Spring of the goddess Umai

(Source: Katonkaragay – the land of legends: electronic resource / compiled by Zhumagulova Gulzira Dauletkhanovna. – Ust-Kamenogorsk: Reklamnyy daydzhest, 2024. – 176 p.)

Once upon a time, a family lived at the foot of the Altai Mountains. They had everything: fat herds, strong and smart children. But one day, trouble came to their yurt – the youngest son fell seriously ill. Day and night, in bed, seized by fever, the boy tossed and turned in delirium.

The healers washed him with milk from a white she-camel, wrapped him in felt made from the wool of seven white sheep, gave him badger fat to drink, whipped him with a whip to drive out the disease, and fed him horse meat, but nothing helped. The boy was fading with each passing day. His parents were in despair. They gave everything they had, down to the last silver coin, to the healers for the treatment of their son, but no one could drive away the disease.

And so one morning, the mother, while cleaning the yurt, found the boy’s baby bracelet that had rolled under the felt. Many years ago, when her son was still a baby, she had found seven turquoise beads on the road and made a charm bracelet out of them for the baby. As long as he wore it, all troubles passed their family by.

They say that such bracelets should neither be given to strangers nor sold, but there was nothing to be done. This bracelet was now the only valuable thing in their house. But the healer did not take this decoration, saying that seven beads of old turquoise were not worth much. The woman had to return home with nothing.

On the way back she saw an old tree, spreading its branches, as if stretching out its arms to her. The woman’s heart sank, and she pressed her cheek to the rough trunk, bursting into tears. As if to a mother, she told the old tree about her grief, and as a farewell, she hung her son’s bracelet on a branch as a gift to the goddess Umai.

But as soon as the woman took a step, the thread snapped and the beads fell to the ground with a ringing sound. Where they hit the ground, tiny springs immediately began to flow. There were exactly seven of them, the number of beads in the bracelet.

Having seen such a miracle, the woman collected a little water from all seven springs and hurried home to quickly give the miraculous water to her sick son. As soon as the boy took a few sips, he immediately rose to his feet, as if he had never been ill.

«It was the goddess Umai herself, having turned into an old tree, who heard your prayers and took pity on you», one old woman said to the woman, “because Umai is the protector of all children and women.

Since then, the water from these seven springs has been considered healing by the people. The tract where they flow, people began to call Umai Bulak – the spring of the goddess Umai.

They say that if you come to this place early in the morning, you can see turquoise beads at the bottom of the springs. However, the goddess Umai does not show them to everyone, but only to people with a pure soul, and those who really need her help.