The Tale of Manas. The Great Campaign. Reconnaissance.

The Great Campaign. Reconnaissance.

Meanwhile, Alma and Syrgak arrived at the pass where the white argali - the guardian of Konur - was located, and at the lake where the cunning duck - the messenger of Konur - lived. The argali and the duck, sensing Alma's approach, fled.

Hearing the sound of the argali's bell, the two hundred thousand people who were camping at the pass of Mount Angushtu packed up and also fled, fearing an invasion by foreigners. The scouts found no one at the jailoo. The heroes moved on, and only at the hills of Tundunsary were they stopped by the call of Manas. Having sent Kokteke into the rocks, Chubak arrived at Alma before Manas. But in response to the arriving "salam," Alma did not return the greeting "alika." Meanwhile, Manas arrived, spurring Aybamboz.

Almambet was angry with Manas for bringing Chubak with him and said:

- Oh, oh, Manas, oh, Manas! Before you spoke a word, I understood everything. When will you leave, Manas, your simplicity? If you think about it, it seems that everything is a lie in this deceptive world.

Who among the people who lived here has remained immortal? Do not rush, my Kankor, listen to me! Although I was of noble birth among the Chinese, no matter how much I looked at the world, I saw nothing for myself but misfortune. It seems I am the most unfortunate of the newcomers, it seems a great shame to break away from my people, even if they are wicked.

I was great among the Chinese, and misfortunes befell me for my flight. Who else, besides me, has endured so much shame from all your relatives? Did I ask you to elevate me to khanship? You are both brave khans.

My wild Chubak! If I burst into curses, will your soul stand in your body? You incite the army to quarrels, now your hostility is known to me. Oh, you, ruffian Chubak! Did I ask you to make me a bek? Beware now, if I call my jinn, you will know my Chinese origin! On that day, your turn will come. But will I want to change my faith by cutting off your slanderous tongue? You will still feel, finally, Chubak, my Chinese origin! Chubak, son of Akbalty, you have forgotten your position. You want to hinder me from serving the army, you are racing after me at full speed. Whose hand do your grievances serve? You hinder me from serving the people, you gallop after me with all your might. Shall I test your strength? You, imagining yourself the only one, Er Chubak, shall I measure your strength for me? A strong rage has seized me, I will release your bile now.

Chubak replied to him:

- Recently, on the banks of the wide Talas, along the channel overgrown with tamarisk, while the clans of the Argyns, Kyrgyz, and Nogais were camping together, in abundance, when in the mornings there was kumys, and at nights - beautiful girls, when each person had two or three sable hats, while the Kyrgyz ruled all, enjoying a life of abundance - a letter was written. Where is it? Where has the oath sealed with a handshake gone? I asked you and begged:

- Be my joldosh on the way to Beidzhin! - How many times I begged you before setting off on the journey, putting a belt around my neck: on the difficult road to Beidzhin, make me your companion! A Chinese slave with a black temperament, bowing, I begged you! Are you capable of conducting reconnaissance at the head of the troops? You have no advice from me, no word for you! I am not one to stay at the tail when going on reconnaissance to Beidzhin, where even Suleiman has not gone.

Will you alone gallop forward fiercely, and am I one of those who will remain behind when others go on reconnaissance?

You, Chinese, have broken the given oath! You do not want to take me on reconnaissance, so be it - do not take me! There are five roads leading to Beidzhin, and if you find them, I will find them even more. If you say that you will go on reconnaissance alone, I will cut you down right here, and I will go to inspect the paths.

Almambet replied to him:

- You have long been spewing saliva and calling me a Chinese, a Kalmyk, a slave. If, in your opinion, the Chinese people are easy to defeat and the road to Beidzhin is easily accessible, then I will give you my hand and yield the road. Go on your reconnaissance! When I lived in Beidzhin, I was the son of a khan who held the entire Chinese people in his fist and made them tremble. The renowned Chinese Alooke and Konurbay did not consider me a man. Now I hear from you the contemptuous word "slave." But you also left the Noyguts at Lake Lob, abandoned your father Akbalty, came to Talas, and joined Manas's army, which is why you are also called a slave. Do you not know that I can cut off your head right now and throw your body to the dogs and vultures?

With these words, Almambet lunged at Chubak. He spoke all day, sending bad weather and hail upon the land, so that snowflakes began to fall.

From the swift gusts of the snowy wind, the mouths of the heroes froze, and their teeth did not touch each other. The face of Chubak, as well as those of Manas and Syrgak, was covered with a layer of ice. The thickness of the ice on Manas's cheeks reached four fingers.

When Alma lunged at Chubak, he quickly drew his sword and also rushed at Almambet. But Manas stood between them. Seeing that his mediation did not stop the fighters, Manas became terribly angry:

I thought I could conquer the world,
If Almambet is beside me.
I thought that by decorating my syrnayza with patterns,
I would rush into battle with Alma.
I thought I would endure
The clash with Konurbay,
If the fierce Chubak is beside me.
I thought that by putting on an impenetrable silk olpok,
I would rush into battle with Chubak.
I thought I would reach
Eighteen thousand lights,
Since I have the wise noyon Alma.
But you both, it seems, said to yourselves:
"Let us deceive him!"
Finding a reason for an unreasonable quarrel,
Two foolish fools,
It seems you thought to run away from me.
You wanted, it seems, to break
The united ranks of my army!
Quarreling and chasing each other,
You two, whom I considered lions,
It seems you thought to suddenly run away from me,
You, two valiant eras, it seems, intended to turn back
The heads of our horses.
You, it seems, want to scatter
The gold of my treasury.
You, it seems, want to run away
Back to peaceful Talas!

