ISKANDER IN THE MYTHICAL KINGDOM OF THE KYRGYZ
The king, drawn in restless dreams to Khyrkhiz,
Could not sleep under the shimmering midnight robes.
He decided to command the camp to move again.
At the hour of farewell with the khakan, he entrusted the khakan
Many precious gifts. And he directed his army
Across the sandy expanse of the waterless desert.
He beat the drum of loud glory, entering
The distant Northern land from the eastern side.
All were kissing the transparent robe of water then.
Moisture was above, and mercury was still below.
But when the agitated stream swirled.
He was no longer a mortal thirsty for good.
The warrior, boldly tasting the dangerous moisture, —
Died. He showed courage in his demise.
Then the command of the kings sounded:
“Drink cautiously, burning with fierce thirst.
So carefully draw from the cup of nature,
So that the moving waters remain still.”
A whole month of travel! During these days
Many strong ones were buried: they perished from thirst.
And they passed the entire silver carpet, — and before their eyes
Suddenly appeared a fertile land, in which
The earth was darkened, quenching all hearts.
For earthly beings, the land was a delight.
Like the sun, the enchanting land shone, where
The entire vicinity breathed blissful peace.
At the very top of a high mountain
Under the azure of the skies, tents were blue.
And an unprecedented horror seized the onlookers:
The tents leaned against sheer cliffs.
Muslims were huddled in azure tents,
But they did not know the prophet on these mountains.
To wise men alone, by revelation from God,
The path to the understanding of God was opened.
Seeing Iskander, greeting his fate,
They instantly realized: the prophet had appeared to them,
And they opened their hearts to receive his guidance
And to be filled with the joy of knowledge.
And he saw a city of a beautiful land,
Abundant, beautiful — a likeness of paradise.
The king approached the entrance to the city. He found no
Gates at all, not even a sign of them.
There was an unbarred entrance, like an open gate,
And with the elders, the king quietly entered the city.
He saw colorful shops; no locks
Hung on them: evidently, that is the custom!
The townspeople kindly, with smiles of greeting
Respectfully came out to meet the Ruler of the world.
And the wanderer, wearing a crown, was led
Into an immense, sky-like azure palace.
The townspeople laid a lavish table and stood
Before the table, on which vessels sparkled.
They treated Iskander with a plea,
That he might request any food from them.
The king accepted the hospitality. He gazed at the bright faces.
He looked: beautiful was this procession of people!
And the elders of the just land again
Wished all good for Iskander
“You are crowned by the creator. May the great creator
Grant happiness to the ruler, as he gave the crown!
You, guided by the Almighty, wandering through lands,
Proclaim the royal name with the hammer of justice.
You asked about good and evil. About everything
You will learn. Listen to how we all live.
Let us speak one truth. For falsehood, we are mute.
We, who have settled these places, we all are —
A gentle people. We are faithful to the heavens.
That we serve only truth, you will see for yourself.
Our words do not sound with a false tune.
Here, unfaithfulness, O king, is rejected with anger.
We have locked the door of duplicity,
With our truth, we have conquered the world. Believe,
We shall never speak lies. Even in the gloom of slumber
Untruthful dreams, O king, are unknown to us.
We do not ask for what is excessive for us.
These requests do not reach the voice of the Almighty.
The Lord sends us all that is needed for us.
And enmity, O sovereign, is undesirable to the heavens.
What the Lord has created is pleasing to Him.
We do not wish to harbor enmity towards anyone.
Helping friends, for the sake of the all-good,
We bear our misfortunes without sorrow.
If someone among us is in great need
Or in small, and if we know of it,
We will share everything with him. We consider it a law,
That no one should be acquainted with loss in anything;
We are equal with our possessions.
Equally, wealth has been entrusted to all of us.
In this life, we are all equally significant,
And we do not laugh at anyone's tears.
Our guardian is the Lord, who has raised us from darkness.
We rely only on the Lord.
We are not taught, O great one, to speak ill.
We forgive people, we come to them with love,
If anyone cannot cope with their task,
We do not hide good advice from them.
We will not show dubious paths to people.
There are no troublemakers among us; we will not shed blood.
Our entire family shares sorrow with each other.
And in every joy, we are friends to each other.
We do not value silver and gold — either.
Here, they are not in circulation and are not worth more than sand.
We are modest, we do not touch others' affairs,
We do not make noise if someone has eaten too much.
We accept both evil and good without arguing:
Days of joy and sorrow are predestined.
And about the gifts from the heavens, about good and evil
We do not ask: “What is this? Where did it come from?”
Among the newcomers, O king, we will remain with those.
Who is restrained, who is filled only with pure dreams.
If he rejects our reasonable law,
Then he will be expelled from our family.”
Seeing this blessed and righteous path,
Iskander, majestic, stood in astonishment.
The king of lands and seas had not heard better words.
He had not read better tales in the “Book of Kings”
And to his soul, he spoke the crown of the universe:
“I will accept these secrets as words of admonition!
Enough of roaming the world. It is not fitting for the wise
To set traps everywhere with just a handful of prayer.
Is it not enough to have prey? I have gained freedom from temptations,
Listening to the good people.
If I had known about the wonderful people,
I would not have wandered the world in vain pursuit.
I would have found my refuge in a crevice of the mountains,
Only to direct my fiery gaze to the Creator,
In this land of sages, I would have absorbed their character,
I would have breathed peacefully in the right thoughts.”
The Legend of the Origin of the Kyrgyz