Wind of Old Woman Burin

(Source: Kelgembaeva Baykytzhan. People and land: textbook. – Oskemen: Media Alliance, 2005. – 168 p.)

When winter comes, a piercing wind rises over the village of Bozsha in Tarbagatai – long, annoying, like an old grudge. The locals call it «Burin zheli» – the Burin wind.

According to legend, an evil and quarrelsome old woman named Burin once lived in this village. With her tongue she could hurt more than a whip, and with her voice she could drown out the wind itself. As soon as the children heard: “Old Woman Burin is coming,” the noisiest ones immediately fell silent and ran home. Before her death, she said, she said, as if in mockery: «I will not rest even in the grave. Even after death I will get you!»

She was buried in the old cemetery, on the outskirts of the village. Since then, a prickly, piercing cold began to blow from there. And even today, when a sharp, icy wind blows, people sigh: «It’s old woman Burin who has returned…»