Semetey. The Escape of the Forty Crows to China.

Among the forty choro, there were both smart and foolish, brave and cowardly. One day, gathering together, they began to discuss among themselves:

- In the times of Manas, we defeated our enemies, but the glory went to Manas. Manas was no braver than us, yet we were his warriors and obeyed him. Should we now submit to his son?

Must we always serve someone until the end of our lives? We have committed many evil deeds since Manas's death. We beat Kanykey, dragging her by her hair and subjecting her to abuse. We divided all her possessions among ourselves. We forced Kanykey, Chiyrdy, and Semetey to flee as beggars to Bukhara. Semetey will never forget these deeds of ours. The time will come when he will take revenge on us and kill us all. Therefore, while we are alive and healthy, let us better flee to Konurbay and serve him.

Having decided this, they secretly fled towards China one dark night.

At that time, Semetey was sleeping and had a terrible dream that woke him in fear. Rushing to the camp of the forty choro, he learned of their flight. Deeply saddened, Semetey thought:

- If my father, the gray-haired one, had not died, my head would not have seen such humiliations. In the city of Temir-khan, I wandered as a beggar and an orphan, and only now, returning to my people, have I regained my glory and the remaining choro from my father. Now they, having disgraced and abandoned me, have fled! Should I search for them or perish in separation from them? I cannot live without them; my life is useless without them.

Thinking this, he saddled his Tayburul and set off in search of the fugitives.

He rode for a long time through valleys and mountain gorges and finally caught up with the fugitives. When he saw them, he rejoiced as if his father Manas had risen from the dead. But they, noticing Semetey approaching, drew their rifles and prepared to shoot him.

Semetey quickly dismounted from Tayburul, placed his akkyse around his neck, and said to them:

- My dear ones, I surrender my horse and my head to you. If I have offended you in any way, forgive me. By fleeing from me, you have disgraced me before the people. Rumors have already spread that I cannot lead the remaining people of my father and am unable to protect and guard them. The people have begun to scatter. I cannot endure such disgrace, and therefore, if you do not wish to return, better kill me and bury me with your own hands in the ground.

He pleaded and begged them for a long time. Finally, they set their rifles on the ground, and Baychoro, one of the forty choro, said:

- Our horses have grown strong, the brave have grown weary, and the forty choro have become bored. In the lifetime of the gray-haired Manas, we also sometimes, feeling rebellious, left him. And now we have decided that we must first visit the Chinese Konurbay to learn all his intentions and secrets.

- My dear aba, - Semetey replied to them, - it should not have been done this way! To go against Konurbay, we must hand over the battle banners of Manas to Bakay and Sary-khan and march out with a large army.

After this, leading the returned choro, Semetey returned to Talas, where they, as before, began to live carefree, entertaining themselves with various amusements and games.

One day, when Bakay-khan, Sary-khan, and Semetey were sitting together, Kanykey said to them:

- These forty choro will never be loyal to us; they must be separated from each other and sent home one by one.

But Semetey did not heed these words, and everything remained as before.

The forty choro, meanwhile, soon decided to flee again, and to prevent Semetey from accidentally interfering with their plan, they rode into the mountains, set up a strong guard, sacrificed an animal, loaded their rifles, and prepared their spears for battle.

Sensing something ominous, Semetey rode out to search for the choro and could not find them for a long time. Finally, climbing to the ridge of a mountain, he looked through his spyglass and saw them in the distance. He noticed that their battle camp was on the move, and they seemed to be preparing for a fight with the enemy.

- Whatever will be, will be, - he decided, - I will go to them and try once more to persuade them.

Rushing to them, he dismounted, hung the akkyse around his neck as a sign of submission, and began to plead with them, saying:

- I offer you my horse and my head as a sacrifice; forgive me if I am guilty, but do not disgrace me before the people and do not leave.

But the forty choro did not listen to him and began to shower him with bullets like hail, yet he continued to plead with them despite everything. Then they mounted their horses, and one of them suggested to the others:

- Let’s catch this son of a dog alive, torment him, and then kill him.

And Semetey continued to plead with them, saying:

- I have seen nothing good from my relatives. In hope of my relatives, I have come to the point where I have only one spoonful of blood left, and my muscles have weakened. If you destroy me, let your sin fall upon your heads, and this will be your eternal shame. I have long sought to establish peace and harmony with you, but now I understand that nothing will come of you; your souls are too corrupted.

Having spoken these words, he turned to the spirit of Manas and took the syrnayza in his hands. His hair stood on end from anger, his eyes blazed with fire, and the thirst for blood awakened within him.

Cracking the whip on Tayburul, like a tiger, he charged into battle with them.

Among the choro were four sons of the youngest wife of Jakyp. Their names were Kochkor, Chiybyt, Adybay, and Kelbay. Semetey killed all the choro without exception, including his relatives. He gathered the bodies of all the slain into one place and piled them like a mountain.

At that time, fearing that the choro, who had participated in many battles and had skills in fighting, would harm Semetey, Bakay, taking Sary-khan and Jamgyrchi to help him, rode after Semetey. Bakay decided to help Semetey deal with the traitors, but his noble heart could not bear that a civil war had begun; he wept bitterly, and whole springs flowed from his nostrils, forming entire lakes from his tears.

Bakay and his companions arrived at the place where the bodies of the slain rose like a large hill.

- The deeds of these dogs were wicked; finally, they have received their due, said Bakay, and together with his companions began to examine their corpses. At that moment, Semetey approached them. Bakay said to him:

- Orphan! The thoughts of these scoundrels were harmful, and you did well to kill them with your own hands. But once they were companions of your father, and therefore their bodies should not be left in the steppe for the dogs and birds to eat; they must be buried according to custom.

- Everything you have said is true, aba! - Semetey replied. - Let us not remember what has happened, but let us build a tomb for them.

And they built a tomb at one end for Semetey's four relatives and at the other end for the rest of the choro.

Since then, this area has been called Kochkor, named after one of the slain brothers.

Having done this, Semetey returned to Talas, where the Kyrgyz and Argyns gathered and proclaimed him khan in place of Manas.

Semetey. The Battle of Semetey with Abyke and Këbësh