On the river

Comment

Recorded from Vasilij Shalugin in 1990. The following local fish are mentioned in the text: grayling (Thumallus), Amur ide (Leuciscus waleckii), peled (Coregonus peled), lenok (Salmo lenok), and burbot (Lota lota), as well as kuropa: and momuSa:, which were not clearly identified.

Translation

(51-1) Once I was fishing with a fishing rod on the river. (51-2) There were no people around me. (51-3) There were graylings, Amur ides, and all sorts of small fish. (51-4) There are a lot of small young fish in that place, very many. (51-5) That place is very deep. (51-6) These young fish swam almost on the surface of the water. (51-7) Sometimes I could see them going deep down chasing each other. (51-8) They disappeared and came back again. So they moved and played. (51-9) I saw that other fish appeared in that very deep place. (51-10) Sometimes a pike was seen, sometimes a minnow, a peled, a lenok or another fish. (51-11) I could also see very big Amur ides. (51-12) And all sorts of graylings, everything. (51-13) These fish were swimming like normal fish. (51-14) Wonderful things swam between them. (51-15) Small young fish moved between large fish, along their sides, above them and beneath them. (51-16) Large fish moved very cleverly and small ones as well. (51-17) I was standing watching them. (51-18) I saw that big fish and small young fish were moving together. (51-19) Sometimes they went up and sometimes they moved down. (51-20) Once I saw something one and a half or two meters long swimming at the bottom on the water, in the deep place. It looked similar to another sort of fish. (51-21) I saw that it had scales all long. It was going to swim back but apparently something made it turn in the water. (51-22) Then I saw well that it swam with its stomach up like a burbote. It was very surprising to see it swimming there. (51-23) Its stomach was white. (51-24) I saw that young fish on the surface came closer directly to its mouth. (51-25) They were swimming. (51-26) I saw that those young fish came directly to its chest. (51-27) Then it swam on its stomach and I could see its back. I saw that it was a burbot. It was not a big burbot but a middle-sized one. (51-28) Those small fish swam along its stomach and came close to its nose. (51-29) I saw that the small fish were hardly moving. They were busy playing. (51-30) The burbot opened its mouth and those young fish suddenly disappeared inside it. (51-31) It closed its mouth again. (51-32) I don't know how many fish it swallowed. (51-33) When it swallowed those fish, the others escaped. (51-34) When it swallowed them, the others swam closer to my boat to escape from it. They were shining in the water. (51-35) Then two minutes later it was the same. Again there were young fish swimming there as before. (51-36) You see what this burbot is. (51-37) This burbot swims between fish like a snag. (51-38) It swims without doing anything and see how many young fish it eats. (51-39) You see, we always say between us when we see it: "Look how a burbote eats fish." (51-40) We talk and say: "We too catch fish like this burbot but with a fishing rod or a net. (51-41) When it looks at us it probably says: "They ate all my fish. (51-42) I will teach you well." (51-43) It shouldn't let us do this. (51-44) That's what is needed. (51-45) This is the end.