Semetey. Semetey's Trip to Talas. Part - 3

Semetey's Journey to Talas. Part -3

Semetey took out clothes from his bag - a gift sent by Kanikey Burulcha on the occasion of Kuyachoro's birth, and handed them to the unfortunate sufferer. For Kulchoro, he had clothes that Kanikey had sewn for him. Bakai brought a gray mare, which they immediately slaughtered in memory of the deceased Almambet.

Burulcha told them the whole story of Almambet's life - how he left the throne in Beidzhin and came to Manas. She told them how her Abike and Kyobesh oppressed her after Almambet's death, and how she, unable to bear their mockery, decided to kill herself with a knife, but three-year-old Kulchoro snatched the knife from her hands. She spoke to them for a long time about all the torments she had endured, which continued to this day.

Six-year-old Kulchoro, unable to bear the mockery and beatings from six scoundrels, hid in the mountains.

On the day Semetey and Bakai arrived, he had a dream that an unfamiliar man approached him on a white bull and said: "Fighting during the war, you, poor thing, should never retreat in the face of the enemy. You will be fortunate in life, so do not fear, you will not be harmed. Bakai has a man who is considered his friend until death, this is your foster brother, Semetey, the son of Manas, who is now twelve years old. Soon he should come to Talas."

Startled, Kulchoro woke up and realized that he had seen a wonderful dream. Overjoyed, he ran to Burulcha's hut. Seeing the horses tied around him, he was surprised and thought: "Where did these people come from?" He knew that until that day, no one had ever come to them.

Approaching, he greeted the newcomers.

Bakai and Semetey took turns kissing and caressing him. Kulchoro, for his part, told them about the beatings and mockery he had endured from Abike and Kyobesh. After telling them everything, he asked:

- When will we take revenge on them for this? I am still too young to fight Abike and Kyobesh, but tell me - when will we reclaim all the property they have plundered from us?

Hearing these words, Bakai and Burulcha were moved and wept bitterly, saying:

- Oh, if only the lions Almambet and Manas were alive, our heads would not have seen so much misfortune and suffering as we have had to endure.

- If my relatives would agree, - said Semetey to Bakai, - we could marry Kanikey to Abike, gather the sons of my father's former choro and make them my companions. Could we not unite the people this year, gather a large army, and take revenge on the Chinese for my father Manas?

Bakai replied to him:

- The thought of taking revenge on the Chinese for your father is very good, but keep in mind that your relatives and the remaining choro from your father will bring you nothing good: they are traitors. It is because of their persecutions that we all ended up as homeless wanderers and despised people. The unfortunate Manas gathered his choro, distributed horses and clothes - made them into people, but none of them remembered these blessings, and for all the good that was done to them, they repaid only with evil.

While talking to each other, Semetey and Bakai climbed one of the hills and suddenly saw a warrior dressed in iron armor, riding towards them on a huge dark-red horse. He was the size of half a mountain. Seeing him, Semetey boiled with rage, lashed Aktulpara with a whip across the thighs, grabbed a spear, and without warning the rider with a word or a shout, caught up with him and struck him in the back with the spear. From this blow, Semetey's spear shattered into pieces, and the giant felt the spear's strike as less than a flea bite.

Enraged, the giant in turn, without thinking long, struck his horse with a whip, caught up with Semetey, and dealt him several blows with an axe. From the blow of the axe, Semetey lost consciousness, and sparks flew from his eyes.

He was bewildered and, not knowing what to do next, decided to turn back to Bakai to somehow save his life. Letting go of the reins of his horse, he hurriedly returned to Bakai. Seeing him, Bakai asked:

- What happened to you, Semetey? What did you see? Have the enemies from China already arrived?

Having said this, Bakai tightened the girth on his pony's saddle and, looking around, saw the approaching warrior. He was the size of half a mountain, holding a spear twelve spans long in one hand and a steel shield in the other. Anyone who saw him would have their soul freeze in fear at the sight of him.

When Bakai looked again at who was sitting on the horse and pursuing Semetey, he thought it was none other than Manas himself, so great was the resemblance. When the rider on the horse approached, and they looked closely at him, Bakai recognized Manas's sister Kardygach.

Riding up and greeting Bakai, she asked him if Manas, his forty choro, her mother Chiyirdy, and Kanikey were alive and well. She told him that two giants - Kokdoo and Akdoo had appeared, and that she had fought with them for seven years and could not defeat them.

