After that, Semetey set off on his journey. Driving fourteen horses before him and taking with him the sons of twenty-five khans, accompanied by Kulchoro and Kanchoro, he rode in search of Akshumkar to the city of Akhun-khan. They traveled without stopping day or night, and when they approached the borders of Akhun-khan's lands, they stopped at one place to rest.
After resting, Semetey took the spyglass left by the gray-maned Manas and began to survey the lands of Akhun-khan and the people living on them.
Looking in one direction, he thought, "In case of a dispute between us and Akhun-khan, one Kulchoro will be enough for this people."
Looking in another direction, he saw Aichurek on the bank of the Urgench River, surrounded by forty girls, swinging on a swing.
Having kidnapped Akshumkar, she decided that Semetey would surely come to look for him, and she waited for that moment.
- It may happen that in his anger he will want to destroy our people, - she thought, and therefore, without revealing her thoughts to anyone, she took with her the forty most beautiful girls and went out to meet Semetey.
Seeing her, he was so captivated by her beauty that he became greatly distressed and lost his composure.
- Until now, I have not been married, but have lived as a bachelor, - he thought and called Kulchoro and Kanchoro to him.
When they approached and saw him in such an agitated state, they were frightened.
- What has happened to you, aba? Did you perhaps see enemies somewhere? - they asked.
Semetey handed them the spyglass, and they also saw Aichurek and the forty girls with her, and immediately understood the reason for his agitation. Semetey ordered them:
- One of you should go there and ask Aichurek about Akshumkar. If you meet Akhun-khan, ask him if he remembers how he and Manas betrothed their yet unborn children? My bride has brothers Azhybay and Tyumenbay; if you meet them, ask them if they will give her to me voluntarily?
Kanchoro said:
- Aba, I am not skilled in conversing with girls and young women. I am inexperienced in this, let Kulchoro go to them instead.
Kulchoro, getting up from his place, said:
- I will go, aba, but only give me your Tayburula and akolpok.
Semetey was very pleased with Kulchoro's response, took off his akolpok, and handed him the horse.
Jumping onto Tayburula and putting on the akolpok, Kulchoro rode towards the city. Tayburula galloped like a whirlwind, only occasionally touching the ground with his hooves. Without stopping, driving Tayburula, Kulchoro approached the Urgench River. At that time, the water in the river had risen, its waves surged like the back of a camel, uprooted fir trees and chunks of ice floated on it, and huge stones were carried away with a roar. The depth of the river exceeded the length of a lasso. No man could cross it alive.
Aichurek arrived at the riverbank intending to test Semetey's bravery and fearlessness.
- If Semetey is fearless and brave, let him cross the river and take revenge for my insult from Chinkodjo and Toltoy, - she decided, - but if he is cowardly, let him look for a ford.
With disdain, Aichurek said:
- Look at this slave! He rides not on his own horse, he rides not in his own clothes!
- I ride on Semetey's horse, wear his armor, and seek his Akshumkar, - replied Kulchoro. - Not long ago, you, searching the whole world for a husband, stole Akshumkar. Now give him back to me, djeneke.
- Why do you call me djeneke? My suitors are Chinkodjo and Toltoy. Tell your boastful brother not to think of coming here. If he comes, he will meet his death at the hands of Toltoy.
- I can handle your Chinkodjo and Toltoy with my own hands, - replied Kulchoro, - but you return Akshumkar to me. If you do not give him back, know that I will not take even a hundred girls like you for him, but will go to war against Akhun-khan.
Kulchoro's bravery greatly pleased Aichurek.
- My dear boy, - she said, - everything you say is the absolute truth. Recently, I, having turned into a white swan, flew all over the world looking for a husband, but did not find a suitable one, and I could not meet and talk with my fiancé Semetey. I came to ask Chachikey for that, but she scolded me like a dog. Unable to endure the insults inflicted on me, I took Akshumkar, deciding that Semetey would surely come to look for him.
Having said this, she asked him to dismount, Kulchoro quickly got off his horse, joined the girls, and became so engrossed in playing with them that he completely forgot about Semetey.
Kulchoro's delay frightened Semetey, and he began to worry about his fate.
- I should not have sent the boy; perhaps he drowned in the river or met enemies, and they killed him.
