The Epic of "Manas". The Tale of How Manas's Relative Kozkaman Wanted to Poison Him with Poison

A tale of how Manas' relative Kozkaman wanted to poison him with poison

Hey!
The head of all khans, Esenkhan,
Gave an order to the satraps:
To go to Manas and kill him!
To whoever accomplishes this,
He promised publicly
To reward them with a khanship.
When the invader Alooke
Drove the Kyrgyz from their homeland,
The descendant of Orozdu — Usen
Took the name Kozkaman for himself,
And stayed hidden there.
No Chinese knew
That Kozkaman was Kyrgyz.
And so Kozkaman decided
With his elder son Kokchekoz
To go to Manas' khan's palace,
To gain his trust,
And there to poison the khan,
To receive a full reward
For his crime.
And this vile Kozkaman
Sent his letter to Talas,
In which he tearfully described
How he suffered with his family,
Serving the invaders as a servant,
How he was humiliated, starved,
How he hid his name
And how he was glad when he learned
That Manas united everyone
And created a powerful khanship.
Touched by the letter, Manas
Called him and his children to Talas,
Settled them close to him,
And out of his generous kindness
Gave them cattle, a yurt, horses.
Kozkaman's spirit was lifted,
And before the people, in plain sight,
He begged the Almighty in tears
To protect Manas.
But for some reason, Kanykey
With her deep intuition
Did not believe his words.
And so one day, Kozkaman,
When all the warriors — the choro
Had gone to visit a neighboring land,
Invited Manas for tea.
Kozkaman's son Kokchekoz
Poured strong arak into a cup,
And spoke before the guest:
— Here we are all brothers,
But by the decree of fate
We fled to different lands.
And you — our brother, hero Manas,
Have gathered us all anew,
Saved us from certain death.
And this vodka I brought for you
From faraway China. —
And with a smile, Kokchekoz
Presented the cup with poison to the khan.
Manas emptied the cup —
And at that moment lost his strength.
The treacherous Kozkaman
And his nine greedy sons
Decided right then and there
To behead Manas,
To take him to China,
To acquire a khanship there.
And Kozkaman, grabbing a dagger,
Impatiently awaited
When Manas would pass away.
And Manas-batyr felt
That he was leaving this world.
And he thought: “Where is brother Bakay?
Where is Kanykey? Where is Azhybay?
And where are my two twin friends —
My Almanbet and my Chubak?
Where is my Serik, dear Syrgak?
Where are the falcons that fly —
My Yrchyy-uul and Shuutu?
And where is my uncle Koshoy?
Will I leave this world
Without seeing them?”
Manas groaned in helplessness,
No longer opening his eyes.
The young man Akyar,
(He guarded the khan's horse)
Saw at sunset,
That Manas' horse Ak-Kula
Was snorting, stamping the ground
And tearing at the reins in the stall.
And Akyar immediately understood
That trouble had befallen the rider.
He rushed to the khan's palace quickly,
Where Kanykey awaited Manas.
— Djene! Trouble! Our khan is killed! —
The young man shouted from the threshold.
And immediately, gathering people,
Kanykey rushed to her husband.
Kozkaman's son Kokchekoz,
Holding Manas' head,
Pressed his dagger to his throat.
But Kanykey with her sword
Severed the villain's shoulder.
The young men immediately, in an instant,
Killed the vile sons,
Burned their yurts to the ground!
Nights, without closing her eyes,
Kanykey tended to her husband.
And only after ten days
Did Manas finally awaken.
The traitor Kozkaman, the scoundrel,
Had almost doomed him!

The epic "Manas". The marriage of Manas to Kanykey