by Kanat Malim
“We didn’t have time to sell everything, so I decided to distribute the remaining 500 sheep and 100 horses to neighboring shepherds. They pledged to return to us the same number of livestock that we had given to them.
“During these years, our healer was just beginning to practice shamanism, but he failed to discover my husband’s whereabouts. The shaman was very young then, three years younger than Ataq is now.
“But because of the small number of students, the village school where my son was studying closed. We immediately moved to Almaty. At that time everyone was relocating to the cities.
“Well... We came back to see the shaman, and he recognized us immediately.
“After doing a strange ritual for three days, the shaman came to the conclusion that the spirits of Ataq’s ancestors would not leave him alone.
“According to the shaman, the spirits wanted him to continue the family business and live in these mountains. Although this didn’t sound convincing to me, I had no other choice.
“And so I decided to try it out: During two weeks of treatment in the shaman’s yurt, Ataq didn’t have a single attack.
“The healer helped us to visit the farms of the shepherds where I had left my livestock 13 years ago.
“We were able to collect 120 sheep and 50 horses.
“There had been a lot of ‘water under the bridge’ since that time, and many of them didn’t remember the exact number of animals.
“They returned the livestock as best they could remember.
“The first year we worked the farm together with the help of a kind old shepherd.
“After the second year, Ataq decided to go off on his own.
“And that’s how we’ve survived to this day.
“My attempts to remind him of his former life with photographs and stories led to another bout of illness.
“Three years have passed since the day I hid all things that reminded him of the past.”
Looking older than her years, the woman finished the story with tears in her eyes.
Saule also couldn’t hide her tears. She promised Aina Apa to return Ataq to her as his formerly healthy self.
7. The path to Ataq’s heart
From that day on, Saule looked at Ataq with different eyes. Now she closely watched his every move, studying him carefully.
She herself began to get occasional sharp looks from Ataq. This caused her to blush; the girl’s fair skin betrayed her.
Saule always spoke to him first, asking many questions, looking him straight in the eye during a conversation, as if she had a young boy in front of her.
She was no longer afraid of him the way she was before. Now she tried to remind him of moments from the past, to touch on topics about the city, about cars, things that Ataq would respond to.
Ataq immediately steered the conversation over to topics concerning life on the steppe. For example, if she asked: “Do you remember the beautiful places in the capital?” he would reply by talking about the Nauryz holiday.
It turns out that it is celebrated in every country of Central Asia. In Qazaqstan it’s celebrated on March 21 — the day of the spring equinox.
About 40 families from nearby pastures annually gather here. There are national games such as ‘Qyz quu’ (‘kiss-chase’ or girl chasing) and ‘Qazaq kuresi’ (Qazaq wrestling).
Ataq said that in Qyz quu a guy (jigit) and a girl compete on horses for a short distance. The girl is ahead by a length of two horses, and the jigit must catch up to her and kiss her. The girl is allowed to fight him off with her whip.
In ancient times, if the guy caught up with the girl, he had the right to marry her. And if he didn’t catch up, then all the way back he would be beaten on the back by the girl with her whip.
Upon hearing this, Saule bet Ataq that he couldn’t catch her. Without hesitation, the jigit accepted the challenge.
They talked about the other outcome of the race: If Saule lost, then all week long she had to bake her ‘signature’ cookie, which she hadn’t baked for a long time.
Every day she noted increasing success in dealing with Ataq. He was no longer as unsociable as he had seemed before.
All this was possible thanks to the information Aina Apa had provided regarding her son. Before she knew Saule, Auntie missed having someone for girl talk and gossip. Besides, it was about her own son, so why not recall memories of all the happy moments in their family!
With each new story that Aina Apa told her, in Saule’s eyes Ataq became like a hero in a novel.
Saule knew Auntie very rarely exaggerated anything.
She couldn’t believe that this once prosperous guy didn’t have a girlfriend, because a man like him was the dream of every woman.
“It’s more likely that he didn’t share matters of the heart with his mother,” Saule thought.
But one day Aina Apa called Saule over and opened a trunk.
She began to take things out of it that she had long kept out of sight from her son. There were books, a few clothes, and some things Saule had never seen before. Among them was a dombra — the Qazaq traditional instrument.
According to Aina Apa, the dombra was invented at the time the Qazaq people first appeared. It’s customary for every Qazaq home to have this two-stringed instrument.
There is an old Qazaq proverb about the dombra, which translated says: “A Qazaq is not a true Qazaq unless he has a dombra.”
Next to the open trunk were two similar boxes. But Apa claimed she couldn’t find the keys to them.
Even so, the girl had seen enough things to get a picture of their former life.
Now Saule had a better chance to make friends with Ataq: She would get acquainted with Ataq’s literary heroes by reading his books.
Only it was a pity that the dombra was broken — she wasn’t able to hear how this exotic instrument sounded.