Thinking this, he could not endure it and, without waiting for Kulchoro, mounted Taytora and crossed the Urgench River with his choro. Seeing Semetey approaching, Kulchoro, who was sitting with the girls, became frightened and began to plead with Aichurek:
- My dear djeneke, what have I done! God has evidently punished me. Please intercede for me with my brother: if you do not help me, I know he will kill me!
At that moment, a thirst for blood awakened in Semetey, and he, like a lion, in fury began to rush forward, loudly shouting and scolding Kulchoro.
- You have become like the girls who are only good for gathering kurai. You have become a friend of the girls who can only gather kizyak. You left me like a camel frozen in the steppe, while you disappeared. I have many enemies who are watching me. You abandoned me, and what position have I been left in?
Then Aichurek, with a proud gait, stepped forward to meet Semetey and said:
- Is a fiancé supposed to be like you? The words you said to your brother about "girls gathering kurai and kizyak" have greatly offended us. It is shameful for you to speak like that!
When Semetey heard Aichurek's voice and saw her, his anger immediately left him. He jumped off his horse and entered into conversation with her. Asking about her health and saying a few playful words, he extended his hand to her. But she replied:
- There are no your Kyrgyz and Argyns here, so you, be careful not to get too conceited, - and pushed his hand away.
Then Semetey became very angry, jumped up from his place, and shouted:
- You wretch, I am not at all equal to the girls who gather kurai and kizyak. A woman like you, an old maid, I will never take as my wife. In your father's house, you bore six children without finding a husband. In search of a husband, you scoured the whole earth. A harlot like you, I will never take as my wife. Return my Akshumkar to me, and I will leave immediately.
Aichurek said:
- I know your impulsiveness. Because of your temper, you have killed your grandfather, relatives, and the remaining forty choro from your father. I have remained a girl not because I did not find a husband, but only in memory of Manas. Is it your truth that you, like a vagabond, wander through other cities, or is it my truth that I waited until the time when my destined fiancé would arrive? I fed your Akshumkar with carrion, and he died, so instead of him, look for another just like him!
Semetey said:
- Find me my Akshumkar! If you really killed him, then know that I will not take even a hundred girls like you for him!
Aichurek, angered, replied:
- Do not worry, your Akshumkar will be found. But why do you speak to me with so many rude words? A person should have a conscience; where has yours gone? I have refused many glorious batyrs. If you do not want to marry me, do not marry. Rather than marry a madman like you, I would prefer to marry the Chinese Konurbai, even though he is not a Muslim. I will somehow find myself an equal husband.
Having said this, she began to cry bitterly, so that lakes formed from her eyes, and springs began to flow from her nose.
Semetey said angrily:
- I also know your fiancé Konurbai, who is in Beijing, and I will try to cool myself by breaking his back. I will destroy your hope. If Chinkodjo and Toltoy are also your suitors, then I will deal with them too.
Kulchoro and Kanchoro, meanwhile, were whispering to each other.
- God has evidently punished Semetey! If we do not take Aichurek, our affairs will not improve.
Kanchor said to Kulchoro:
- You know how to approach girls and women; go and talk to Aichurek, and I will go and try to persuade Semetey.
Coming to him, he said:
- Aba, such arrogance is not good. Until you marry, it is inappropriate to scold a girl who is still in her father's house, no matter how bad she may be. If we now, angered at Aichurek, do not take her as a wife, we will become a laughingstock to all the people. Aba, temper your anger and act differently!
Speaking like this, he earnestly pleaded with him. And Kulchoro, coming to Aichurek, said:
- Is it good to quarrel with a girl you have just met for the first time? Will it be good if you, still being a girl, already take the position of an abandoned wife? Better throw yourself around the neck of the gray-maned one, ask him for forgiveness, and you will reconcile quickly!
With such persuasions, Kulchoro and Kanchoro finally reconciled them.
Calmed Aichurek led Semetey and his companions into the tent that had been set up for their arrival. There they were treated with arak mixed with kumys, and they stayed as guests in this tent until dusk. When it got dark, and in the darkness people could not recognize each other, Aichurek secretly led Semetey and his twenty-five companions into her golden palace. There, Semetey generously gifted presents and gold to all the women who opened the doors, made the beds, and fortune-tellers. Then, secretly from everyone, exercising the rights of a fiancé, Semetey lay with Aichurek on her golden throne.
Semetey. The Marriage of Semetey to Aichurek. The Quarrel of Semetey with Chinkodjo. Part - 2
