The Epic of "Manas". The Tale of Almanbet

Tale of Almanbet

Hey!
At that time, China was ruled by
The sons of Khan-Kakanchyna:
Esen, Kary, Alooke
And the youngest brother Aziz.
One day the brothers gathered,
They came to Esen's palace:
They finally decided
To marry off the younger Aziz.
He was already over twenty-five,
But still could not
Find a bride for himself.
And Esen-khan himself commanded
To gather beautiful maidens
From fifteen to twenty —
To choose the highest beauty.
From the Huanghe to the Irtysh,
And from the Amur to the Dnieper
They brought beautiful girls
To China, to the southern edge of the earth,
Gathered in the city of Beijing
For the beauty contest.
And so they walked through the square,
Admiring themselves, the girls,
One more beautiful than the other.
But the picky Khan Aziz
Gloomily looked at the maidens,
Until almost by chance
He saw Altynay.
— At last, here is my choice!
She will be my wife! —
Aziz exclaimed joyfully.
And immediately the maid Altynay
Was brought into the Khan's palace.
They put a headscarf with a crown on her,
And the Khan, taking her by the hands,
Declared her his bride.
But then everyone found out
That Altynay had come here
As a servant of a bay's daughter.
Her father was a Kyrgyz-burut,
Altynay's brothers
Pasture cattle in the neighboring mountains.
But everything was predetermined:
Aziz chose the bride himself,
And a Khan does not change his word!
Thus, the Kyrgyz girl Altynay
Suddenly became the wife of a Chinese.
Evidently, such was her fate
As prescribed by destiny.
Later, the Kyrgyz girl Altynay
Gave birth to a son for the Chinese.
Esen-khan himself, in his old age,
Gave him the name Almanbet.
When he turned six years old,
He was sent to study,
Where Azhdar was the teacher.
He had a gift for teaching children:
How to predict snow and rain,
And how, when the heat comes,
What kind of weather to expect in winter.
But the main study was still
Related to war.
Azhdar taught them from childhood
How to build their own army,
To always win in battle,
To wield an axe and a sword,
How to fight on horseback,
And how to handle a spear in battle,
How to cross a turbulent river,
How to go on reconnaissance at night.
And after studying for ten years,
Almanbet returned home.
With a steel sword at his waist,
An axe in his hand — an aybalta,
A strongman, a handsome and an athlete —
This is how he became at sixteen.
His father was pleased and happy:
His son had grown up, gained strength.
He immediately entrusted him
To administer judicial matters.
And the young Almanbet began
To bring the guilty to trial,
And those who were not guilty,
To release immediately.
He took no bribes from anyone,
Always stood for justice.
The defendant and the plaintiff were glad
That finally appeared
A righteous judge among the people.
Once he came to the dungeon,
Saw the shackled in chains
Turkic-speaking Muslims.
The family grew tea on their own fields,
But there was a drought in the country.
The family did not pay on time
The zakat — the required tax.
The son of Aloo-ke Khan, Konurbai,
Took all their harvest,
Ordered the family to be arrested
And not to be released until the trial.
The judge issued his verdict:
Release the family!
Return all the harvest to them!
Pay the tax immediately!
Warn Konurbai, son of Aloo-ke
And all the others!
Stop the lawlessness!
Upon learning of this, Konurbai
Rushed to Alma in the Khan's palace
And began to shout at him:
— You, underdeveloped burut,
How dare you punish and lecture
The Khan's sons?
When everyone gathers, they will come,
They will tear your head off here!
Return my tea harvest!
Send your unfaithful Muslims
Immediately to the dungeon! —
Konurbai shouted in anger.
— You are a blood brother to me by father!
How dare you shout at me?!
You rob your people like a thief!
Do not disgrace our fathers!
I will not allow you to
Disgrace the Khan's family!
And curb your greed!
Otherwise, I will challenge you
To an er-sayish and kill you there!
I will beat the pride and folly out of you!
Remember this, Khan Konur!
— You think of yourself as a judge!
But here your Muslim god
Will not save you from death!
I will sever your head from your body
And in a dirty basin with urine
I will take it to Esen-khan! —
And Konur drew his sword.
But Almanbet was quicker:
He struck with his axe.
Konur managed to raise his shield,
Otherwise, he would have been killed.
He immediately fled.
Alma wanted to catch him
And finish him off on the spot.
But Konur's horse Alghara
Seemed to have two wings:
It carried its rider away from death.
