The Tale of Alyka and Barypjan

ALYKE AND BARYPZHAN

There lived two friends named Sarykan and Karakan. Sarykan had a son, Alyke, and Karakan had a daughter, Barypzhan.

Soon, Karakan moved with his family far to the west.

In the meantime, Sarykan died, and Alyke was left an orphan.

Alyke grew up to be a smart and brave boy. He was kind to the young and respectful to the elders. One old wizard took a liking to Alyke and taught him his spells. Alyke would utter a few magical words, and a horse would turn into a foal. He would whisper a word, and the foal would turn back into a horse.

Alyke grew up not knowing that far to the west lived his betrothed, Barypzhan.

One day, Alyke was playing a game with the neighbor's son and beat him, even giving him a beating. The boy's mother got angry and said to Alyke:
— Hey, Alyke, instead of hurting my son, you should go find your betrothed, Barypzhan, daughter of Karakan.

Alyke listened to the woman, returned home, and told his mother:
— Mother, I am going to search for my bride.

— Your bride lives far away. Her father, Karakan, moved from these parts long ago. Since then, we have not sent any gifts to Barypzhan, although we received a ring from her parents,— replied Alyke's mother. — Grow a bit more, and then you can go to Barypzhan.

Several years passed, and Alyke decided to go to his bride. Before leaving, his mother gave him a ring — a gift from the bride. Alyke mounted a swift horse — a tulpara, which he inherited from his father, and set off.

Alyke's horse galloped quickly, and after a while, the young man reached the aul of Karakan. There, he turned his tulpara into a scruffy foal, changed into poor clothes, and hired himself as a worker for Karakan.

By that time, Barypzhan had grown up, and an old bay from a neighboring aul was courting her.

One day, Barypzhan's fiancé's brother brought them firewood. Alyke diligently helped him unload it.

— Work hard, don’t be lazy, my bald one! — encouraged Karakan his worker.

He called Alyke "bald" because not a single hair was sticking out from under his hat.

— Give me ten lassos, and I will go for the firewood myself,— said Alyke.

Karakan was surprised by Alyke's request. But he was even more surprised when Alyke brought all the trees that grew on the slope of the nearby mountain in one go.

Soon, Barypzhan's fiancé — the old bay — arrived. Karakan ordered that the wedding festivities last for forty days.

The youth began to play games. Everyone was having fun, except for Barypzhan, who sat sadly. One entertainment followed another, everyone was very pleased, but Barypzhan did not smile even once.

But as the wedding began to come to an end.

— Hey, bald one, light a big fire! — ordered Alyke one of the women.
— I have a speck in my eye. Take it out,— Alyke approached this woman.

But as soon as she ran her hand over his eyelids, the young man recoiled with the words:
— Your fingers are like thorns.

So he went around three women, telling each the same thing. Finally, Alyke approached Barypzhan.

— Take out the speck, Barypzhan,— he asked.

Barypzhan laid his head on her lap to look for the speck in his eye, and Alyke whispered to her:
— How delicate your hands are,— and showed her the cherished ring.

The girl smiled.

The next morning, horse races began — the baiga.

— I will ride on my foal,— said Alyke.
— The horses will trample you,— replied Karakan with laughter.

But Alyke mounted the foal, whispered a few words, and the foal turned back into a tulpara. Alyke came in first in the baiga.

Then the wrestling began.

— I will wrestle the strongest young man! — declared Alyke,

Karakan tried to dissuade him and mocked him, but Alyke did not listen and defeated the strongman.

Then Alyke went for firewood, and upon returning, he said to the girls:
— Sisters, how many nuts there are in the forest!

Barypzhan heard this and went to the forest with ten friends. As soon as the girls ventured deep into the thicket, Alyke took on his usual form, turned the child into a tulpara, mounted it, and placed Barypzhan in front of him, and they raced to his aul.

After traveling a great distance, they dismounted, Alyke turned the tulpara into a foal and hid it under his cloak. They sat down to rest.

Meanwhile, the relatives of the girl and her fiancé set off in pursuit of the runaways and soon surrounded them on all sides.

Alyke immediately turned the foal back into a horse, jumped into the saddle, and charged at the enemies. He defeated all the relatives of Barypzhan's fiancé but did not harm any of her relatives. Then Alyke revealed his true name to Karakan, and Karakan said:
— I want to celebrate your wedding lavishly.
And they all returned to the aul.

