AISHAN: Tied up, you say? Then fight those who tied her up. Why on Earth did you have to mow down civilians? TEMUJIN: They are our old enemies, the Merkits. AISHAN: They are Merkits, but they are also children of men. For the sake of Borte alone, you covered all these people in blood – every wagon, every girl, every yurt, even the hags. (To Borte) This five-month-old child became an orphan because of you, and therefore I entrust him to you. I found him there, sucking on the breast of a dead mother. You will also be a mother. What would it be like if your child got into such a situation? Aishan makes to hand the baby to Borte, but at the last moment she takes it back. No! Forget it! Bloody hands cannot touch this angel. I will raise it myself. She leaves, hugging the child. Don’t cry, my child, don’t cry, I’ll breastfeed now. You hurry up and suckle on breasts, If you don’t want to drink milk to your heart’s content, Then I’ll treat you to bone marrow. Having wrapped you up, I will put you in a cradle. Don’t cry, my child, don’t cry… As the woman takes off, Borte sways from weakness, falls on her haunches and lets out her bottled up tears. BORTE: An orphaned baby, a soldier’s widow, corpses are lying everywhere. The steppe smells of blood, and all this falls on me. What unbearable cruelty, Temujin. TEMUJIN: Do not grieve, Borte. To unite a thousand people, sometimes a hundred must be sacrificed. For those who agree, I take them in arms, for those who disagree I take their cattle, for their obstinacy, I take their souls, and as for the aggressive, I take everything. There is absolutely no pity in war, Borte. You will see for yourself that very soon the scattered Mongols will unite as a single people, and then all this will be behind us. Tell me, how many countless battles have thundered on this steppe to this day? Does anyone remember them and burst into tears? Get up. If you grieve for every female or child’s expression of grief, then like a bone that has fallen into a fire, you will turn to black ash and crumble. BORTE: Temujin! (Rises from the spot) TEMUJIN: Yes, do you want to say something? BORTE: Didn’t you
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