- I have come, - said Kardygach, - to my homeland to you and to Manas to ask for your help in fighting these monsters.

Bakai told her about Manas's death and all the misfortunes that had befallen them. He finished his story by saying:

- I am now a living dead man. Since the time I became a dead man without a grave, twelve years have passed. The orphan left after Manas has just returned after twelve years, and I see him for the first time.

Kardygach, hearing about Manas's death, began to tear her cheeks in grief. Wailing, she fell from her dark-red horse to the ground and lay unconscious for so long that during that time meat could have boiled.

Turning to the spirit of Manas, she prayed for the repose of his soul and began to ask Bakai again about what had happened after the death of the warrior. Learning everything, she cried out:

- I will go right now and kill Abike, Kyobesh, and all forty choro.

But Semetey said, turning to Kardygach:

- Edje, listen to me! Everything you say is right. However, know that I have the strength to destroy them as well. Perhaps the people may condemn us if we kill our relatives and the remaining choro from our father. This may disgrace us. Therefore, it is better to return quietly from here, and I will conquer your enemies, the giants Akdoo and Kokdoo. If you do not listen to me and go to Abike and Kyobesh, know that then my affairs will not be yours, and your affairs will not be mine.

Seeing that it was pointless to resist Semetey, Kardygach agreed with him, but she did not immediately decide to go home. She was afraid that Abike and Kyobesh and their associates would kill Semetey and Bakai, and so she quietly began to guard them from a distance.

Bakai-khan, meanwhile, continued to tell Semetey about everything that had happened and passed, and gave him advice on how to proceed.

- Know, poor orphan left from Kankor, - he instructed, - as long as there are forty choro of Manas and six scoundrels on the side of Abike and Kyobesh, they are strong, your enemies. Not all forty choro are the same; among them are those like Kyrgynchaly or Tazbaymat - these are spoiled rebels and cowards, but there are also those like Shuutu, who are not cowards but honest, brave warriors.

When your gray-haired father died, Kyrgynchaly and Tazbaymat broke their loyalty to Manas and, more than anyone else, became the cause of our humiliations and disgrace. They caused us much trouble with their own hands.

Come, let us not be hasty, and without looking around, we will not go to them, but first we will carefully scout who is where, what they are doing, and what their intentions are. And only after learning everything well, we will begin to act.

Saying this, he advised Semetey to hide in a gorge, while he himself went to scout the whereabouts of Abike and Kyobesh.

Bakai had been on various secret raids in his youth; he was an experienced scout. Therefore, now, without showing himself to anyone and hiding from people's eyes, he secretly began to gather information about everything.

At that time, Kyobesh-khan had become so unbearably arrogant that he did not want to recognize anyone. Every day, together with forty choro, he only drank arak and looked at the world with drunken eyes.

One day, gathering forty choro around him, he began to boast before them, saying:

- When the foolish Manas was alive, you defeated the enemies, not he, while the glory went to him. You all forty choro then, without knowing peace, were always on the borders, fighting with enemies. Since I became khan, you do not step away from your homes, drink arak, eat meat, and live peacefully and carelessly. Come on, friends, fearlessly, tell me frankly, who is better among us, me or Manas?

The hypocritical flatterers Kyrgynchaly and Tazbaymat would have liked to say something complimentary to Kyobesh in response, but since he had neither courage, nor intelligence, nor brave deeds, even they remained silent, as if they had stuffed their mouths with flour, and, bowing their heads, looked before them, scratching the ground. The other choro also could not say anything and sat with their heads down. Only Shuutu, rolling up his sleeves and clearing his throat, began to speak:

- You, Kyobesh, are as far from Manas as the sky is from the earth. Manas is a mighty, raging river, and you before him are nothing more than a drop of water. When the gray-haired one was alive, there were no lands where his forty choro did not go, and no peoples that we did not conquer. We rode on horses like Duldu, and our clothing was exclusively beaver. And you, tell me, what have you done that is worthy, besides drinking arak?
To these words, neither Kyobesh nor anyone else could object, and everyone remained silent.

