KARACH THE HERO
In ancient times, there lived an old man and an old woman, and they had two sons — Egizbek and Segizbek. They lived in prosperity, confident in their future.
When the children grew up, their father sent them to graze cattle in the most remote pasture, visiting them only once a year. On one of those visits, the father saw that the yurt where his sons lived was destroyed, the cattle had been stolen, and the children had disappeared. In despair, the father wept and returned home, cursing his fate. From that time on, there were no bright days in the lives of the old man and the old woman; they led a miserable, impoverished existence.
One day, the old man had a dream. An elderly man with a white beard appeared in his dream and said: “Your sons have been kidnapped by two evil giants, Bukhtugul and Shuutugul. Tears will not help your grief. It is better to go to the mountain where the spring begins.
Next to that spring, a tree grows. There, bring a sheep as a sacrifice and stay the night with your old woman. At midnight, a white apple will fall from the sky — you should eat it yourself. Before dawn, a red apple will fall — let your old woman eat it. If you do this, you will have a son.” The old man said this and disappeared.
The old man woke up and lay for a long time, not knowing whether to believe the dream or not. He told the old woman, and she said:
— Even if we are left without our last sheep, if your dream is truly prophetic, we will have a son, our continuation.
So the old man and the old woman did as the elderly man in the dream had said. Everything turned out just as he said, and the old man and the old woman had a son.
The boy grew not by days but by hours, and by the age of ten, he could already measure his strength against the young men twice his age. One day, he beat one of the boys from the aul, and the angry mother of the offended child said:
— If you have nowhere to put your strength, you should find your missing brothers!
— What brothers? — the boy was surprised.
— Ask your mother about this! — the woman replied in anger.
The boy was upset that his mother did not tell him the whole truth, gathered all the dishes in the house, and hid them. When his mother came home, he asked her to fry him some wheat. Seeing that his mother heated the cauldron and threw in the wheat, he ran out into the yard and shouted:
— Mom, mom, the doves are flying away! If I don’t feed them wheat, they will scatter!
He knew that his mother would fulfill any of his wishes, but if she ever decided to keep something a secret, no one would be able to learn the secret from her.
The mother hurriedly began to search for a dish in which she could bring her son hot wheat, but found nothing. After waiting a bit, the son shouted:
— I will bring you a plate, but for that, tell me the truth: did I have brothers, and what happened to them?
The mother told him everything.
Then the boy promised that he would find his brothers himself and, if they were alive, rescue them from captivity. His parents tried to dissuade him, but it was all in vain. And the mother said to her son:
— If you have decided to find your brothers, may luck be with you. You will recognize Egizbek and Segizbek by the birthmarks under their left shoulder blades.
Until that day, the boy had no name. And now, sending him off on a distant and dangerous journey, the old man and the old woman decided to hold a gathering, invite the villagers, and with their help, give their son a name.
The villagers thought for a long time. The white-bearded ones looked at the black-bearded ones, the black-bearded ones at the clean-shaven ones, and those, in turn, at the beardless ones. But they could not come to any conclusion. And it is unknown how it would have all ended if an unfamiliar old man had not appeared. He looked at the boy and said:
— I see you will be an unmatched strongman. Therefore, let your name be — Karach the Hero...
Karach said goodbye to his family and set off on his journey. He walked and walked, and suddenly he saw a foal that had fallen into a deep pit. Karach felt sorry for it, helped it out of the pit, and they continued their journey together.
Then Karach stumbled upon a halter, a blanket, and a saddle lying by the road. He decided to put all this on the foal.
As soon as he put on the halter, it turned into a three-year-old stallion. He put on the blanket — and the foal became a four-year-old horse. When he put on the saddle, it turned into a powerful beautiful horse.
Karach continued his journey now on horseback. He rode a little way when suddenly the horse spoke in a human voice:
— If you do not turn off this road, you will soon see a large poplar, next to which there is a saddle. Take the saddle and tie it to mine. A little to the side, there will be a burial mound. Go into it for the night, lay the blanket down, put the saddle under your head, and lie down with your head to the east and your feet to the west. Sleep soundly and do not be afraid of anything. Before dawn, a man will come to you and say: “No human foot has ever stepped here. Get up, young man!” Do not pay attention to these words.
Wait until he stands at your feet and greets you. Then get up and accept his offer to be friends with him.
