Your fame has spread far; sixteen tribes have joined you and unanimously put forward their will to elect you Khan of the whole Mongolian community. You! It seems the time has come when we will realise the dream of our father Yesugei to bring together our people, divided according to the principle ‘each tribe has its own leader’, and to create a fully-fledged state with a single ruler. TEMUJIN: Yes, I see it, Jamukha, you who started all this from the ground up. And then everything moved, thanks to the Creator, who I must thank first and foremost, then to the Khan of the Kerey tribe, Toghrul, who became my father, and then to your courage, for you are my only friend. JAMUKHA: Yes, yes, once we were children too, and in the name of our friendship, I gave you the asyk (knee bone) of a gazelle, a titev and a bow made from the horns of the mountain argali, all fastened together. TEMUJIN: I also gave you my asyk bat and an arrow with a juniper tip. You know, we were inseparable. We lay in the same bed and covered ourselves with a single blanket. JAMUKHA: To strengthen our friendship, I presented you with a golden belt, which I inherited in the last war as a trophy from the Merkit warrior, Ubas, as well as his grey horse with a tied forelock. TEMUJIN: And I give you a belt with gold trim, taken from the leader of the Merkits, Toktabek, as well as his fiery chestnut horse. JAMUKHA: To fully consolidate our friendship, let’s embrace one more time, now as adults. They hug, lightly hitting each other on the chest (a sign of friendship). TEMUJIN: Jamukha, do you think that over there in the birch grove there might be a shack? JAMUKHA: Where? Ah, yes, yes. This is probably a fisherman’s hut. I’ll go and find out who they are. Jamukha cautiously approaches a hut made of dried branches, covered from above with straw and dead grass. He pushes back a door woven from grasses in the form of a lattice, and, looking inside, he fearfully freezes in front of a scene which raises his hair on end. A woman with dishevelled grey hair hugging a child no more than two-years-old is lying motionless on straw. TEMUJIN:  What is it, Jamukha, why are you

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