With a swing, Manas grabbed with his right hand the reins of Saralu from Almambet, and with his left hand the reins of Kokteke from Chubak, and forcefully pulled them in different directions. Then Manas, standing on the hill, said:

- I will no longer deal with you. Whoever is stronger, let him win, whoever is weaker, let him die.

Manas's anger sobered both of them. Seeing that he was genuinely angry, both fell silent and sat on their horses, stunned, not daring to lift their eyes. After a while, Chubak dismounted, placing the reins of his horse around his neck, and approached Alma.

- I seem to have lost my mind, and, racing after you, I have done you great harm. All the blame falls on my shoulders. I acted roughly. This time forgive me, and let the offense pass from your heart. Take my horse as a pledge, and if that is not enough, then take my head as well. Forgive me, Alma!

Chubak's sincere repentance touched Almambet's heart, and he exclaimed:

- No, let me rather give you my horse as a pledge of our friendship. Take it, Chubak! The guilt lies with me: for I, neglecting our oath, went on reconnaissance without saying a word to you!

And Almambet brought his horse to Chubak. Manas asked Alma:

- Is the path long to where the bright lake with the cunning duck is located, where the pass with the white argali lies? How far do we need to ride to the Chinese people, who swarm like ants?

Almambet told Manas that the swift messengers of Konur, the duck and the argali, had long since informed him of the arrival of the Kyrgyz, that Konurbay had already gathered an army from his seven hundred cities and was waiting for a clash.

Hearing such news, Manas, unable to contain the boiling courage within him, jumped on his horse and exclaimed:

- Well, then I will be the first to enter Beidzhin, I will meet the enemy with my chest, and I will go on reconnaissance myself.

But Almambet held back his horse.

- Wait, Manas, do not rush! You are not dressed in armor, you have no weapons, your Akula is not frolicking beneath you. If we suddenly fly into an innumerable army, Aybanboz will not withstand a long battle, his body is not covered with fat, he is thin and has not rested for a long time. You will remain with him in trouble, Kankor!

But Manas did not listen to him. Alma did not dare to insist, and they all set off on their way. For two days and two nights, the heroes were on the road. Finally, the snowy peaks of the high mountain Talchoku appeared. From the depressions on the slopes of the mountain, tall willows rose. The heroes moved along the slopes and in the evening barely reached the summit.

Only Rustem-Dastan had ascended to the summit of Talchoku before Manas, and this was inscribed on a stone placed at the pass. When they approached this stone, suddenly the head of a terrible ajidaar rose from behind it. At the sight of him, Alma's, Chubak's, and Syrgak's horses fell to the ground in fear. Then Manas jumped off his horse and was about to approach the ajidaar, but the fearsome appearance of Manas frightened the monster so much that it, writhing, roared and disappeared into the crevice of the rock.

The heroes spent the night on Talchoku, and Manas dreamed that a mottled wild boar and a black-eared lion rushed at him from both sides. Manas woke up in fright and thought:

- If I perish in this kazat, what will happen to my people? Whose orders will my troops listen to? Who will be the support for the crafty Kanikey?

A gloomy reflection seized him, he took his spyglass, which showed everything happening in the distance of six months' journey, as if it were only six arkan away, and began to look at Talas.

Meanwhile, in Talas, Manas's younger brothers Abike and Kyobesh, sons of his father by another mother, plotted a conspiracy.

- Manas has set off on a distant journey - towards Bars-kelbes (52) and will not return from there. We must seize and divide his treasury, we must become the leaders of his people, - they decided.

Having thought this, they seized Kanikey's treasures and imposed a heavy tax on the people, so that everyone began to scatter like gray partridges.

But Kanikey did not sit idle, and, gathering her hair under a tubeteika and mounting her black-maned horse, she drove away all the wicked relatives of Manas, returned the treasury, and became the ruler of the people herself. Everyone then stopped feeling the absence of Manas.

All this was seen by Manas through his wonderful spyglass. Looking to the west, Manas then turned the spyglass to the east and saw the Chinese swarming like ants in Beidzhin, saw the high fortress they had erected, the golden gates forty arshins high, and all the palaces of China. While he was watching, his companions fell into a deep sleep.

Manas addressed them with these words.

Almambet, Syrgak, and Chubak!
Do not the thighs tire from lying?
Is it now the old time at Kenkole,
To be able to sleep long, sprawled out?
Are we in a garden broken on the plain?
Is it now the time, as it was in Talas,
To sleep peacefully, forgetting everything?

With these words, he woke the sleepers.

- Tell me about Beidzhin, which I just saw, - he asked Alma.

In response, Almambet rose majestically, the iron of his armor jingled, he approached Manas and began his tale.

The Tale of Manas. The Great Campaign. The Quarrel of Almambet with Chubak