A Qalmaq person flew into such an uncontrollable fury that he raised his fist and hit a Kyrgyz teen on the face violently. The teen fell to the ground instantly with his nose bleeding. Having seen what the Kyrgyz teen had suffered, Kokcho reacted in sheer outrage. He flung himself in front of the Qalmaq guy furiously, raising his knife to cut off that guy’s head in no time. What Kokcho did infuriated all the Qalmaq people right there immediately.
A Qalmaq person who looked like a Russian made at Kokcho with a long whip. The Qalmaq person named Kokchokoz tore the collar of Kokcho into pieces in a sense of outrage, heaping curses on him at the same time. Having seen that, Manas dashed towards the Qalmaq hooligan who kicked up an awful fuss about the sanguinary conflict in order to prevent his fellow from being hurt severely. Before the long whip hit the head of Kokcho, Manas knocked Kokchokoz down with his leg with great force. Kokchokoz was
Manas Drives Enemies off and Fellow Villagers Elect and Proclaim
31
the Teen as Khan of Their Clan
kicked onto the ground and rolled down the mountain like a sack full of waste. At that time, Dowduur and more than 200 subordinates of him started to hit the ceiling with yells of terror. They threw away their ropes, coming at Manas and Kokcho simultaneously. However the two warriors were perfectly composed in meeting the enemies head-on. Kokcho killed more than 90 enemies in succession while all the rest were struck down by Manas. Dowduur was scared of what had happened completely and inquired about the two heroes’ identities. “The game they played led to the scuffle. He is the chief culprit,” a Qalmaq person said in a coarse voice, who pointed to Manas with his index finger while lying on the ground due to the wounds.
Dowduur made impertinent remarks, hurling insults at Manas. Kokcho could understand all the languages spoken by the ethnic groups living in the east. He got angry over the insolent words of Dowduur. While interpreting the comments of Dowduur for Manas, Kokcho tried to whip the reviler. However, his whip missed the target and he was raised by Dowduur on top of his head. The careless hero was tossed to the green lawn far away just like what happened to a wretched and helpless dove. Enraged at such an insult, Manas lost his temper totally. He held the collar of Dowduur in a tight grip, seizing him by the throat. As a result, Dowduur could neither breathe nor yell. He kept kicking both of his own legs until he fell into a coma because of suffocation and drops of blood came down his nostrils.
When Manas turned around, those Qalmaq people knocked down by him stood up once again. They were fierce in launching a new counter-offensive against the thirty youngsters, clubs in hands. The shrill cries were given out all around. In spite of the dangers, Kokcho jumped on the enemies without hesitation. Meanwhile, Majik charged at the camel team of Qalmaq people, tying a total of fifteen people together with a long rope. As the most steadfast warrior, Manas killed more than fifty Qalmaq people in all. At last, such a bloody fight claimed almost all the people except Dowduur and Kokchokoz.
Kokchokoz was shocked by unrivaled bravery and vigor of Manas and Kokcho. He had not seen the fight of its kind for so many years. “Why are present-day Kyrgyz and Kazak people invincible? I have to retreat right now. Otherwise, I will lose my life,” he said to himself. After riding on his horse, he headed for Naryn in order to report the result of the fight to Alooke right there.
Legend of Manas
Dowduur felt that he would not like to accept the failure in the face of his dead companions. He could not figure out why the two youths killed so many companions of him. He would lose face if he was unable to devise a plan whereby he could take revenge on them. “Damn it! Do you have the guts to tell me your names? Let me avail myself of another opportunity to give you a lesson in the future,” he threatened them in such words.
“My name is Chon-Jindi. I have your friends kick the bucket. Do you think you have got it in you to beat me?” Manas said without showing a sense of cowardice.
Dowduur regarded such a name as unworthy of notice, saying that it didn’t make much difference to him whether he was famed or not. Dowduur shouted at him furiously, making at Manas quickly. Manas betrayed no fear in danger. He stretched out both of his hands and grasped Dowduur’s collar tightly. Then, he bound Dowduur with a piece of string, dragging him to the top of the mountain. Manas used his saber to cut off Dowduur’s head which was cast into the deep valley finally.
At that moment, Manas had already cut a fine figure by dint of his superb abilities. He summoned all the people around him, suggesting that they keep the secret. So Alooke would not know their whereabouts. He set Kokcho and the thirty teens to present all the camels and goods seized from the dead Qalmaq people to those Kyrgyz people living in Bukhara in exchange for gorgeous women. That is another spellbinding story on how Kokcho swapped camels for his sweetheart in Bukhara. After all the things were handled in a satisfactory fashion, they said goodbye to each other.
When Manas fought their enemies, Koshoi went on their hunting spree in the valley with the other eighty warriors. Koshoi safeguarded the city of Samarkand and no one dared to challenge him. In fact, he had dreamed about meeting with Manas, the son of Jakip, for a long time. He firmly believed that the heroes from all walks of life would get together in Samarkand someday as long as Balta still lived. He was intoxicated with the pleasure caused by the hunting spree all day long. The hero did not forget to wait for the arrival of Manas, though. When his eyes rested on the mountain top on one day, Koshoi saw a man riding a steed going like the wind afar. By instinct, he knew for sure that Manas was coming. Riding on the horse named Ak-kula, Manas was famous for his strong build although he was only nine years old. Majik