The Legend of Katon-Karagai

A long time ago, a widow and her only daughter lived in a pine forest. She lived by hunting and collecting dung. One day, her only daughter became very ill, and the woman could not go hunting. Without hunting there was no food, and survival became harder and harder.

One day, when her daughter fell asleep, the starving woman nevertheless went hunting. In the forest, a poor woman got lost while chasing a wounded rabbit. There was a storm and she couldn’t find her way home. At that moment, random travelers came into the woman’s house and the sick girl died before their eyes. But the mother never returned home.

The villagers searched for the woman and a few days later found her lifeless body kneeling in the forest. Since then, the dense pine forest began to be called Katyn-Karagay, and later – Katon-Karagay.