Kanykey — Queen, Wife of Manas. Part - 2

Part 2. Kanykey — the queen, wife of Manas

Becoming the life companion of Manas, Kanykey actively participates in public life, serving as Manas's closest assistant. When going on a campaign, Manas entrusts her with managing the clan and welcoming guests with honor. Through her love, loyalty, and devotion to her husband, her hard work, insight, and ability to foresee the future, as well as her unerring recognition of enemies and friends, she earns universal respect and the recognition of Manas himself.

From now on, Manas has achieved his epic perfection — he has not just taken a wife, but has gained wings. His faithful and wise Kanykey possesses the gift of foresight. She senses impending trouble six months in advance.

She will shield the hero from many misfortunes, save him from death more than once, and heal many wounds. She will increase Manas's strength, multiply his glory. She will become a faithful wife, a wise mentor, and a devoted friend.

A popular saying goes: “A good wife means a good husband, a good vizier means a good khan.”

She can be seen setting up the yurt, preparing a feast for relatives, making military clothing, armor, and caring for the war horses, etc. The hero's war horse in the epic is highly valued: in many cases, the combat quality of the hero depends on his horse. Therefore, it can only be entrusted to the closest people and loyal assistants.

She achieves a high social standing not through lofty titles, but through her business qualities and hard work. (She works on Akkolpok (the white armor) — Manas's battle attire — for 12 years straight, knowing neither rest nor sleep, day or night). She is an exceptionally far-sighted hostess, always able to find any necessary item. Each subsequent episode of the epic portrays a new quality of Kanykey, deepening and expanding what has already been discussed, thereby achieving fullness and persuasiveness of her character. Thus, in the episode "The Funeral Feast of Koketey," Kanykey is already a well-known woman to the entire people due to her special merits. From now on, she is not just an executor of Manas's will, but Manas is, in fact, executing her will. Not only does Manas listen to her advice. She now has the right to actively participate in making particularly important decisions in front of the entire people. Kanykey's quality as a skilled artisan also helps her achieve such a social standing. She always sews the military and everyday clothing for Manas and the forty heroes herself. The clothes and garments made by Kanykey possess amazing qualities: they do not burn in fire, are not pierced by a steel spear, do not wear out, and protect the hero from heat and cold, from arrows, and from the blade of an axe.

Her ability to lead craftsmen and craftswomen is especially valued. In the epic, for example, the process of making the heroes' trousers from leather is described. Kanykey instructs hunters to shoot goats only in the eye to avoid damaging the skins. She processes the skin with a special mixture made from dried apples.

Before the "Great Campaign" to distant Beijin, Kanykey gifts all the heroes with clothing suitable for all occasions of campaign life, comfortable for all seasons. In addition, she supplies them with bags of gunpowder and bullets, all kinds of weapons used in that era of wars, and excellent equipment for the war horse.

Besides the heroic attire, Kanykey provides the warriors with a miraculous medicinal food called "kulyzyk," a tiny portion of which can not only satisfy hunger but also heal wounds, invigorate and strengthen hundreds of warriors and their battle horses. Kanykey's thriftiness and practicality benefit the entire people; she cares not only for her husband but also for the warriors.

Kanykey's humanity stands out against the backdrop of the harsh, sometimes cruel laws of that era. She was a mother to the forty heroes who came from different sides and became a mother to all Kyrgyz.

In the epic, Kanykey managed to unite representatives of different clans into one family. For that time, this was a great achievement. By doing so, she showed that she is sensitive, responsive, just, generous, and above all, a very subtle politician. She treats Manas's mother, Chiyrdy, with tenderness — the best proof of her deep humanity. Respect for Chiyrdy is not only a personal quality of Kanykey. It reflects the people's ideas about respect for elders, serving parents, helping the weak, etc.

Humanity and humanism in the epic serve as criteria for evaluating heroes. The characters of the epic are divided into positive and negative heroes.

The image of Kanykey is contrasted with the cruel, rude, deceitful, and inhumane characters by her decency, honesty, humanity, and humaneness in the popular understanding of these qualities.

All of Kanykey's virtues are combined with deep intelligence. Each of her actions is the result of wisdom and foresight. A smart, devoted, and caring wife of the hero, by the end of the epic, she attains the status of a folk sage. Even well-known sages such as Koshoy and Bakay admire her intelligence, acknowledging her superiority over themselves. And indeed, she stands much higher in intelligence and foresight not only than the naïvely kind Manas but even Bakay, who is an ideal of wisdom and justice.

Three burdens weighed heavily on poor Kanykey. She longed for Manas, and that longing was her terrible burden. She governed the people, and the khan's power was her heavy burden. She was preparing to become a mother, and that expectation was her sweet burden.

The child in her womb was two months old when the Kyrgyz began the great campaign. Half a year had passed since then. Kanykey awaited the return of the army and suffered from not knowing the fate of her native army, that Manas was not there, and he might not hear the first cry of his child.

Whether it was because the wrinkles revealed to her the coming sorrow, or because the child in her womb longed to see the light, Kanykey's eyes darkened.

She called Chiyrdy, the elderly mother of her husband, and forty friends and said to them:
- Do not leave me. It seems my time has come.

Chiyrdy, rejuvenated by happiness, ran into the yurt of Jakyp and shouted:
- The bright source of our eyes, the wise Kanykey, is about to gift us a grandson. Let the elders prepare for the feast, for a great deed has begun — Kanykey is becoming the mother of the people.

These words of Chiyrdy flew from yurt to yurt, and when they reached Kanykey's yurt, it turned out that women had already gathered there, waiting for the first cry of the new being. On everyone's lips were two words: "mother of the people," for that is how the Kyrgyz began to call the wise Kanykey.

"Who will be the heir to my deeds, who will follow in my footsteps, who will not let my people fall apart? I have created a stone from grains of sand, a people from warring clans. Will this stone turn back into sand, will I not have a son, the head of the people?"

Thus thought Manas, but he did not speak, not wishing to offend Kanykey.

In Kanykey's large yurt, it was quiet. And suddenly, late at night, a cry rang out. It was not a cry of horror or pain or a call for help. It was a cry of surprise and happiness. Only a human being, newly born and unaware of sorrow, could cry like that.

In the morning, everyone already knew that Manas had a son, whom Jakyp blessed, naming him Semetey.

Mother of the people - Kanykey. Part - 1