People began talking
About the man, Kojojash
That he no longer rode [his horse],
And donned his Ak Barang as before
And left home [for hunting.]
“It’s been a year since she came," they said,
“She has been here for a year," they said.
"We used to enjoy eating his meat,
Now she doesn’t let him go,
She must be an evil bride,
For she made him obey her.”
His people said these rumors.
Kojojash didn’t go anywhere,
In a big örgöo erected for them,
The young couple melted into each other,
Inseparable, they played and laughed.
Kojojash had completely forgotten
About his gun with which he used to shoot.
He used to feed with meat
The clan of twenty families.
Since the bride Zulayka had arrived,
She had kept Kojojash at home
By not letting him go anywhere.
These two just didn’t know
What people were saying [about them].
Thus, he had forgotten about his gun
Since the beautiful Zulayka had come.
In that autumn of the year,
One day Kojojash in his sleep,
Woke up from being scared,
For he saw an unusual dream.
He hadn’t seen this dream just once,
He had seen it three times in a row.
This wasn’t just a false dream,
He began worrying about it.
At the third night when he dreamt,
Next morning he decided
To tell the people about his dream.
When he woke up in the morning,
While washing his face,
He pondered: “Should I tell it or not
To someone, to an aksakal?
Or, should I tell it
To all my Kïtay relatives?
Maybe I should first," he thought,
"Tell her and have her interpret it,
To my life companion Zulay,
Who sleeps together with me
On a white silk quilt and feather pillow,
Who holds her gold-like head strong,
And keeps her vow and tells her heart’s secrets.
Even though Zulayka is a woman,
She is an intelligent person,
She knows about everything,
For she possesses many skills.
She might feel hurt,” he thought,
"If I went first to my relatives.
I'll tell my dream to Zulayka."
I will thus pay off, he thought,
The obligations of his marriage.
When she put away her bed,
When just the two of them stood
With no one around them,
Kojojash began [telling] his dream:
“If [God] sends death at an old age,
This noble head will see a lot.
I saw a dream in my sleep last night,
If you don’t interpret my dream,
My restless heart won’t calm down.
I saw a dream in my sleep,
I experienced a hardship in my dream.
I took the Barang into my hands,
I came across all kinds of things.
I saw the brightest of the moon,
My heart was lifted, and therefore,
I’m afraid of the dream I dreamt.
The dream turned into a nightmare,
Be honest and interpret it,
Politeness won’t help me.
My relatives benefit from me,
A good wife to her husband
Is a compassionate soul mate,
I’ll tell you my dream from last night,
Zulayka, the beautiful, interpret it for me!
If the dream has something
That signifies a bad omen,
Don’t hide, don’t hesitate to tell me.
If it signifies my death,
Just tell me that I’ll die.
Tell me that my noble soul
Will experience suffering.
Even if you’re a woman, Zulayka,
You’re, indeed, a wise person.
Let me tell you everything,
When death comes to take me,
You can’t save my soul from it.
You’re my eternal wife, therefore,
I’ll express my 'lament' to you.
If I start telling the last night’s dream,
Zulayka, don’t shy away, but interpret it,
Don’t change bad things into good,
Just leave the lies behind.
I woke up being scared,
I put my elbows on a pillow,
And lay thinking for some time.
It’s been a year since you came,
I didn’t take Ak Barang in my hands,
And not even for one day
I went out to the mountains.
I’ll tell the content of my dream,
I’ll tell you the full story.
I tied the beldik around my waist,
The wide leather küzö
I tied around my waist tight,
I tightly wrapped on my feet
The leather “boots” çarïk.
For the clan of twenty yurts,
I have been the hunter,
Who fed them kayberen’s meat.
My mother’s name is Biykech,
I’m their only child and son,
Of my poor father Karïp.
I prepared everything what I needed,
I filled the box with bullets,
The rest I put in çanaç[1],
And tied onto my kanjïga[2].
Now I am getting there, Zulayka,
To my dream from last night.
I grew up in the mountains,
Instead of coming to my camp,
I prepared my horse, which has
Golden hoofs and copper wrists.
I put on his bridle and brought him,
I took everything what I needed,
To take with me from home.
I took a lot of food with me
Thinking that I would be gone for many days.
I put on a golden saddle with a colored head,
I took a kömkörö[3] saddle and a dobulbas[4],
I took the hard saddle with all the harness,
I loosened the kömöldürük,
Shortened the kuyushkan,
Tightened the two olongs,
Ak Barang with its six carvings,
Shined on my white shoulder.
I mounted my horse,
Who doesn’t slip on rocks,
And doesn’t slip on ice,
And set out towards Ala-Too.
I rode from valley from valley,
But couldn’t find deer there,
I rode from hills to hills,
But couldn’t find deer there.
From evening till early morning,
My luck had flown away, I thought,
My spirit had been lost, I thought,
If I can’t find anything till evening,
I’m not a hunter, I thought.
Where have the eçkis and tekes[5]
Ran away? I asked myself,
To the range of white Song-Köl,
I went riding my horse fast,
After failing to find deer there,
At the foothills of Ak-Toskok,
On the top of the Kök-Toskok,
There were thirty kids and forty çebiç[6],
I saw them grazing there.
I grinned expanding my moustache with joy,
And hid myself in an sheltered area.
I quickly got off the horse,
With the leather çider[7] on my waist,
I tied the horse’s two front legs.
I loaded the gun with lots of powder,
And pushed the powder in with a ramrod.
All the goats that were seen,
I massacred not sparing one.
Upon killing all of them,
On the top of cliffs and rocks,
Maybe there are more, I thought,
So, I stood looking for them.
In my last night’s dream,
I carried out this kind of thing.
When it came to the end,
On the side of a shiny high cliff,
Where no man can ever reach,
Where its top is near the sky,
I was standing alone there,
Unable to get down,
Nor to climb up to the top.
I was scared in my dream,
There was not even one crow which made the sound “kuk”
On the naked wilderness
I stood uttering a prayer.
I didn’t find near me
My relatives from the Kïtay clan,
This is my last night’s dream,
I carried out such a deed.
I’ve told you everything,
Zulayka, now explain it to me!"
Thus, after Kojojash told his dream to her, Zulayka agreed to
interpret it. However, Zulayka was against Kojojash’s hunting
profession. This time, she predicted Kojojash’s death and
interpreted his dream in this way.