So said the horse, and the boy followed his instructions exactly. After befriending the stranger, Karach told him who he was and where he was going. The stranger, in turn, told the boy his story:
— I was the only son of my parents. One day, evil giants Bukhtugul and Shuutugul attacked our aul. As soon as I managed to run out of the house, I was killed by a blow from an axe. I only noticed that there was a boy with them. Perhaps these were your missing brothers...
After a pause, the stranger said:
— If you find the giants and manage to kill them, say: “I dedicate this to my friend Nurperi” and cut off their heads.
Then go to the stable, where you will see forty yellow-striped winged horses. They belong to the giants. They also need to be killed, just like the two girls who graze these horses, and also say: “I dedicate this to my friend Nurperi.” If even one of them survives, they will resurrect all the others, remember that.
Karach listened carefully to his new friend, thanked him, and continued on his way. He rode and rode, when suddenly the horse beneath him stopped and began to bleed. Karach took off the saddle and walked on foot. But soon the horse caught up with him. This happened several times. Having confirmed Karach's nobility, the horse decided to test him for courage. It ran ahead, turned into a tiger, and came out to meet him. But Karach was not afraid. He thought: “I am going to fight two evil giants to save my brothers, so how can a mere tiger stop me?!”
He drew his dagger and rushed at the tiger. But the tiger, admiring Karach's bravery, turned back into a horse and said:
— Calm down, hero, it’s me, your faithful horse. Listen to me carefully, Karach. One of the two evil giants, Bukhtugul, is looking for you. It is because of him that I stopped and bled, but you treated me nobly and saved me. Now you will go into that gorge and see Bukhtugul there. He will ask you what you are doing here.
You will say that you are looking for a lost horse. He will ask if you know Karach and what he does before he fights someone. Answer that you know Karach and that before he fights someone, he eats eighty bulls, then lies in a lake and blows on it cold for seven days. When the surface of the lake is covered with ice, Karach gets up and goes to fight. That is what you should say to Bukhtugul.
Disguised as a herdsman, Karach went to the neighboring gorge. Suddenly, a giant grew in his path.
— Who are you and what are you doing here? — asked the giant.
— I am a herdsman of a rich man, looking for a horse, — replied Karach.
— They say Karach has left his house... Do you know him?
— I know him, — replied Karach,
— And what does he do when he is about to fight someone?
— He eats eighty bulls, then lies in a lake and blows on its surface cold for exactly seven days until the lake is covered with thick ice. After that, he gets up and goes to fight.
— If that’s the case, then I will eat eighty bulls too, — said the giant and invited Karach to have lunch with him.
They sat down to eat. While Karach was dealing with one piece of meat, the giant ate eighty bulls. Then the giant waded into the lake up to his neck and began to blow cold on its surface. He blew for exactly seven days, and during that time the lake was covered with ice.
— Well, now can I go fight? — the giant asked Karach and began to rise.
The ice cracked, huge chunks flew in all directions, and Karach shouted to the giant:
— No, no, don’t get up! I completely forgot to say that you need to lie in the lake for two times seven days!
The giant sank back into the lake up to his neck and began to blow cold again. When another seven days passed, Karach was convinced that this time the giant would not be able to break free from the icy prison. He approached the giant and mockingly said:
— Now is the perfect time for you to fight Karach! — and with a swing of his sword, he cut off his head, not forgetting to add: “I dedicate this to my friend Nurperi.”
After that, Karach returned to his horse, and it taught him how to proceed next.
— To kill Shuutugul, — said the horse, — hide behind the bend of the road. When he runs past you shouting: “I will kill Karach! I will eat Karach!”, jump out of ambush and stab him in the chest with your sword. If you cannot knock him down on the first try, then you will not be able to handle him.
So said the horse, and Karach did the same. When the blinded by rage giant Shuutugul ran down the road, Karach jumped out of ambush and stabbed him in the chest, then cut off his head with the words: “I dedicate this to my friend Nurperi.” After that, he went into the giants’ stable, where two girls were grazing forty yellow-striped winged horses. And he treated them the same way he did the two giants, not forgetting to dedicate it to his friend Nurperi.
Having dealt with the oppressors of his family, Karach set off to find his brothers. He rode and rode, and suddenly he saw two men leading a laden camel. Karach stopped the travelers and asked:
— Who are you, where are you from, and where are you going?
The travelers told that once two evil giants kidnapped them from their parents, turned them into slaves, and now they work for them day and night.
Karach was overjoyed that he had finally found his own brothers, and to make sure of this, he looked at their birthmarks under their left shoulder blades.
They all returned home together and lived happily as a large and united family, bringing joy to their parents.
Kyrgyz Tales