Aldar Kose

Aldar Kose was a clever, kind traveller. His coat was thin and old, but his smile was so warm that the cold felt softer whenever he was near. He wandered from village to village, telling funny stories, helping the old folk, and never taking more than he needed.

One bitter winter day, when the snow squeaked underfoot and every breath turned into a little white cloud, Aldar Kose met a rich bai on the road. The bai rode a fine, tall horse and was wrapped in a splendid fox-fur coat, thick and glossy and warm.

The bai looked at Aldar's thin coat and laughed. "How are you not frozen solid in those rags?"

"My coat is no ordinary coat," said Aldar Kose cheerfully. "It's magic! See the little holes? All the extra cold slips out through them, so I am always just right, never too hot and never too cold."

And to prove it, he hummed a lively tune and stamped his feet as if he were perfectly cosy.

At once the greedy bai wanted the magic coat for himself. "Trade with me!" he begged. "You can have my fox-fur. Only give me yours."

Aldar Kose agreed, as if he could hardly bear to part with it. They swapped coats, and the bai trotted off, delighted, certain the frost could never touch him now.

But the wind poured through every hole, and very soon the bai was shivering, his teeth chattering, and he turned his horse around. Aldar Kose, snug in the warm fox-fur, only chuckled kindly. He had not hurt the bai at all, just reminded him gently: it is better to be clever and fair than greedy and proud.

That evening Aldar Kose came back to the fire where tired travellers were warming their hands. He shared the warm coat and a bowl of hot soup, and everyone laughed at his stories until their eyes grew heavy.

And when the first stars lit up over the quiet steppe, the clever trickster curled up by the fire, cosy and warm, smiling in his sleep.