The Escape of Kanikei to Bukhara.
When Manas died, Kёbёsh became the khan in his place, while his brother Abike and Adzhibai went to Hindustan and Afghanistan at that time to settle the quarrel of three khans.
At that very moment, old Jakyp plotted something evil against Kanikei. One day he summoned all his children and angrily said to them:
- Bakai received a bribe from the son of Tekechi, Ormonbek: six thousand jamba and a thousand beaver skins, and for this he intends to give him Kanikei as a wife. You, wretched children, drink arak; may a stone fall into your mouths instead. You sit here carelessly and do not think that the widow of Manas is to be given in marriage to someone else. This cannot be allowed. Take Kanikei and the other wives of Manas for yourselves (67).
Kёbёsh-khan agreed with his father and sent Kyrgynchal and Tazbaymat to Kanikei. With feigned weeping, they rode to Manas's yurt. But Kanikei was cunning; from their weeping and all their behavior, she immediately understood what was going on.
At that time, the wives of Manas, according to custom, were mourning him in the yurt where he had died.
Akylai, the first wife of Manas, opened the curtain for the visitors. Kyrgynchal conveyed to her Kёbёsh's words that he wanted to marry her. Delighted, Akylai immediately agreed.
Then Kyrgynchal approached Kanikei and conveyed Kёbёsh's words to her as well. But Kanikei became enraged and replied:
- Oh, you wretched ones! Manas made you people by gathering you from different corners of the world. And you, old man, how can you not be ashamed! Not even forty days have passed since Manas's death, and you already dare to tell me to marry Kёbёsh!
Having said this, she began to threaten him and drew a knife.
Both wretched ones ran out of the yurt, but while they were mounting their horses, Kanikei managed to stab both of them.
Bloodied, they returned to Kёbёsh and told him:
- Kanikei has no intention of marrying you. It seems that Jakyp-khan is right; she promised to marry Ormonbek.
Kёbёsh became furious upon hearing this, summoned the forty wretched ones, and said to them:
- If Semetei stays alive, there will be nothing good for us. Let’s kill him while he lies in the cradle. Since Kanikei does not want to marry me, we will take all of Manas's wealth from her, divide it among ourselves, and make her a slave.
Thus, they agreed.
To capture Kanikei, Kёbёsh gathered many people.
When Kyrgynchal and Tazbaymat left Kanikei, she said to Akylai:
- You were the first wife of Manas, and I was his youngest wife. What a disgrace! Not even forty days have passed since his death, and you, wretched one, are already planning to marry. Get out and do not show yourself to me.
Having said this, Kanikei expelled her from the yurt.
Sensing that the villains would want to cause her even more harm, she called the old Chiyyrdy to her and said:
- These dogs are not satisfied with merely mocking us and plundering our goods; I fear they will destroy the remaining orphan of the lion, completely shatter our hopes, and deprive us of our light.
She suggested to the old woman Chiyyrdy to hide Semetei. At first, Chiyyrdy did not agree, but after persuasion, she carefully took Semetei and discreetly disappeared with him.
To conceal Semetei's disappearance, Kanikei called her servant woman Karakun and said to her:
- We gave birth on the same day. Give me your child. I will place it in the cradle next to Semetei, I will nurse it with my breast, and together we will raise them as twins (68).
But Karakun did not agree. Then Kanikei killed her and buried her in the yurt under the hearth, placing her child in Semetei's place.
All this happened deep in the night. And before dawn, Kёbёsh arrived at the aiyl with a large army. The cries of the warriors could be heard: "Kёbёsh! Kёbёsh!" Bursting into Kanikei's yurt and approaching her golden throne, Kёbёsh shouted in rage:
- You, wretched one, do not want to marry one of us, but want to run away with Ormonbek? - And with a blow of his axe, he knocked her to the ground, and the child lying in the cradle he sliced into six pieces, thinking it was Semetei.
Kёbёsh wanted to behead Kanikei, but one of the wretched ones, Shuutu, held his hand, saying:
- Is it appropriate for a khan to fight with a woman?
After this, they left, taking all of Manas's wealth with them. Kёbёsh destroyed the golden palace and ordered the place where it stood to be flooded with water.
Kanikei lay unconscious for a whole day after that. The next day, when she came to and opened her eyes, she saw that everything was drenched in blood. Looking around at what was happening, she wept bitterly, streams of tears flowed from her eyes, and she turned to the spirit of Manas with pleas.
