Semetey. Semetey's Trip to Talas. Part - 1

Semetey's Trip to Talas.

For several days, without stopping day or night, Semetey traveled and reached the border of Kokand's domain.

Here he remembered his mother's words, who warned him not to approach the city of Kokand and to go around it. Despite this, Semetey decided, "Whatever will be, will be," and rode straight through the city of Kokand.

The guards reported to the Kokand khan Kozubek that the very Semetey was coming, the one who had torn off a hand and killed the batyr Tëyöbalban in Bukhara during a competition.

Upon hearing this, Khan Kozubek said to his courtiers: "If we let Semetey live, he will bring us much trouble, so we must deal with him right now." And he ordered his batyrs to catch and kill him as soon as possible.

The batyrs sent by Kozubek, armed with spears, caught up with Semetey, who was riding carelessly through the streets, and each struck him once.

"I did not touch anyone and was riding peacefully on my way; why did they attack me?" thought Semetey, and, enraged, he knocked down and killed seventy batyrs, and then, without returning to the city, continued on his way.

After some time, he safely reached Talas.

When he approached the Talas River and was about to cross it, it was the time of flooding: the river was raging, forcefully carrying stones from the mountains and uprooting fir trees. Striking his horse's flanks and turning to the spirit of the deceased Manas in prayer, Semetey fearlessly began to cross.

When he entered the river and looked around, he fancied that Manas and his forty choro surrounded him from all sides, and thus he safely crossed to the other bank.

After Manas's death, the scoundrels Abike and Këbësh, deciding to erase any memory of him from the face of the earth, destroyed his palace and all the buildings. Seeing this destruction, Semetey was greatly saddened and rode straight towards Manas's tomb. Approaching there and leaning on his axe, according to the custom of the Kyrgyz, he began to remember his father with loud lamentations.

Having read a prayer for the repose of the deceased and calling upon the spirits of the deceased Manas and his forty choro, he entered the tomb. At that moment, suddenly, there was a thunder. He then remembered his mother's words and rejoiced that what she had said had come true.

Walking around and examining the tomb from all sides, on the walls of which the glorious deeds of Manas were depicted, Semetey marveled at the wisdom of Kanykey, who had conceived and so skillfully adorned this mausoleum.

At that time, old Bakay was herding camels not far from these places at the top of the Beshtash mountain. It had been twelve years since he had been doing this, and the number of camels in his herd had reached seven hundred.

The horse that Bakay rode had neither mane nor tail. He himself wore leather trousers and a tattered old robe, his eyes were watery, and he wheezed in his chest. He had become a deep old man during this time, and his days were numbered.

Sensing Semetey's approach, the camels suddenly surrounded Bakay with a roar, and he could not manage them at all. Jumping on his tailless horse, he was exhausted, shouting at them: "Oh, you cursed homeless animals!" trying to drive them in one direction and gather them all together.

Meanwhile, Semetey rode out from behind the mountain, saw Bakay, and recognized him. Deciding that before revealing himself, he needed to test Bakay's loyalty and the strength and valor remaining in him, he greeted Bakay as a stranger without naming himself.

Bakay, responding to his greeting, asked:

- My son, where have you come from, to which clan do you belong, and what is your name?

Thus Semetey replied to him:

- I am from Chambylbely, I am the son of Karacha, the son of Jenaly. In the lifetime of Manas, you inflicted many grievances on my father, defeated his people, plundered their property, forcibly took girls, and carried them away. Here I have come to take revenge on you for the wrongs done. Immediately dismount from your tailless horse and give it to me as a gift; otherwise, you will suffer greatly in your old age! - having said this, Semetey pretended to prepare for a fight.

Bakay, angered by these words, uprooted a fir tree and chased after Semetey, wishing to strike him, but Semetey quickly ran to one of the hills and said:

- Dear aba, I was joking, wanting to see what you would do, and you got angry. Think for yourself, what would I achieve if I got your tailless horse? I am the son of Ismail, the brother of Kanykey. Knowing that you are alive and well, I have come here to pray for the deceased dear jizde.

Hearing these words, Bakay ceased to be angry, and they began to converse with each other.

- My son, - said Bakay, - after the death of Manas, I helped his only son Semetey escape to Bukhara. This year he turned twelve. Kanykey, his mother, promised me that when the orphan turns twelve, she would send him here. These camels you see belong to Semetey; there are now seven hundred of them. If you tell me anything about Semetey, I will give them to you as a gift for the joyful news.