On Auntie’s recommendation, Saule borrowed a two-volume book by M. Auezov. The novel described the entire life of Abai Kunanbayev, the great Qazaq poet. Its title was simply The Way of Abai.
Ataq had hungrily read and re-read it several times, so Saule picked up the book with the same care as a marksman would lift a rifle before firing.
8. Dialogue
From that day on, she took the novel with her everywhere.
When she was tending the flocks together with Ataq, she moved away from him so that he wouldn’t see the book she was reading.
When she found unfamiliar words while reading, she ran to Aina Apa with her questions in the evenings. Auntie admired how quickly she read it and her curiosity, because every day Saule had marked words on the next 100 pages.
But Ataq didn’t like how she had been avoiding his company lately. Previously, she had tired him with questions and suggestions that they do something together. Now she was sitting on the other side of the herd, looking down at something, and she even stopped riding her horse.
Today she didn’t notice as the flock went beyond their boundary, a line made out of small stones. She had to send them back in Ataq’s direction.
“If she can’t cope with such a small thing, then she’s forgotten how loudly I can swear,” thought the young man.
And indeed, she was sitting completely alone, staring down at something... she didn’t even notice how the sheep were milling randomly around her as she sat among them.
The girl saw Ataq when he was only 20 yards away. With just enough time to hide the book, she suddenly caught a menacing look from a pissed-off guy and she immediately understood the reason for his anger.
There was nothing to do but to stay put...
She innocently sat cross-legged before this strong man, a defenseless woman looking at him with raised eyebrows.
Coming closer to her, his mind was filled with tender thoughts: “Oh, how beautiful she is when she raises her eyes to me... And her hair is backlit by the sun...”
He stood in front of her while she prepared herself to listen to his accusations and scolding.
/> Ataq: -You know that it’s too early to have the herd in this area because...
Saule: -...Because we herded them here three days ago and the grass has not yet had time to grow back.
He: - And so what are you looking at?
She: - Uh...
He: - Are you sick? You’ve been behaving very strangely these days.
She: -Yes, I’m sick... I mean, I’m bored: Every day is the same.
He: - You’re starting to avoid me quite often. Have I offended you?
She: - Yes, I’m offended. We’ve spent so much time living under the same roof, and you don’t pay any attention to me.
He: - Why should I pay attention to you?
She: - Before, somehow, you took care of me, trying to stay close. What if wolves try to eat me? And there’s not enough time for you to come running?
He: - What is this nonsense? Who said that I am watching you at all? Apparently spring is affecting you...
She: - Here you have a hunting eagle and I don’t. If I could just be allowed to go hunting with it.
He: - Each hunter must tame his own golden eagle and teach it to hunt. If you really want to, we can go tomorrow to those high mountains where there is a nest of chicks. But it will be very difficult to get one...
The girl didn’t need to listen any further, because she knew everything about Qazaq customs from the novel she had just finished reading. She was just diverting his attention so he wouldn’t see the book.
She looked him in the eye but she wasn’t really listening; she just heard him talking.
For her it was interesting to observe that he talked to her using a simplified vocabulary in contrast with her current vocabulary.
She mentally supplemented his talk with words she had learned about Qazaq traditional hunting.
She thought it was funny that he, like a child, ‘bought’ her pretending to be just a silly young foal. She struggled to keep a smile off her face.
The last words she heard were: “Well, tomorrow we’re going into the mountains. Don’t forget to bring all the things that I’ve listed!”
She had no idea what things he had listed. It didn’t matter, because she knew as well as anyone what things were needed for hunting.
“When he wakes up tomorrow morning, he will realize that it’s the 21st of March, the Nauryz holiday. He’s a fool; he doesn’t even remember it,” the girl thought.
She jumped on her horse with cries of laughter and rushed after the herd to call him back.
9. “Nauryz” — Qazaq wrestling
The next morning everything turned out as she had imagined.
Here were the three of them — in the midst of the celebration of the spring holiday. Ataq had no idea that Saule had planned a surprise.
The people who were gathering there were shepherds like themselves.
Several yurts were set up close together in a row and beside each of them was a qazan in which holiday food was prepared.
The scene in front of her reminded her of scenes from the novel Abai. The most unusual thing that grabbed Saule’s attention was the ‘Alty Bakan’ — a kind of national swing.
The sight of a jigit and a girl rocking together on this swing was very romantic.
Saule walked toward the Alty Bakan area. From here she continued to watch people go out of one yurt and into another. Everyone was in a fine mood. The girl’s eyes searched for Ataq among the groups of people.
Suddenly she noticed a large crowd; some were holding dombras and others had musical instruments unfamiliar to her. Saule hurried towards the caravan in which they had arrived... She didn’t want to miss the music contest, which was crowded with people.
Ataq was watching the men’s wrestling competitions that were being held in the yurts. Standing with the fans, he watched the men compete, wrestling to win various prizes.
He himself wanted to wrestle and win a prize, but he was waiting for Saule to appear. She hadn’t shown up yet.
