walked to a cabinet in order to take tea. Unfortunately, he opened a wrong
drawer simply because he was a new comer unfamiliar with the kitchen.
However, the cunning warlord rested his eyes on Kulchoro just at the
awkward moment. He snarled at his bodyguards abruptly while pointing his
fingers to Kulchoro: “Just as I said, Kulchoro disguised himself as my servant
and sneaked into my yurt already. How can my servant who always makes tea
for me not know where my tea is. Just try to catch him!”
A total of twelve blood-thirsty bully-boys closed in on Kulchoro in a flash.
However, the fearless hero skipped over the heads of all the tall bully-boys and
stood a stone’s throw from Konurbai.
“I won’t kill you today because I want to knock hell out of you in the
battlefield. But I will leave a mark to you today,” said Kulchoro. Almost at the
same time, the hero who was nimble in action raised his dagger and cut off
one ear of Konurbai.
The warlord used his hand to press the cut, trying to staunch the flow of
blood. “Kill him! Kill him!” the injured warlord yelled in terror. All at once,
hundreds of guards holding sprears made at Kulchoro.
However, the daring hero did not frighten at all. He killed several bully-
boys with strong build. Suddenly, the sight of a dim light dangling from the
ceiling of the yurt suggested a good idea of getting away. The smart hero
used his dagger to smash the light and then repeatedly yelled out in Qalmaq
language: “Catch the murderer! Catch the murderer!” All the Qalmaq soldiers
were confused at that time so the hero got away from the yurt easily.
In addition, Kulchoro injured the trunks of several elephants on purpose with
his dagger. The elephants hurt so much that they kept running and jumping all
in a fluster. They trampled on the ground, making the ground tremble violently
as an earthquake did. The force of trembling caused the roof of the specially-
constructed headquarters to cave in.
Kulchoro’s harassing and wrecking activity ended up with a huge flame
which engulfed the whole enemy barracks. Almost all the tents of Qalmaq
Legend of Manas
servicemen were set ablaze by him before he got back to his own barracks at
daybreak.
The injured warlord was enraged by such an unexpected setback so much
that he almost went crazy. In order to slake his wrath, Konurbai ordered to
execute his sixty guards in a frenzy of hate. “All of you are good for nothing.
Kulchoro caused a great loss to us last night. So you have to die right now.
In order to wash away you guys’ sin and wipe out the humiliation, all of us
should be merciless. We should spare no effort in assaulting the castle on all
sides. We should exterminate the the whole Kyrgyz Nationality, kill Kulchoro
and capture Semetei alive,” the warlord who already lost his senses snapped at
his lackeys in a loud voice.
All the warmonger’s followers were stupefied at his invective. They knew
that Kyrgyz people were unconquerable. And they feared that their days
would be numbered if the overbearing and cruel man was still at the helm of
the troops.
Neskara Khan, an intrepid but impertinent guy, stood up and yelled at
others in hatred: “Konurbai Khan sustained the injury. So I’ll take over the
slot left open by him today. Let me direct our troops to attack the castle today!
Don’t hesitate any more, buddies. Let us suck the blood of all Kyrgyz people
dry! Let us level their ranches and loot all their livestock!”
As soon as Neskara announced the order of attack, Qalmaq soldiers
charged towards the towering wall of the the castle constructed by Manas.
Chanting the slogan of “Catch Semetei alive! Catch Aichurek alive,” they
charged forward in formidable array. They struck the city wall and city gate
violently with their hammers and axes. However, the solidly-built castle was so
substantial that Qalmaq people could not damage the wall at all.
The deafening sound of striking the city wall irritated Semetei. He ordered
his soldiers to fight back. The Kyrgyz soldiers mounted the city wall, shooting
arrows or flinging stones at invaders. A large number of Qalmaq invaders lost
their lives. What was worse, a huge cannonball fired by Qalmaq people could
not hit the city wall. Instead, it fell into the crowd of Qalmaq soldiers. It burst
with a big bang, blowing off the heads and legs of as many as 6,000 Qalmaq
soldiers in a flash.
Qalmaq invaders’ attack continued for the next ten days. The intense fighting
left a number of Qalmaq soldiers dead before the city wall. At the same time,
Legend of Manas
a range of surprise raids staged by Kulchoro and Kenchoro also claimed a large number of enemy troops.
The successive fights exhausted Kulchoro and his comrades-in-arms. In order to take a break for several days, Kulchoro was determined to create a big freeze by performing spells. Under the influence of his prayers, the theurgy came into operation all at once. The sky was covered with dark clouds and a gust of violent wind began to rage. Finally, snowflakes fell down heavily all night long, triggering a thick blanket of snow covering the ground. On next morning, it was a clear day and the sunlight shone over the Kyrgyz barracks. On the contrary, the thick ice and snow blocked the door of the Qalmaq barracks and the dark clouds blotted out the radience of the sun. In order to keep out the cold, the Qalmaq soldiers had no choice but to get into the bed for warmth.
