an old oven and thought, “It’s not safe to wander the forest at night. I’ll spend the night here,” and he lay down inside to sleep.
At that time, the forest was ruled by a lion king, with a tiger as the minister, a wolf as the trumpeter, a jackal as the drummer, and a fox as the storyteller. The place where the oven was, was their meeting spot. Soon, a jackal arrived, circled the oven, and howled. Shortly after, all the forest animals gathered there. The lion king sat on his throne, and the meeting began. The fox started a story:
“Friends, there is a cave behind this forest where I’ve lived for ten years. Whatever people have in their homes, I have in mine. I’ve gathered wealth for ten years: carpets, rugs, bedding—everything is there. I even have good food.”
Hearing this, Gooden thought, “I should visit Fox’s place.” Next, the jackal began:
“Your place isn’t interesting, Fox. On the hill over there, I have a mouse that I watch every day at noon. It has forty-one gold coins that it plays with, stacking them up and enjoying them before putting them back in its nest.”
Then the bear started his tale:
“This isn’t interesting either. In our forest, there’s a tall tree with two branches at the bottom. The leaves of those branches cure all diseases. The king’s daughter in this city has been ill for seven years. The king announced that whoever cures her will marry her. Many doctors tried but failed and were executed. If someone makes a drink from those leaves for the princess, she will recover instantly, and that person will marry her.”
The wolf then shared his story:
“Friends, there’s an interesting story from me too. On the other side of the forest, a wealthy man has forty thousand sheep. I eat two sheep every day. They’ve tried everything to catch me but failed. There’s an old man on a nearby hill with a dog. If they bought that dog, it would tear me to pieces.”
Finally, the tiger spoke:
“The wolf mentioned a rich man’s ten thousand horses grazing at the edge of the forest. I eat one horse every day. But among them, there’s a mottled stallion. If someone mounted that stallion, armed with a rope made of forty strands and a long stick, and lassoed my neck and beat me, I’d never go near those horses again. The rich man doesn’t know that this mottled stallion is my greatest enemy.”
As the tiger finished his story, dawn broke, and the animals left.
Gooden came out of the oven and went to the fox’s lair. Everything was there: meat, oil, rice. He lit a fire, started cooking, and hid when he saw the fox returning. When the fox saw the cooking oil, he was puzzled. Gooden pounced on the fox and killed it. He cooked, ate, and slept.
The next day, Gooden went to the hill mentioned by the jackal and killed the mouse, taking its gold coins. Then he took the healing leaves from the tree mentioned by the bear.
Next, he went to the shepherd. When asked how things were, the shepherd replied:
“Things are bad. A wolf has been eating two of my sheep every day. There’s nothing I can do. My master is furious.”
Gooden asked, “If I save you from the wolf, what will you give me?”
The shepherd promised to give him forty sheep. Gooden bought the old man’s dog and gave it to the shepherd. The shepherd was saved from the wolf and gave Gooden forty sheep.
Then Gooden went to the horseman. After talking, he asked the horseman to prepare the mottled stallion with the forty-strand rope and a long stick for him that night. Gooden mounted the horse and waited for the tiger. When the tiger came, Gooden lassoed its neck and beat it until it fell. The horseman gave Gooden the mottled stallion as a reward. Gooden rode to the city.
In the city, he heard an announcer: “The king’s daughter has been ill for seven years. Whoever cures her will marry her. If they fail, they will be executed!”
Gooden went to the king and promised to cure the princess. The king took him to his daughter. Gooden made a drink from the leaves for her. In three days, she recovered. The king married his daughter to Gooden.
The king asked, “Now, which city shall I make you governor of?”
Gooden replied, “I don’t want to be a governor. Just build me a house on the mountain by the forest. I’ll live by my own work.”
The king did as he asked. Gooden lived happily with his wife on the mountain. One day, he saw Baden, who had stolen his horse, approaching. He invited Baden in and treated him to a feast. Baden asked, “Friend, how did you build such a grand place? How did you find all these things? Betraying a friend never satisfies. Since I stole your horse, nothing has gone right for me. I’ve never had a full meal since.”
Gooden replied, “In this forest, there’s an old oven. I spent a night there and gained all this.”
Baden begged, “Please show me. Let me spend a night there too.”
Gooden took him to the oven. Baden lay down inside.
The forest animals gathered again. The lion king asked “Where is my storyteller friend, the fox?”
The jackal stood up and said, “The fox died because of that story. I lost my golden mouse.”
The bear added, “The healing leaves were also taken.”
The wolf said, “I lost my food. The shepherd bought the dog and it tore me apart. My body is swollen from the beating.”
The lion king ordered, “Find the informer and kill him!”
The jackal pointed to the oven. All the animals rushed to the oven, dragged Baden out, and tore him to pieces.
Thus, Gooden achieved his goals through honesty, while Baden faced his punishment for his deceit.
James Wakahiu 
John Kamau