The referee called for a jigit who was ready to come to the carpet to compete with the winner for the grand prize of today’s tournament — a horse. With his right hand he raised the hand of the three-time winner who, according to the rules of the game, would take the trophy with his fourth victory on the mat. But if his attempt failed, then the wrestler who defeated this three-time champion would get the horse.
Ataq thought it was a shame that Saule wouldn’t see this match, but he couldn’t wait any longer, and so he confidently went over to the carpet.
This pumped-up wrestler who was proudly bouncing around and showing his ‘game’ with muscles was annoying Ataq. He was making noises like a squealing wild boar.
At the judge’s signal, Ataq calmly approached his opponent and suddenly out of the blue threw him down.
It became very quiet: The fans fell silent in surprise.
Usually Ataq liked to fight for a long time, gradually showing the opponent his own technical mistakes. But that wouldn’t do for this boastful winner, because a true jigit would never act like such a show-off. An embarrassing loss would have to serve as punishment.
10. Singing Saule
A familiar voice came from somewhere, breaking the silence and sounding unusually beautiful.
Ataq recognized Saule’s voice as she sang a popular Qazaq song. The words of this melodious song could be clearly heard — it was obvious that she was singing into a microphone.
For a while he stood frozen, listening to her soothing voice...
Instantly there was a flurry of applause. The wrestling fans woke up and began to congratulate the champion of today’s final competition.
But the only thing the champion wanted now was just to listen to that wonderful voice! Barely escaping from the crowd, Ataq ran to the stage.
The audience was listening silently to Saule singing: A few of them nodded to each other, discussing the vocals of this unknown performer.
Saule was the only European among those present, singing in an amazing voice to the accompaniment of a dombra.
She played the dombra badly, but it didn’t spoil the melody. Everything sounded exactly as it was intended by the composer.
The people around Ataq were wondering who she was, but no one knew anything about her. They nodded their heads, admiring her voice.
Ataq had wanted to show off his protégé, but now he only wanted to listen to her sweet voice and hang onto each note of the song.
He didn’t hear anything else. When a guy ran up to him with questions, he didn’t receive any answer from Ataq. Not understanding what he was saying, Ataq only shook his head to get rid of him as quickly as possible. This was the first time that the runner had met a Qazaq who refused a horse.
Ataq made his way through the crowd and stood right in front of the stage. He wanted Saule to see him, so that their eyes would meet at some point...
“Oh, if only she could see her eyes now... their unearthly beauty, blinking in time to the music,” Ataq reflected.
But the girl’s eyes were directed towards the high mountains: they rolled upwards as if she were in a trance, and then she squinted, looking into the distance.
Ataq was struck dumb and the only part of his body that he could move was his eyes.
When he lowered his gaze to her hands, he spotted the dombra in them. His heart ached, and a pain ran throughout his body — he saw that it was his dombra.
There was a lump in his throat, breathing became difficult, and he felt something warm and wet running down his cheeks...
He listened in tears to the last notes of the song...
There was a terrible roaring in his ears and through his tears he could see that Saule was bowing to the audience...
Only after he wiped them away with his sleeve did he begin to hear the applause of the audience. People rose from their seats and clapped loudly for the girl.
His heart was filled with pride for Saule. It seemed to him that this song only sounded beautiful when she performed it.
While all th
e attention of the audience was focused on Saule, Ataq decided to pour out his heart.
The applause diminished. Amazed people climbed onto the stage to shake hands with this strange girl.
Seizing the moment, Ataq walked with long strides towards the horse stalls. On the way, he gathered his thoughts.
Jumping on his horse, he saw that Saule was surrounded by the crowd. He knew that she would now be given scarves, a souvenir whip, and a dress.
Ataq felt in his heart that only his gift would be dear to her and what she desired.
He really wanted to give her something extraordinary and he remembered that some especially beautiful large yellow tulips grew not far from here. He recalled that Saule loved to decorate her horse with a small bunch of red tulips. These flowers would be the best gift in all the confusion!
Without hesitating, Ataq struck his horse several times with the whip and raced off for the gift.
11. “Qyz quu” — Without Ataq
The song contest was finished. After giving all her presents to Aina Apa, a sad Saule was sitting on her horse, watching the children play.
She deliberately moved away from the crowd that kept on praising her and asking her endless questions. She told herself that their opinions didn’t matter to her.
Now she needed the opinion of only one person, for whose sake she had spent so many days preparing this exciting surprise.
How much effort it had cost her to persuade their visiting customers to help her to repair a dombra that couldn’t be played! And it seemed to her that he didn’t even hear her singing and playing his own dombra. He also didn’t see the general admiration of the crowd as she sang the complicated “Song of Abai.” A dark resentment lingered inside her, although she was bothered by doubts...
“He’s a sick man. Anyway, where is he now? I don’t even see him at the stables. So, he didn’t like this holiday, and in my mind I painted this day in bright colors, like a fool,” Saule reproached herself, tightly clutching her whip.