Konur rushed to the palace
And reported to Esen-khan,
That the Muslim Almanbet
Is a shameless traitor and scoundrel.
In front of everyone, without reason,
He insults the Khan's sons.
All because Almanbet
Was born of a steppe wolf
And was a Muslim from the cradle.
Evidently, no matter how you feed a wolf,
He will still go back to the steppe.
While it is not too late, we must knock
The arrogance out of the shameless burut!
Otherwise, believe me, brother Esen,
He will cause a lot of evil here!
In terrible anger, Almanbet
Burst into Esen's palace.
— My Khan, how long will Konurbai
Mock me?
Then why, tell me,
Am I appointed as a judge in the Khanate?
But Esen-khan was silent.
Mumbling indistinctly, like a wolf,
He rose from the throne and left.
And Almanbet was insulted!
He had previously thought that Esen
Was insightful, honest, and smart,
But now he was convinced that
The Khan, like the vile Konurbai,
Is a trickster, a greedy man, a smooth talker!
And he decided to kill him,
To seize all power in China
And take revenge on Konurbai.
When the whole plan was thought out:
Whom to bribe, how to kill
And how to take the throne for himself,
Suddenly, as if by chance,
Esen-khan's daughter Burulcha,
Beautiful and slender,
Came out and gently said:
— I have heard of you for a long time,
And I am impressed by you.
For truth, honor, and kindness
You stand firm, judge,
But I warn you:
Do not trust your father!
My own father Esen-khan
Ordered Aziz — his brother
Under threat of death,
To kill you with his own hand
And bury you in the ground.
And then my father said:
— Your son has been a Muslim since birth,
He will not let us live in peace!
Alma was shocked by this:
He did not think it would be so.
Moreover, secretly and for a long time
He had been in love with Burulcha.
— Oh, Burulcha, forgive me!
I have seen you here more than once,
I dreamed of sending my father to you —
I was afraid of getting a refusal.
Oh, Burulcha, my love!
Now I am madly happy!
Even if death threatens me here,
I cannot live without you!
— Oh no, my dear, go away
And save your life!
My father is old, he is not eternal,
When he leaves for another world,
There will be another Khan in Beijing —
You can return to your homeland,
Take me home with you.
And happiness will return to us,
And we will live, raise children
Together in your homeland.
So that you are happy, glad with me,
I will wait for you until death!
Farewell, Alma, my beloved!
May the creator protect you, —
Said Burulcha tenderly,
To her Alma's neck,
Putting on a Buddhist talisman.
Almanbet was glad and happy
That he met Burulcha here —
His cherished love.
But he did not believe that
Aziz-khan, his own father,
Wants his demise.
And Almanbet went to his father
— I learned that Esen-khan
Ordered you to kill me.
Apparently, the old man has thought
To destroy father and son.
All because the old Khan
Is not used to sharing power,
And for our salvation, we must
Get ahead of him quickly!
I have prepared everything for that,
To seize Esen's throne! —
He said to his father in anger.
— I know, Konurbai is a scoundrel,
But he is your blood brother.
And if you have thought of taking
Power this way,
Then you are a traitor and a scoundrel!
To carry out such a coup
Your mother's blood calls you! —
Answered Aziz-khan to his son.
To hear such from his father
Alma did not expect at all,
He almost killed him,
But held himself back in time
And, hiding his dagger in its sheath,
He went to his mother
And told her everything in detail.
— Your jealous father Aziz-khan,
Suspects since infancy
That you were not born of him.
Or maybe you, like God Jesus,
Were conceived by a heavenly spirit.
In my womb, you underwent
The holy rite for Muslims
In honor of circumcision — sunnah.
You are here, in your homeland,
Destined for destruction, my son,
You will never be a Khan.
For the Chinese, you will always be
A burut of the steppe and a Muslim.
And to save your life,
We must flee from here
To the promised land of our homeland,—
Said Altynay to her son.
And late at night, mother and son
Together left China.
They rushed to the Great Wall,
Where the border posts were.
Alma scattered all the guards,
But his own mother Altynay
Could not save from death.
When China was behind,
They ascended to the main pass,
A precise arrow caught up with them,
It killed her instantly.
And the remains of unfortunate Altynay
Alma entrusted to his native land.
And Almanbet arrived alone
In a distant unfamiliar land.

The Epic of "Manas". Tale of how Manas, offended by his father, left the Khan's throne