DAI SETSEN: Since the news that your kindred, Targudai, burning with envy wants to destroy Temujin has touched my ear, I, having lost sleep and cannot be free from these sorrowful thoughts. Seeing you with my own eyes, I was delighted like a child. (To Satin) Prepare Borte for the honourable departure. I will dispatch twenty soldiers to accompany her halfway on your journey. A group of matchmakers represented by Hoelun, Temujin, Hasar, Belgutei and Jamukha are eagerly awaiting Borte, who is being dressed with special attention in the house. BELGUTEI: Eh, Kazakhs, they have no sympathy even for matchmakers. How long have we been stuck here as if frozen in our ranks? How much longer do we have to hang around for? AISHAN: What kind of child is this complaining about being on their feet? Ah, if it isn’t Belgutei, Temujin’s younger brother. As long as you wait to see such a beauty as Borte, then you should not be grumbling about staying on your feet until the evening. HASAR: Our calculation is simple: the road is long, so it would be better to go whilst it is still bright. Besides, we can’t wait to see the face of the future daughter-in-law; and your son-in-law, Temujin will definitely run out of patience if he does not see his bride after nine years of separation. AISHAN: Then prepare your gifts for the bride. Do Mongols know what a bride is? Do they have such a rite? HOELUN Sometimes there is, sometimes not. It all depends on the person. AISHAN: Oh, apai (older sister, refers to an older woman that is close with the person, even if not directly related by blood), you are not a Mongol, you’re a Kazakh. HOELUN: Do girls really live with such a concept as a nation? For whom she marries, she is akin. AISHAN: Well, yes, a Kazakh girl marries a Mongol and becomes Mongolian, and a zhigite marries a Mongolian and also goes to the Mongols. Hush now, please; Borte is coming to us! HOELUN: Hasar, Belgutei, Jamukha, prepare your own shashu (ritual showering of the bride with gifts – coins, jewellery, etc.) Here is Borte, Borte is coming! From the girl’s circle, Borte comes out, ‘like a bird of paradise, shining like a falcon, smart and clean.’ According to the tradition of
Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241