Sengir

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

At the foot of Mount Manyrak there was a wild, dense forest. In this impassable thicket there lived many fierce boars – so dangerous that no one dared to set foot there. The batyrs gathered and argued among themselves: who would dare to enter first, who would accept the challenge. Each one repeated to the other: «You go… No, you go…» – but no one dared. One day, young Yerasyl entered the thicket without hesitation and killed all the wild boars. From then on, people began to call him Kabanbai – which in Kazakh means «the Boar Winner». And the forest, where heated arguments had previously been heard, was named Sengir – in memory of those squabbles between the batyrs.