He was loved by his people because he always shared the fruits of his hunting. Invariably, he was successful: If prey were to be found, Ussuri-khan would find it.

Grateful for having been freed by the great Ussuri-khan, the little boy bowed and offered to grant him any wish.

The noble Ussuri-khan

One day, as Ussuri-khan entered the forest, he saw a small fish gasping out on the riverbank. Ussuri-khan returned the fish to the river, and it swam away. The next day, as Ussuri-khan traveled the same path, a young boy approached, introduced himself as that little fish, and asked the hunter what reward he would like for saving the fish’s life. Ussuri-khan declined the offer, saying that the Ussuri-hala never accepted gifts from strangers. But he was finally persuaded to accept a present for each family among his people, a magic bowl that would never be empty. And the people prospered through the doings of Ussuri-khan.

One day, as Ussuri-khan was out hunting, the boy again appeared. Breathlessly, he told Ussuri-khan to flee as quickly as possible, as a great flood was about to destroy the land of the Ussuri-hala. The boy warned Ussuri-khan to say nothing of this, for if he did, he would be turned into the blue smoke of nothingness.

Ussuri-khan began to run, but he thought about the people in the village below and quickly turned to help them escape. Because of his warning, all were saved, but Ussuri-khan was indeed changed into a wisp of blue smoke. It slowly rose and then miraculously turned into the polestar, to which the Ussuri-hala still pray and give thanks. Since that time, all members of that tribe honor their ancestors and the polestar.

A shorter Mongolian version of this story has different details but virtually the same motif. The hunter, here called Hailibu, finds a small white snake about to be eaten by a crane. He saves the snake, and she turns out to be the daughter of the Dragon King. Hailibu receives a gift, a stone that allows him to understand the speech of birds and animals. The daughter of the Dragon King warns him that he must never disclose what the animals say, or he will be turned to stone.