On the bank of a Big River, away from other hamlets, two fishermen built a hut. One of them was poor, - the other was rich. The poor fisherman lived like everyone else - he adhered closely to all ancient customs. If neighbours came from another village, he would entertain and feed them, he would allow them to smoke his tobacco and to sleep in the hut. But the rich fellow was so stingy, - never had he allowed anyone to try even a fish tail! He kept everything for himself.
One day the poor fisherman went fishing on the shore of the Sea of Okhotsk. He sat in his rowing boat, shipped out upon the sea and cast a fishing line. All the morning he was waiting for fish, the whole day was he waiting - no fish! Only in the evening he caught some navaga.
"Very good," - he said.
He hauled the boat onto a beach and went home, reeling with hunger. But suddenly he saw: a seal had come up from the deep of the sea and was swimming towards him. The fisherman took a stick and hid behind a rock. The seal swam up to the seashore and approached close to the rock. The man ran up to her and came to a stop in wonder: the seal was not like all the others - she was as white as snow. The seal was lying, scarcely breathing - a side of her body was injured. The fisherman was moved by her suffering and gave her some fish. While the seal was eating the fish, she was recovering before his eyes. When she ate up all the fish, the wound had completely skinned over.
The man rubbed his eyes and when opened them, he was even more surprised. At that place, where the seal was lying, a sandy spit arose from the water. He went on it but he was afraid of going farther, - what if the water inundated the spit? There was the sea to the left and the sea to the right. However, he continued to walk down the sand. Finally, he reached the edge of the spit and came to rest against the roof of some dwelling. The fisherman dared to come closer and stared at a smoke hole in the wall. He saw a big house and an old man sitting by the fire. The old man had noticed the newcomer and beckoned him. The fisherman went into the house and stopped in amazement. He realized that the old man sitting in front of him was Toalyzn, - Master of the sea.
The old man put down his tobacco pipe and said:
"Today you have rescued the white seal. There was my daughter. If you hadn't helped her, she would have died. For your kindness I give you permission to marry my daughter."
The old man waved his hand, and many white seals came swimming to the dwelling. Then one of them turned into a young girl and approached her father, holding the seal's skin in her hands.
"Little daughter, take the skin and follow this man!" - said Toalyzn to his daughter. - "You will be his wife. Catch fish with him and raise your children."
The girl had heard out her father and went walking with the fisherman to his hamlet...
Together they quickly built a small house, and a year later they got a lovely son. They lived happily ever after. When the husband went to catch salmon, his wife went with him. They went far out upon the sea in their boat and cast a net into the sea. The woman then put on her skin and turned into a seal. She swam farther into the sea and began chasing the fish. The net was usually so heavy that hardly could the fisherman draw it into the boat. Plenty of fish they used to catch in their seine. It was enough for them, for the whole winter and more.
With the lapse of time, some people came to that place, and eventually it turned into a little fishing village. The neighbours were jealous of the lucky fisherman, and the stingy fellow, who was already not so rich, envied him more than other people.
"How can I find the luck?" - he thought.
At last he came up with an idea. One day, when no one was in the hut of his fellow, he stole the magic skin and quickly ran to the shore. He put the skin on and jumped into the water, but the skin remained the same, - nothing was happening with it. However, the heavy skin dragged the man down to the bottom of the sea. He began screaming and calling for help, but who could rescue him, if there was no one else around.
But the man had not drowned. There was so much fat in his body that he was dancing on the waves like a cork. He swam and swam until he turned into a monkfish. He got a short torso, long legs and arms, and his eyes were burning like flames.
That is the way, how the rich man was punished for his greed.
![The White Seal [Славянский Владимир Владимирович]](/img/s/slawjanskij_wladimir_wladimirowich/thewhiteseal/thewhiteseal-1.jpg)