Childhood years of Semetey.
When Semetey grew up, he was completely unaware that Manas was his father, Kanikei was his mother, and Talas was his homeland.
At the age of twelve, he was a wild and audacious boy. One day he beat up eighty hodjas and a hundred priests until they bled. The hodjas and priests he had beaten gathered and went to complain to Temir Khan, trying to slander Semetey before him, but Temir Khan did not listen to their complaints, executed many of them, and imprisoned the rest.
Temir Khan knew that he would face a lot of grief and trouble if Semetey accidentally learned the secret of his origin. After consulting with his close associates, he decided to organize public festivities, saying that for those who knew the secret of Semetey's origin, it would be a memorial for Manas, while for those who did not know this secret, the celebrations would be in honor of proclaiming Semetey as khan.
The entire population living around, from all four corners of the world, was invited to these festivities.
News reached Kanikei that Temir Khan had decided to proclaim Semetey as khan in the hope that he would improve and abandon his audacious antics, and that for this purpose, large public festivities were to be organized, of which the entire population had already been informed.
Hearing this, Kanikei decided to participate in the festivities herself, entering her horse Taytora in the horse races. She made a vow:
- If Semetey, when he grows up, is as much of a hero as his father Manas, Taytora must come in first; if Taytora comes in last, it means Semetey will remain audacious and foolish forever.
Having made this decision, she began to feed Taytora the finest rice and took it upon herself to prepare him for the races.
Finally, the festivities that had been mentioned began. A large crowd gathered. Kanikei, fearing that ill-wishers might interfere with her, claimed that her horse belonged to a widow and decided to dress in the remaining battle armor of Manas. She appeared at the festivities in battle gear.
People who saw her said:
- My God, who is this? Is she not the sister of Manas's mother, or perhaps his granddaughter? She deserves to be elevated to khan in place of Manas. But when they finally recognized that it was Kanikei, most of the people disapproved of her behavior. The dissatisfied came to Temir Khan and said:
- What does your spoiled and willful daughter want? Her behavior could stir up unpleasant rumors among the people, so forbid her from this. Temir Khan told the people who came to him with complaints:
- Kanikei is not like other women. After all, it was Kanikei who made Manas great. - And, scolding those who spoke, he added: - It is not your business to interfere in her affairs!
Then the dissatisfied dispersed to their places. But Temir Khan himself, after the people left, could not calm down; he was troubled by the thought of whether Kanikei had really come to the festival dressed as a man. Deciding to confirm this, he climbed up to the tower and looked out, and indeed saw Kanikei in men's clothing. He felt ashamed for his daughter and, calling her to him, said:
- Daughter, it is a disgrace for your widow's head to come to the festival dressed as a man and participate in horse races. If you need a horse, I am willing to give you any of the four tulpars in advance, whichever one comes in first. Take it for yourself, just do not disgrace me and return home.
The words "widow's head" spoken by Temir Khan offended Kanikei deeply, and she replied to her father:
Like a hapless crane
Becomes a victim of the falcon,
So I, poor thing,
Arriving in Bukhara as a fugitive,
Gave my father reason to call me "widow's head."
Foolish father! You will see no good!
By calling me this,
You humiliate me along with others.
My dear father!
In Samarkand and in Bukhara, in this city,
Separated from my people.
There has never been a widow like me.
Do not hinder, father, my plan,
Allow Taytora to race!
If he comes in victorious,
I will distribute the prize I receive.
But if Taytora comes in last,
Before you call me widow's head,
I will die, not waiting for my time to die.
Let your eight khans gather their people,
And silence the foolish.
Whoever touches my horse,
On the road I will catch him,
Beat him on the way and bring him as a sacrifice.
With these words, angry at her father, she sharply turned her horse, rode to the people, and ordered them to compile a list of the horses participating in the races, announcing that those not listed would be deprived of the prize.
The people were surprised by Kanikei's insistence.
There turned out to be six hundred and forty-three horses participating in the races. Kanikei precisely indicated to the wranglers the place from which they should be released, threatening that if the horses were released prematurely, before reaching the indicated place, the wranglers would pay with their heads.
Upon learning of all this, Ismail called Semetey to him and told him about the death of Manas, about the hardships endured by Kanikei, that she had supposedly fled from Talas, remaining a childless widow, came to Bukhara, and now arrived at the festivities in men's clothing to participate in the horse races. After listening to Ismail, Semetey got angry and said:
- What is my edje doing with her woman's head? They could disgrace us for this!
Ismail, seeing Semetey's anger, advised him:
- Immediately find the shameless edje and take her away from here.
Having said this, he provided Semetey with seventy horsemen and sent them after Kanikei.
Meanwhile, the time for the return of the released horses had come. Kanikei rode up to one of the hills, took the remaining spyglass from Manas, and began to look into the distance. She saw that four tulpars of Temir Khan were running far ahead of all the others, and the rest of the horses were nowhere to be seen. After some time, other horses appeared one by one. Looking through the spyglass, she finally saw Taytora - he was in three hundredth place. And Kanikei thought: - "If my horse does not come in first, before my death Semetey will kill me. I did not die where death pursued me, but now, it seems, I have found death for myself!"
