书城传记聆听史诗丛书-玛纳斯故事(英文版)
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第40章 Numerous Warriors Die...(9)

Constraining his mind not to wander from the task due to the sorrow, Manas shot to death the awful sharpshooter finally in terms of what the Khitan prince had told him. Manas succeeded in avenging the death of all his dead warriors.

The warrior named Serhaq called on other warriors to charge forward after the death of the sharpshooter. Meanwhile, they repeatedly chanted the slogan of “Manas! Manas!” in the battlefield.

Konurbai ran away on the meandering mountainous paths afterwards. He halted at the entrace to a valley, deciding to set up his musket right there. Unfortunately, the reckless Serhaq was killed by the vicious warmonger finally. The warmonger was in the act of cutting off the head of the dead warrior when another Kyrgyz hero called Serik showed up. Serik looked quite similar to the dead warrior. As a result, the warmonger thought by mistake that the dead warrior had revived. He was so scared that he ran back to the capital immediately. All his bully-boys also had no guts to continue fighting and fled away quickly.

Princess Kanikei did not sleep well almost every night after parting from Manas and his grand army. On one night, she heard someone knocking at the door violently. “Yes?” she replied with great caution while holding a dagger tightly in her hand. “It’s me. Please open the door,” a warrior called Kyrgolchial answered. “I am looking after Semetei. What’s going on with Manas?” the princess asked nervously.

Kyrgolchial could not help crying in a loud voice when he saw the anxious look on the princess’ face. Then, he told her about the death of numerous Kyrgyz warriors. The news that Manas sustained a serious wound flabbergasted her. She signed in despair and swiftly raised the dagger in order to commit

Legend of Manas

suicide. Fortunately, Kyrgolchial was nimble in action and snatched the dagger from the hand of the princess. Then he asked the princess to send the only son of Manas to the battlefield. “Manas is on the way back and longing to take a look at his son,” he explained. Having learned that Manas was about to return back, the princess came to her senses at once.

As a woman prudent in her words and deeds, the princess harbored the ability of foretelling the upcoming incidents. She knew for sure that a lot of people were coveting the throne of Manas. And she knew for sure that her most important duty was to protect the only son of Manas. Finally, the smart princess thought of a good idea after deliberation. She disguised a boy picked up by Zaretaz in the remote wilderness as her own son. Then she took the unnamed orphan to the barracks of her husband in the company of Kyrgolchial. She left her own son in the palace, asking Zaretaz to take care of him. In her opinion, Semetei would be hurt by the penetrating eyes of his father. But the orphan could avoid being hurt by Manas Khan. The good-natured Zaretaz consented to the requirement of the princess. This seemed to be the fate of Allah. The unnamed orphan was taken to the barracks of Manas in disguise. As very few people had ever seen the two boys, it was possible for the princess to disguise the fact that the two boys had been changed.