There was once a small village at the edge of a thick, wooded swamp. A handful of families lived there, and many children played among the clustered houses. Everyone was content, and went about their own affairs without fear or unease.

One night, however, a small child vanished from its home without a trace. The parents roused the village and began to search early that morning, but they were unable to find anything. They combed through the swamps twice more, but as the sun fell on the fourth day, the parents began to grieve for the child they knew was surely dead.

The rest of the village thought this was merely an unhappy accident, until that night another child from a different family vanished as well. After the discovery, the village searched the swamps once more, with no more success than they had with the first. Now all the families began to fear for their young children, and locked their doors with the setting of the sun. At first their fears seemed to be unfounded, until the fourth night after the second child's disappearance, when a mother discovered that her youngest daughter was missing as well. The village began to panic, and some families fled while others tried their best to protect themselves for the next abduction.

One of the families that stayed included a young boy and his older brother, who was almost too old to be considered a child any longer. On the third day since the last disappearance, he vowed to protect his younger sibling from harm, because he loved the boy dearly. Before the two went to bed, the eldest brother tied a cord around his brother's ankle, with the other end fastened tightly around his own wrist. He tried to remain vigilant, but felt his eyes growing heavy after a while. Soon he dozed off in his chair.

He awoke suddenly some time later, and as he glanced over to where his brother had slumbered, realized that he was no longer there. The brother jumped up and ran outside, just in time to see his young brother walking slowly off into the dark swamp. He ran off after his sibling, knowing that if he took time to find help, he would most likely lose his brother forever. As the distance between the two shrank, the elder brother could hear a faint melody coming from deep within the trees. His brother seemed to hear it as well, and was following it to its source. The elder brother knew this was not a good sign, and stopped briefly to pick up a stout stick from the mud. Eventually he found his way into a clearing, and saw his brother making his way toward a thick, gnarled tree at the center. The elder brother looked up, and had to stifle a scream at what he saw in dim moonlight.

High in the branches was perched a huge monster. Its face was nearly hidden by two enormous black eyes, below which was a wide mouth with two pairs of sharp tusks sticking out from each side. It did not have a nose, and had a second pair of large ears instead. There were two sets of arms, as well - the bottom two were long and sinewy, reaching limply down to the base of the tree; the top pair were small and delicate, with nimble fingers that danced along the length of an eerie white flute. The elder brother realized this was where the music was coming from, and saw the trap. He raced out to stop his brother before the child could walk into the grip of the pale hands waiting at the bottom of the tree, but the monster saw him and suddenly grabbed for the younger boy. The elder brother knew he would not be able to reach him in time, and instead threw his stick at the monster.

The branch flew straight into one of the beast's great eyes, and it fled deep into the swamp, screaming horribly as it leapt among the treetops. The elder brother ran forward and hugged his brother, who appeared to be half-asleep and unaware of what had happened. The two walked home without incident, and the older brother immediately woke his parents and his neighbors to tell what had happened. Everyone had heard the news by morning, and praised the older brother for his heroic rescue. The oldest woman in the village recalled a tale of a beast like the one from the night before, and warned that the creature, the syusya, would be back for its revenge. The parents immediately armed themselves and combed the swamp for the monster, but returned by nightfall, unsuccessful.

No one knew when the beast would strike again, so the next several nights were spent in constant fear. More families fled the village, while parents in others would take turns watching over their young children through the night. Several tried to block their children's ears with wax, in the hope that they would be unable to hear the mysterious song that led them to their deaths.

The eldest brother refused to leave his sibling's side as well, and spent the next several nights restlessly watching over his brother. For three nights, no more children disappeared, but as the fourth night drew ever closer, tension rose in the village, and everyone knew that another vanishing was imminent. The elder brother asked his father for a blade so he would be more armed, and his parents gave the boy one without question. The two of them slept outside the door on the fourth night, and the older brother kept a candle lit at his side, to help keep him from falling into an exhausted slumber.