Thinking this and confident in her imminent death, Kanikei succumbed to her grief. Tears from her eyes formed a lake, streams flowed from her nose, and she lamented to the spirit of Manas. Deciding it better to kill herself than to die by Semetey's hand, she drew the sharp sword left by Manas from its sheath, aimed it at her belly against her kidneys, and was already prepared to throw herself on it. But before dying, she wiped her eyes from tears and, looking, saw that Taytora was already in sixty-first place. Before she could blink, Taytora was already behind the four tulpars of Temir Khan, and then it became clear to her that the spirits of Manas, Alambet, and Chubak, with cries of "Manas! Manas!" were helping Taytora in the race. Kanikei quickly took her gun and fired a blank shot into the air. Hearing this shot, Taytora moved to first place, leaving the other horses far behind.
- Now my affairs have improved, - said Kanikei then and was filled with great joy. - Let Semetey not reproach me for wearing men's clothing and not offend me! - and, removing her men's clothing, she folded it at the khurjun, changed her clothes, and with a battle cry in honor of Manas, taking Taytora by the reins, led him forward.
And to Semetey, from the beginning of the races, the words "Manas, Talas, Kyrgyz," which he had never heard before, began to sound, and he did not understand their meaning. Calling the batyrs who were with him, he said to them:
- Edje Kanikei, after the death of our great Manas, endured unprecedented insults from his relatives in Talas; childless, hoping for our help, she came to us and, having made a vow, released her horse Taytora.
Therefore, if Temir Khan's tulpars or other horses are ahead of Taytora, we must hold them back, and we must find Kanikei's horse, wherever it may be, and help her win. With a battle cry in honor of Manas, we will bring her into Bukhara. Let us elevate our unfortunate sister, who has suffered so many unbearable insults among strangers, at least once, and I will share the prize received by her horse among you. You must remain silent about all this, saying not a word to anyone.
So he said, and so they agreed among themselves.
Meanwhile, Semetey heard a woman's voice. Looking around, he saw Kanikei, who, with a battle cry in honor of Manas, was leading Taytora by the reins. From joy, Kanikei was sweating profusely, blood tears flowed from her eyes onto the horse's mane, and her braids had come undone to the stirrups. Seeing this, Semetey said:
- As long as I live, no one will dare to contradict you or say anything offensive to you. Now, edje, return home from here!
She replied:
- God has helped me: the released Taytora has come in victorious! I entrust him to you, Semetey, and I will go home from here.
Having said this, she headed towards her camp, and Semetey galloped off with a battle cry in honor of Manas, throwing the reins of Taytora over the bow of the saddle. At this sight, there was not a single person who did not have tears in their eyes. Everyone cried and said:
- It seems he will be even braver than Manas, - and the people were filled with great delight.
As agreed, Semetey divided all the winnings received for Taytora among his batyrs.
After this, Semetey was proclaimed khan and seated on a golden throne. Temir Khan called his eight khans and said to them:
- I have given birth to thirteen daughters, but I have not had a single son. Then Ismail was born to me, whose only son, Semetey, I have today elevated to khan. On this occasion, without sparing my wealth, arrange a feast for the people, organize wrestling, and competitions for the batyrs; I appoint a reward of a thousand camels and a thousand horses.
As soon as such an order was given, the people, divided into two parts, began to present wrestlers for the competitions. From the Kokand side came the wrestler Tyoyebalban, and from the Bukhara side - Akbalban.
They wrestled for six days and nights in a row, and in the end, Tyoyebalban defeated Akbalban. Then Semetey himself approached the victor and said:
- You have defeated the wrestler of Bukhara, for which you received the agreed prize, and now tell me, will you wrestle with me, putting up what you have received as a wager? I, on my part, will put up all my possessions, and if that is not enough for you, I am ready to give up my claim to the khanate.
Hearing this, Ismail stood between them and said:
- You are still young, Semetey, Tyoyebalban may cripple you, and then know that khans do not wrestle themselves.
But Semetey angrily replied to him:
- Would it not be a disgrace for us if we leave the Kokand wrestlers as victors? They might say that there was not a single worthy young man in Bukhara. Better you do not meddle in what is not your business! - Thus he dismissed Ismail's interference.
Puffed up with victory over Akbalban, the Kokand wrestler Tyoyebalban thought to himself: - "I will easily and quickly defeat this boy and deprive him of his possessions and throne. He has clearly lost his mind if he has challenged me to a fight."
After this, Semetey and Tyoyebalban began to wrestle. At first, Semetey extended his hand to Tyoyebalban, who thought he was holding Semetey tightly, but as soon as Semetey turned his hand, it slipped freely out of Tyoyebalban's grasp.
Then Tyoyebalban, in turn, extended his hand to Semetey, and Semetey squeezed it so hard that blood flowed in streams between the fingers. Enraged, Semetey yanked the enemy's hand, and it tore off in the batyr's grip, and Tyoyebalban died on the spot.
The people who witnessed this began to whisper among themselves, saying that Semetey would evidently be even stronger than Manas.
After this incident, the eight khans gathered and began to discuss among themselves:
- If at twelve years old he easily tore off Tyoyebalban's hand, then when he is seventeen, we will have no peace from him. Would it not be better to eliminate him while he is still young and his muscles have not yet strengthened?
Having plotted to destroy Semetey, the eight khans began to ask Temir Khan to give him to them, and they would marry him to a young girl - a beauty. Not understanding their deception, Temir Khan agreed.
Semetey. Childhood and youth years of Semetey. Kanikei's escape to Bukhara. Part - 2