The entire aul gathered for the wedding of Barypzhan and Alyke. Everyone drank, ate, and celebrated for forty days and nights. The father gifted the young couple a rich white yurt.

A long time passed since then. Barypzhan gave birth to a son named Seytek.

Seytek grew very quickly. One day, Barypzhan said to her husband:
— Remember the saying: "There is no horse that does not long for its herd, there is no hero who does not miss his homeland." What do you think, is it not time for us to return to your native lands?

To this, Alyke replied:
— To leave your father's aul, we need to find a pretext.

Soon after this, Karakan slaughtered a ram and invited Alyke and Barypzhan to his yurt. When the meat was served, Karakan cut off the hind leg of the ram and handed it to his grandson Seytek. Alyke and Barypzhan were offended.

— It seems the father does not wish our son well if he treats him to a hind leg,— they said and did not touch the meat.

Then Karakan realized that his daughter and son-in-law were looking for a reason to leave him. He gifted them rich clothes, carpets, horses, and precious harness.

Alyke, Barypzhan, and Seytek mounted their horses. A slave girl — speckled and ugly — rode with them.

They traveled slowly, but Alyke wanted to reach his homeland as quickly as possible. Therefore, he outpaced his caravan and rushed ahead.

Barypzhan stopped for the night by a lake.

— Would you like to take a bath, my lady? — offered the slave girl. — I will give you one end of the rope to hold, and I will hold the other. When you are done bathing, I will help you get out onto the shore.

Barypzhan began to bathe. The slave girl, standing on the shore, held one end of the rope. As soon as Barypzhan went into deep water, the slave girl let go of the rope.

Barypzhan was carried away by the current and washed up on an island in the middle of the river.

The slave girl quickly changed into Barypzhan's clothes, placed Seytek in the saddle in front of her, and rode on.

Meanwhile, Alyke arrived at his aul and told his relatives:
— I married Barypzhan, my betrothed. She is on her way here now, along with our son Seytek.

Alyke's relatives rode out to meet the dear guests.

Soon they saw an ugly, speckled woman on a horse. A boy was sitting in front of her. They brought them to the aul. The slave girl said to Alyke:
— Alyke, I saw a speckled crow on the road, and as soon as it cawed, I was covered in spots. The crow cawed a second time, and I turned completely black. And our poor slave girl died of fright.

Alyke believed the slave girl — he thought that indeed his beloved wife Barypzhan was before him. They set up their rich white yurt and began to live in it.

One day, a passerby came to visit them:
— Start a conversation, dear guest,— offered Alyke to him.

— What shall I tell you, about what I have heard or what I have seen? — asked the passerby.

— A guest should be humbler than a sheep. Sit and be silent,— ordered the slave girl.

So throughout the evening, the guest did not open his mouth even once. In the morning, he left.

The next day, the slave girl saw a thistle branch near the yurt and trampled it, saying:
— This thorn could prick the child's foot.

Then, seeing a white camel calf approaching the yurt, she ordered it to be slaughtered, saying:
— It could scare the child.

A few days later, another passerby entered their yurt.

— Start a conversation, dear guest,— offered Alyke to him.

— What shall I tell you, about what I have heard or what I have seen? — asked the passerby.

— What I have heard may turn out to be a fabrication; tell me about what you have seen,— said Alyke.

— A guest should be humbler than a sheep. Would it not be better for you to be silent? — the slave girl intervened in the conversation,

— And why should I not speak? I will only be telling about what I have seen, — the guest replied. — And I have seen something amazing. Not far from here, there is a lake. Over this lake flies a speckled goose, crying, saying: "Oh my Seytek, I crept to you as a thorn, but I was trampled; I approached as a camel calf, but I was slaughtered." It is simply a wonder!

The next morning, Alyke went to the lake and saw the speckled goose lamenting over Seytek. Alyke returned home, took his son, brought him to the lake, and left him on the shore. The goose flew to the child and covered him with her wing. Then Alyke approached and caught the goose.

The goose said:
— Oh my Alyke! Go and bring me my clothes! Alyke hurriedly brought her the clothes. And the goose turned back into Barypzhan.

Upon returning home, Alyke drove the treacherous slave girl out of his house.

After that, Alyke arranged a feast, and they all lived peacefully and happily.

Kyrgyz Tales