Tale of the liberation of Turkestan from Chinese invaders
Into valleys, mountains, and meadows
Under the skies of the native land
Through three roads across the steppe,
Like three raging rivers,
The Kyrgyz came from Altai.
The military horn blared,
The surnay shrieked piercingly.
Like thunder, like a heavenly voice,
The battle drum thundered.
Under the red banner ahead
With his retinue, Manas,
Behind him, raising their banner,
Kazakh Kokche, Noygut Chubak —
By their mother, Kalmak,
The head of the Bulgars — Khan Eshtak.
With ten thousand warriors
Khan Urbyu came to Manas.
Here is the friend of the Kyrgyz, Jamgyrchy,
The brave Keldike from Kanga,
Mongols from Jai-san are here,
And Berdike — a Karakalpak.
The armies of the Nayman, Duulat,
Kara-Bagish and Kalmurad —
It's impossible to count them all.
They all came to Manas,
To return to Turkestan,
To expel and banish to China
The invaders of their native land.
Warriors are matched to each other —
The valiant host of Batyrs.
Crossing the Ili River by ford,
They arrived in the Karkyra valley.
Through the rivers Tyup and Zhergalan,
Having crossed the mirror-like Issyk-Kul,
They approached the Booma gorge —
To the fork of four roads.
Here the elder Koshoy gave advice:
— Manas, I know this land.
By the mouth of a small river
There is only one way out here.
And if we go that way,
We will run into a great massacre.
I am sure the cunning Akbeshim
Has set an ambush there.
And therefore we will have to
Go along the cliffs and ridges.
Having passed the gorge from both sides,
The Batyrs bypassed Booma.
When they ascended the ridge of the mountains,
Below, in flowers, bloomed
The boundless fairy expanse.
And this wonderful land
Was tormented for many years
By Kalmak, Chinese, and Manchu.
The ruler of the entire Chui valley,
The Chinese satrap Akbeshim,
Learning that Khan Manas
Had set out on a campaign from Altai,
Gathered a large army,
Set up his guard along the banks of Kemin and Chui.
On both sides of the river
Sharp-shooters lay in wait.
The narrow gorge of Booma
Was blocked by a powerful detachment
And on the foothills of Ala-Too
He stationed his troops.
Er-Manas saw this
And gave the command. In an instant
Like a deadly snow avalanche,
The Batyrs rushed down.
In the valley, the sides clashed —
And a fierce battle began.
Spears and shields broke,
Sabers and swords sparkled.
Everywhere blood flowed like a river,
Sobs, screams, cries, moans,
Maiming, death from all sides.
Curses! Rage! Threats! Insults!
Without hands, without feet, without heads,
Without life, the warriors lay.
With the red battle banner
Akbeshim came out to meet them,
But er-Kokche and Khan Urbyu,
Surrounding the retinue,
Took cruel revenge on him.
The khan's banner fell to the ground —
And the fierce enemy was defeated.
The next morning, the land of Chui
Was covered with corpses.
And from both sides
Brave sons perished.
They gathered all who fell in battle,
Lit a large fire in the mountains
And consigned the bodies to the flames.
And mixed with the ashes, the dust
Was sent down the river,
Where the Kazakh and Kyrgyz
Had lived as a brotherly family for ages.
Where in ancient times
The descendants of Khan Karakan lived,
From his glorious son
Here ruled the great-grandson Alashkan.
Blessed Turkestan
Was native to the sons of the Turks.
Everyone still knows that,
That there, in their homeland,
With the hands of the sons of the Turks
The city of Tashkent was built —
Which means "fortress of stones."
But this city was under the Chinese yoke for two hundred years,
And there, behind the stone wall,
The people were ruled for many years
By the Kangai padishah Panus.
When Manas defeated
Akbeshim in the Chui valley,
A messenger, rushing to Tashkent,
Trembling with fear, told
What he had seen in that battle.
And the voice of the poor messenger
Broke in panic, trembled.
— An avalanche of living people —
No one has seen such a thing!
A people growing before our eyes,
Warriors marching to death —
No one has seen such a thing!
Such a powerful horde
No one has ever seen!
And if they are not restrained,
They will storm our Tashkent!
And we may soon lose
This Turkestan land!
And the power here will come to an end! —
Cried the frightened messenger.
Khan Panus gathered in Tashkent
The rulers of Mergim, Merke,
Shamyn-Shaa and Doobogo —
Under their yoke then was
All our Chui land.
Panus gathered his troops,
Led them to Chui to defeat
The Kyrgyz troops in battle,
To liberate the valley again,
To drive Manas back to Altai.
In the foothills of the Chirchik valley
Lived the wealthy Koketey.
He was renowned throughout the region
For his deep wisdom.
And the venerable elder
Could find a common language with anyone.
From Esenkhan himself
He received a Chinese rank,
And therefore no one could
Find fault with him without reason.
Khan Koketey learned that
Er-Manas had dealt a blow to the Chinese
In his native land,
And to restrain Manas,
He set out with his army
From Tashkent to meet him.
The wealthy Koketey decided
To support Manas from the rear
And, uniting all forces,
To drive the invaders of the native land
From Turan forever.
Leaving his native Chirchik,
The elder moved towards Manas.
In the lower floods of the Chui River
The enemies clashed head-on.
For three days and three nights, battles raged,
And the Chui valley again,
Like a downpour, was watered with blood.
But the forces were unequal.
And on the fourth day of the war
Panus surrounded Manas
From both sides.
And God knows what would have happened there,
If from the steppe side
Koketey had not come out with his troops
And struck directly at the rear.
Thus, Khan Panus was defeated!
Khan Koketey and Khan Manas
Agreed to unite their armies:
One — the respected aksakal,
The other — the young jigit.
And above Tashkent was raised
The green Turkestan banner.
Thus, exactly two hundred years later,
The sons of the Turks returned
To their ancestral lands.
Manas and old Koketey
Were friends like father and son,
All their lives and until their last days.
And Khan Koketey of Tashkent
Sent Manas with his army
To distant northern Altai,
Asking him to return quickly
With the people to the Turkestan land.
Epic "Manas". The Love of Manas and Kyz-Saykal