Suddenly, a spirit appeared before her and spoke to her with these words:
- My child! Do not cry; instead, quickly find Chiyyrdy and Semetei and hide with them from here. - Having said this, he vanished into the unknown.
When Kanikei opened her eyes, her former strength returned, and she immediately set out to search for Chiyyrdy and after some time found her and Semetei. Upon meeting, both wept bitterly, recalling what had happened, and decided to set off on a long journey to Bukhara, to Kanikei's father, Temir-khan.
They went, taking turns carrying Semetei. Their path lay through a dry, waterless desert. Sharp stones cut their feet. Semetei ate nothing, became completely weak from hunger, and only moaned sadly.
Kanikei wanted to give him her breast, but no milk came.
- Is our orphan really going to die of hunger? - both fugitives thought in fear.
In one place, hiding Chiyyrdy and Semetei, Kanikei went to search for food.
She wandered for a long time through the mountains and lowlands but found nothing edible. Finally, she stumbled upon a calf lost in the mountains, caught it with difficulty, and drove it before her along the road.
Suddenly, she heard someone chasing her from behind. It turned out to be the old man Karymbai - her foster father, who was searching for his lost calf. Kanikei asked Karymbai to give her the calf. But the stingy Karymbai not only refused but even beat her, took the calf away, and went on his way.
Kanikei wept bitterly and returned to Chiyyrdy and Semetei. Exhausted, she lay down to rest on the way and fell asleep. In her dream, she heard a voice saying:
- Kanikei, wake up! Look, here comes a lamb to you!
She opened her eyes and saw a real lamb standing before her. She caught it, brought it to where Chiyyrdy was, and slaughtered it. They ate and were satisfied, but the journey was long, and soon they began to suffer from hunger again.
Then Chiyyrdy said to Kanikei:
- My child! I am already over eighty years old. Where are you driving me before death? It would be better for me to stay here and go to Manas.
With difficulty, Kanikei persuaded Chiyyrdy to go further, and they set off again. Chiyyrdy could barely drag her feet. Then Kanikei placed her on her shoulders and took Semetei in her arms. In this position, they traveled for seven days and nights and finally reached the banks of the Syr-Darya.
They could not cross the river and, losing all hope, stopped on the shore. Semetei had not eaten anything for seven days, and he was threatened with a hungry death. Chiyyrdy comforted Kanikei, saying:
- Do not be sad, my child; God gives a person everything to exist.
***
After the death of Manas, Bakai's eyes became watery from grief and frequent weeping, and his chest began to wheeze.
Following Manas's last wishes, he withdrew from all affairs and began to herd camels.
One morning, after praying for Manas, he decided that he should go to see the remaining orphan Semetei. When he arrived, he saw that nothing was left of Manas's palace and golden throne.
- Could foreign enemies have come and destroyed all this? - thought the astonished Bakai, - or was it Abike and Kёbёsh who did this?
Seeing the destruction, he wept bitterly and decided to take his own life. But then he thought: - "Kanikei is clever; she probably foresaw that something evil might happen to her; perhaps she has hidden somewhere with the orphan? I will search for her for three or four days, and if I do not find her, then I will take my own life."
After the death of Manas, Kummaik, his beloved dog, mourned for him like a human. When Bakai approached, she lay by the ruins of the golden palace.
- Kummaik! - he called to her, and she ran to him, lowering her head to the ground, affectionately whining. Bakai went to search for Kanikei, and Kummaik ran ahead of him, sniffing out the tracks of the fugitives.
At that very moment, Chiyyrdy, carrying Semetei in her arms, climbed a mountain and thought: - "Oh, if only Bakai would come to us!"
As soon as she thought this, she saw far down the road a cloud of dust rising and something dark approaching. She looked for a long time and finally recognized that it was Bakai coming. Soon he appeared before her. Upon meeting, they wept, and Chiyyrdy told him in detail about all the humiliations and sufferings they had endured.
Bakai took Semetei in his arms and said:
- My dear orphan! I will wait for you for twelve years and herd camels.
Having said this, he placed Chiyyrdy and Kanikei on his horse, took Semetei on his shoulders, and thus carried them across the Syr-Darya. Fearing that they might be pursued, he brought them to a mountain cave and hid them there, while he went to find them food. He managed to kill six kuldzh and four argali, and he brought them, saying:
- Here, eat for now, and I will go back to Talas, bring you horses, food, and clothes, and return in six days.
The Epic of "Manas"