Semetey, deciding to test Bakay once more, said:

- I was in Bukhara and saw Semetey. He has become a bold rascal. He killed the ishans and mullahs and, destroying houses, did not let people pass. Temirkan arranged a big toy, hoping that if he proclaimed Semetey khan, perhaps his grandson would improve. For those who knew the secret, it was a memorial for Manas, and for those who did not know, it was a celebration in honor of Semetey's proclamation as khan. At this celebration, Kanykey let her horse Taytora run. Knowing nothing of his origin, Semetey, with a shout in honor of Manas, led Taytora by the reins and made him the victor, and the prize he received was shared among the people.

At these festivities, Semetey was proclaimed khan and seated on the throne. At the end of the feast, a wrestling match was arranged between two batyrs, and the people divided into two parties. From Bukhara, the hero Akbalban was put forward, and from Kokand emerged the hero Tëyöbalban. In the wrestling match, Tëyöbalban defeated Akbalban.

- How can it be that the Bukhara hero was defeated? - said Semetey. - I wager my khan's throne and I will start wrestling myself." And he began to wrestle with Tëyöbalban. He tore off one of Tëyöbalban's arms and then killed him. Those who saw this, marveling at Semetey's strength, said: "He is braver than Manas and a great batyr in strength."

Continuing his story, Semetey said:

- I do not know if someone cast an evil eye on him or if something else happened, but after that, poor fellow, he fell ill and died.

Upon hearing this, Bakay fell into great sorrow and lay for a long time half-dead, losing his speech. Then, opening his eyes, he began to curse the boy:

- A black stone in your mouth! May you perish in the bloom of your years like Semetey, or may I suffer all my life until old age without seeing any joy! Having said this, he began to send many more curses upon the boy, continuing to lament in grief:

- In this world, I lived only with the hope that Semetey was alive. Why did God create me so unfortunate? Why did I not die during the lifetime of Manas, fighting and destroying the Kalmyks and Chinese in great battles? Why was I not able to see at least once before my death the unfortunate orphan left by the lion Manas! What use is it for me to live now in this world? I would be better off dead!

Having said this, he drew a sword from its sheath. But at the moment when he was about to strike himself in the heart, Semetey deflected the blow with his axe and said:

- Abake! Is it permitted to take your own life? Better tell me what kind of man your Manas was.

As soon as Bakay heard this question, his heart trembled, he took out a tobacco box from his pocket, poured a full handful of snuff, placed it behind his lip, and stared intently at Semetey, and at that moment it was revealed to him who stood before him.

In excitement, he embraced the boy, and both fell to the ground together in great joy.

Realizing who was before him, Bakay immediately became fifteen years younger, and all that was forgotten revived in his memory. He began to tell Semetey about all the grievances inflicted upon him after the death of Manas by Abike and Këbësh and the forty choro who had joined their side.

- Abike decided to take all the camels that I was herding and sent sixty batyrs for this purpose, but I killed them all to the last man. I have been fighting alone against Abike, Këbësh, and the remaining survivors from the forty choro of your father until today.

Taking Semetey with him, he led him to the cave where Kanykey had hidden all the valuables that remained from the inheritance of Manas before fleeing to Bukhara.

After reviewing all the treasures hidden in the cave, Semetey took Manas's aybaltu from them and exited the cave with it, while Bakay locked the entrance again.

- When your father Manas died, - Bakay said to Semetey, - he had many enemies. To prevent his body from being dug up from the grave and given to the dogs, Kanykey secretly buried him in the tomb, in one of the caves.

Having said this, he led Semetey to the cave where his father was buried. Approaching the huge stone at the entrance to the cave, the size of a yurt, Bakay rolled it aside and said:

- I will not enter the cave, but you must go in.

The entrance to the cave was so small that only one person could barely pass through, while inside the cave a thousand people could freely perform a military dance. Precious stones and gold were laid in the corners of the cave, making it bright as day inside.

Entering there, Semetey saw his father Manas lying there and several other people around him.

- Woe is me that I never got to see my dear father alive even once! - he exclaimed. - Woe is me that this cherished dream of mine did not come true.

And Semetey began to weep. Then, having read a prayer addressed to the spirit of Manas and the deceased, he exited the cave. When they had moved a little aside, Semetey asked Bakay:

- Along with my father, there are several other people lying in the cave; who are they?

- Manas was not an ordinary mortal, - Bakay replied, so perhaps the spirits of his batyrs joined him: Alambeta, Chubaka, Syrgaka, and the maiden Saykal.

Bakay also told Semetey how, after Manas's burial, the spirit - the protector of camels brought him a white stallion-camel, which was sacrificed to the spirit of Manas, and its meat was cooked.

Semetey had not slept for several nights in a row, so deciding to rest, he lay down and fell into a deep sleep.

Leaving him in peace for now, we will turn to the story of the blacksmith Bëlyokbai.

Semetey. The Childhood Years of Semetey. Part - 3