After this, the forty choro went home. At that moment, Bakai peeked his head out from behind a small mountain where he had hidden and cautiously began to look around. He saw a man riding a lazy horse, dressed in worn-out poor clothes. When this man came closer, Bakai recognized him as Shuutu and went out to meet him. Seeing Bakai, Shuutu jumped off his horse, threw the reins over his neck, and, weeping bitterly with joy, greeted him. After greeting him, he began to reminisce about the carefree life under Manas and tell about the mockeries he now had to endure. He told in detail, not hiding anything, about the recent conversation and his response to Kyobesh's words.

Bakai began to ask about the moods of the forty choro and what Abike and Kyobesh were doing.

- Khan-father, - Shuutu asked him, - tell me, will we live so dishonorably forever? Are there no news about the orphan left from the gray-haired Manas? He must now be twelve years old.
Bakai replied to him:

- That orphan has arrived; I have awaited my happiness: what I lost has been found, the broken rope has been joined. Now I will demand retribution from Abike and Kyobesh, from the six scoundrels and forty choro for all the insults and grievances they have inflicted upon us.

Shuutu did not believe him:

- My dear father, are you speaking the truth or joking? Has the orphan really arrived? Has God truly sent us such joy?

Bakai assured Shuutu that it was so and began to ask him to distract the forty choro somewhere and leave Abike and Kyobesh alone so that he and Semetey could go to them. Shuutu agreed, promised to do everything as Bakai asked, and, turning his horse, rode back. Arriving at Abike and Kyobesh, Shuutu, in a sign of despair, clapped his hands and said to them:

- God has punished us; you should not drink arak but the blood of your fathers! You live carelessly, and you do not keep watch on the borders. You have allowed the Chinese khan Konurbay to cross over with a large army through the Karabura pass. It seems that our end has now come!

Hearing these words, the forty choro hurriedly armed themselves, mounted their horses, and set out against the enemy, while Bakai, secretly observing everything, mounted his horse and galloped towards Semetey, and upon reaching him, said:

- My dear orphan! Shuutu deceived the forty choro, and, telling them that the Chinese khan Konurbay is approaching, led them away. Now Abike and Kyobesh are left alone; let us go to them. But remember, when you enter their house, be careful where you sit; there are prepared pits in the ground in their houses. Also, be careful that they do not mix poison into your food. When they see you, they will flatter and please you, but in their hearts, they are dishonest and unclean; their pitiful words cannot be trusted. When we are with them, ask them to give you as a gift the remaining property from your father, and if they give it - take it; but if they do not give it - do not start a quarrel with them and leave back.

Having agreed thus, they rode to the aul of Abike and Kyobesh. Approaching there, Bakai pointed out to Semetey:

- Look, do you see what is visible over there? That is the golden palace of your father, and these buildings are the golden palace of Kanikey.

The guard set by Abike and Kyobesh was peacefully sleeping, and therefore no one knew of Bakai's and Semetey's arrival, and their arrival went unnoticed.

Tying their horses to the hitching post, Semetey and Bakai entered Abike's house. Seeing Bakai, Abike rose from his place and said:

- Finally, what was severed has been joined, what was extinguished has been rekindled. Be healthy, holy father Bakai, who has brought forth the descendants of Jakyp, my father. When the great lion - Manas died, false rumors about you spread among the people, and this became the reason we did not see each other for twelve years, and we became enemies to each other without cause. In this, holy father, we are guilty; forgive us, we must have erred.

Saying this, he began to embrace Bakai and wept loudly, saying:

When the mighty beautiful lion - Manas died,
With him died the entire Kyrgyz people.
Then, separated from the great lion,
We remained here alone, unworthy,
And became like an extinguished fire.
The sorrowful Kanikey left us,
And with her, the orphan Semetey.
Kanikey left as a widow,
Semetey became a wanderer.
My father Bakai, when I just think of this,
My soul ignites.
The only son of Manas,
I asked God to see him.

I inquired about him from healers,
And, not knowing the fate of the orphan,
I withered in torment.
The unfortunate bird called kazgaldak
Flies in search of the plain.
My father, if you knew how much grief I endure
Because of this orphan boy!
The unfortunate bird called with trepidation
Flies in search of the plain,
I endure great sorrow,
Weeping for the son of the mighty lion left behind!
The unfortunate bird called sarych,
Spreading its wings, flies for food.
The only son, whom Manas saw at the end of his life,
Left the homeland because of me.
The unfortunate bird called the hawk,
Without looking back, flies, saving its life.
My dear beloved Kanikey
Fled, saving Semetey,
In anger, she left because of me.

Semetey. Semetey's Journey to Talas. Part - 2