However, as the night wore on, the boy felt himself succumbing to sleep, and soon heard his parents snoring outside the locked door. Knowing that he might pass out at any moment, the boy raised the knife over his arm and drew the blade across his skin. The sharp pain and the blood that began to dew on his arm woke him up quickly. He became alert for only a few minutes at a time before he felt himself drifting off again; the cuts on his arm soon began to crowd each other, and little trickles of blood oozed onto his clothes. He remained awake, however, and was alert when he saw his brother sit up in his bed and try to climb out. The boy worked quickly, wrapping his unconscious brother in his own sheets, and tied him to the bed. Once he was certain that his young brother could not escape, the elder brother unlocked his door and tried to awaken his parents. They remained asleep, however, even when he shook their arms and called their names. Realizing that they must be enchanted by the flute as well, the boy went back to his room and grabbed the candle, which by now was little more than a flickering wick in a puddle of wax. He stuck the knife in his belt, and grabbed two ropes. One he lit with the candle. The rope blazed at first, but the boy blew out the flame; the rope smoldered and glowed in the darkness, but did not go out. The second rope he wound around his waist. He also grabbed some scraps of paper and dried grass, which would ignite readily. With these also tucked carefully into his belt, he walked out into the night.

He could barely hear the song at all now, and had to stop often to pause and listen. He guarded the glowing end of the rope against wind, and, more importantly, the keen eyes of the syusya. Before long, he heard a small noise behind him; another child had been lured from her home, since his brother could not escape his room. He boy was frightened for her, and followed her closely; she too could not be awakened. Soon, they came upon another clearing, and the monster was again sitting in a high fork of a tree. Before the girl could enter the clearing, the boy used the unlit rope to tie her to a tree, so she could not walk into the syusya's waiting arms. With the girl now safe, the boy braced himself for what he had to do.

With the remaining rope smoldering tucked safely behind his back, the boy walked slowly into the clearing, pretending to be asleep, as the younger children had been. The monster could not smell the faint smoke, nor did it appear to recognize him from before. The boy noticed that one of its eyes was red and swollen as well. Even so, as he drew near, it seemed to become more wary. The boy realized that his arm was still bloody - though the beast could not smell the blood, it must have seen the dark stain against his skin, even in the near-total darkness of the swamp. By this time the boy was almost on top of the waiting claws at the base of the tree, and he leapt forward, drawing his knife and slashing wildly. The giant hands closed around his chest, and the knife was knocked away, but not before he made several large gashes across its palms. The beast howled, but held on tightly. As the boy was drawn up into the tree and towards the gaping maw, he reached down to his waist and grabbed the paper and the burning rope. The monster's two flute-playing arms were tucked down around its neck, and the great mouth opened wide to receive its prey. The boy waited until the last second to touch the tinder to the burning end of the rope - in a heartbeat, and grass and paper were ablaze, and soon the rope was burning brightly as well.

The syusya was startled by the light as it pierced the darkness, and tried to shield its eyes. The boy slipped from its grip and found safety on a thick branch. While the monster was still writhing in pain, he threw a loop of rope around its huge head, and tied the other end to a thick branch. Within moments, the monster had recovered enough from the sudden light, and tried to leap away on its powerful legs. However, it did not get far.

As it leapt, its head was snapped back by the rope, and its body swung back down and hung from the tree. Its neck had been snapped, but it still managed to struggle weakly until it was finally choked to death. When its long arms had finally stopped their feeble grasping and fell limply at its side, the boy climbed carefully down the tree. By now he heard the girl crying outside the clearing; she was no longer under the monster's spell, and had been terrified when she awoke tied to a tree. The boy quickly found his knife and rushed to free her. Together, they ran back to the village and woke everyone they could find.

The boy's parents were horrified that their son had fought the syusya twice on his own, but parents and children rejoiced when they learned that they were free of the monster for good. They celebrated until the sun began to rise, and the boy was asked by the village leaders to take them to the creature's corpse. He led them to the clearing where the heavy body still strained against the rope it had hanged itself with. One of the men climbed the tree and cut the slightly charred rope; the boy was led away as they sliced open the beast's stomach and found the remains of the three missing children.

That day, a funeral was held for the deceased, and the syusya's body was burned and buried deep in the swamp. The villagers mourned for the dead children, but were also eternally grateful for the brave boy who risked his life to save his young brother and the girl. A feast was held the day after in his honor, though the young hero was not present - he was finally getting a well-deserved rest.