TEMUJIN: We Mongols aren’t allowed to question the will of our parents. BORTE: You’re not the only ones; the Kazakhs are the same. TEMUJIN: Kazakhs? But aren’t you Khongirad? BORTE: Well, yes, I am Khongirad. Just like your people, our people consist of forty clans and tribes. If you include them all, then together they are called ‘Kazakhs’. TEMUJIN: This is the first time I’ve heard of this. BORTE: Really? You never heard that before? But have you not ridden in a big flat cart? TEMUJIN: I have travelled many times and been to many distant lands. BORTE: Well, this cart is called a ‘Kazakh carriage’. If we use Kazakh carriages, then why shouldn’t we be called Kazakhs? If it wasn’t for China, then where would Chinese teapots come from? When famous warriors of any clan-tribe are buried, they are taken to their grave on a Kazakh carriage. That is the name of the big cart standing behind our house. TEMUJIN: Yes, yes, I remember now. We’ve also travelled on such a cart, and more than once. But a carriage is just a carriage. There are Chinese carriages, Tatar, Mughal, and yet we don’t call them so. BORTE: The son of a warrior must possess not only courage and intelligence, but also erudition. Shooting down a bird flying in the sky with an arrow from a bow would be a show of your accuracy, and knowing which bird you shot down would be erudition. You are missing that very erudition. From now on, learn to evaluate your every action, every vision or event from the point of view of the mind. TEMUJIN: How old are you? BORTE: Twelve. TEMUJIN: And I’m eleven. Therefore, if you teach me some wisdom it’s because you’re one year older, that’s how you know so much. BORTE: No, it isn’t that, I think it’s because… well, sometimes my older brother would consult with me about things such as, ‘should I marry or should I not?’ He first introduced his betrothed bride not to our mother, but to me. TEMUJIN: And did they get married? BORTE: No. He kept going around, looking for a bride, and when he turned seventeen he was among the older bachelors. Tomorrow we’ll see him make another girlfriend his betrothed, though knowing him that will only be for a bit, I don’t doubt. Borte laughs
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