Legend of the Berkutsi

By Word Of Mouth » Legend of the Berkutsi

River Tainta, and its more gentle name Taintenka, leaving a narrow shady gorge, runs out of the mountains into the bosom of a wide valley, to meet with another river – Targyn, on which stands an old village with the same name.

Throughout the valley there are lush haymeadows, poplar and pine trees that do not know the axe, and many, many different animals.

There used to be big hunts here with greyhounds and birds. Golden eagles circled over the wide wooded valley, above the rocks, «looking out for foxes and forest…», as our countryman G.D. Grebenshchikov wrote about it.

The area is very convenient for cattle farmers – meadows, steppes, rivers…

From ancient times, Kazakh auls and shepherds’ yurts were broken up there. And here settled in ancient times the famous hunter Bolekay in the district.

He had a fine horse and a golden eagle, which he carried on his hand while hunting. All is well: lucky hunters with a catchy bird with a clear eye, strong claws and great strength. But what happened was «ordinary», which people will remember for a long time.

What happened was that one day the young golden eagle Boleyi saw the daughter of a rich bia – Sagynchu and immediately fell in love with her. The day came when the young man asked for her hand in marriage to his beloved father. Bitter and greedy, knowing that Bolecke had nothing but a horse and a golden eagle, sent him back to wherever he had come from. He said: «Go, and if you think of coming again, bring me a hundred sables, two hundred wolves and three hundred foxes…» So he asked the bride for the daughter Sagynchu. He left with nothing, but did not hang the head of a young jigit. I was sure he could do it all. Smiling, he imagined how Sagynchi’s father would surprise him, how greedy his eyes would burn when Bolekay brought the feces. And the hunter decided to climb the big cliff to take two golden eagles from the nest for autumn hunting. Here he is, like a prehensile ant, crawling on a sheer rock all the higher and higher, barely holding hands and feet on narrow ledges… Here it is at a cool hole painted with white patches of golden droppings». The young golden eagles, open their beaks, try to defend themselves, but Bolekay cleverly took them, tied them up and shoved them into a sheep bag. With the screams of threat, old birds circled over the hunter; with a noise rushed on a «deceptive» piece of hay, tied to the hunter’s back. Having climbed a small ledge, Bolekay sat down to rest. He did not pay attention to how angry birds attacked him… He’s not afraid of anything. He took the box out of the bull’s horn from behind his sinuses, shaking out the small tobacco on his larger nail and sucked it sweetly with his nose. And without expecting it, he sneezed violently It was enough to go off and crash into the rocks. He fell to the bottom of the cliff and could not think that soon, very soon, his parents would be feasting on his body… Since then, the rocky cliff above the river Tainta began to be called the rock «Bolekey-Ulgen», where Bolekay died.

Tolebaldy Alan – Illustration to the legend “Berkutsi”.

Legend of the Berkutsi

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