UIGHUR FOLKLORE and LEGENDS - 59 tales and children's stories collected from the expanses of Central Asia

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The Mangqys and Tutuqash

told by ANJANG SANYSHKAP

There was an old woman. The old woman had a son. The name of her son was Tutuqash. One day, a mangqys¹ came to eat the boy. His mother had locked the door and had gone to tend the sheep. When she had gone, the mangqys arrived.

Tutuqash, Tutuqash, open the door! thus she said.

You are not my mother! My mother has a light voice, you have a husky voice. You are not my mother!

The mangqys opened the door and entered. Tutuqash had overturned the cauldron and had hidden under the cauldron. The mangqys looked for him. She looked for him and found him under the cauldron. She devoured Tutuqash.

His mother came back from the sheep.

Tutuqash, Tutuqash, open the door! Open it! she said. He did not utter a word. Again she said:

"Tutuqash, Tutuqash, open the door!

Down the steppe I ran, I brought steppe grass!

Down the desert I ran, I brought steppe grass!

Open the door!"

He still did not utter a word. Then the old woman opened the door herself and entered. As she entered, the mangqys had devoured Tutuqash.

Then the old woman cried and cried, and she dug a hole. In the hole she kindled some dung, and on top of it she spread out a straw mat. The old woman went to invite the mangqys. The mangqys accepted the invitation. She made her sit on the seat of honour.

Ay, here with me are the head and feet of Tutuqash. Just you eat. Just you go sit down a little further, she said. Let me give you his head," she said. The mangqys ate his head.

Just you sit a little further again. Again she sat down a little further. Just sit down a little bit further on the blanket, she said. Again she moved over thither.

The mangqys fell into the fire hole. Then the mangqys burnt her body at the fire. She baked her feet at the fire. Then the mangqys rushed off.

Thus the old woman revenged Tutuqash.

The Sheep, the Lamb, the Wolf and the Hare

Once upon a time there lived an old Sheep in a low-lying valley of Tibet, and every year she, with her Lamb,* were in the habit of leaving the valley during the early months of summer, and going up on to the great northern plateau, where grass is plentiful, and where many Sheep and Goats graze throughout the summer.

One spring the Sheep, in accordance with her annual custom, set out for the north, and one day, as she was strolling sedately along the path, while her little Lamb skipped about beside her, she suddenly came face to face with a large, fierce-looking Wolf.

Good-morning, Aunty Sheep, said the Wolf; where are you going to?

Oh! Uncle Wolf, replied the trembling sheep, we are doing no harm; I am just taking my Lamb to graze on the rich grass of the great northern plateau.

Well, said the Wolf, "I am really very sorry for you;

but the fact is, I am hungry, and it will be necessary for me to eat both of you on the spot."

Please, please, Uncle Wolf, don't do that, replied the Sheep. Please don't eat us now; but if you will wait till the autumn, when we shall both be very much fatter than we are now, you can eat us with much more benefit to yourself on our return journey.

The Wolf thought this was a good idea.

Very well, Aunty Sheep, said he, that is a bargain. I will spare your lives now, but only on condition that you meet me at this very spot on your return journey from the north in the autumn.

So saying, he galloped off, and the Sheep and the Lamb continued on their way towards the north, and soon forgot all about their encounter with the Wolf.

All the summer they grazed about on the succulent grass of the great plateau, and when autumn was approaching both were as fat as fat good be, and the little Lamb had grown into a fine young Sheep.

When the time came for returning to the south, the Sheep remembered her bargain with the Wolf, and every day as they drew farther and farther south she grew more and more downhearted.

One day, as they were approaching the place were they had met the Wolf, it chanced that a Hare came hopping along the road towards them. The Hare stopped to say good-morning to the Sheep, and noticing that she was looking very sad, he said:

Good-morning, Sister Sheep, how is it that you, who are so fat and have so fine a Lamb, are looking so said this morning?

Oh! Brother Hare, replied the Sheep, mine is a very sad story. The fact is that last spring, as I and my Lamb were coming up this very road, we met an ugly-looking Wolf, who said he was going to eat us; but I begged him to spare our lives, explaining to him that we should both be much larger and fatter in the autumn, and that he would get much better value from us if he waited till then. The Wolf agreed to this, and said that we must meet him at the same spot in the autumn. We are now very near the appointed place, and I very much fear that in another day or two we shall both be killed by the Wolf.

So saying, the poor Sheep broke down altogether and burst into tears.

Dear me! dear me! replied the Hare; this is indeed a sad story; but cheer up, Sister Sheep, you may leave it to me, and I think I can answer for it that I know how to manage the Wolf.

So saying, the Hare made the following arrangements. He dressed himself up in his very best clothes, in a new robe of woollen cloth, with a long ear-ring in his left ear, and a fashionable hat on his head, and strapped a small saddle on to the back of the Sheep. He then prepared two bundles, which he slung across the Lamb, and tied them on with a rope. When these preparations were complete, he took a large sheet of paper in his hand, and, with a pen thrust behind his ear, he mounted upon the back of the Sheep, and the little procession started off down the path.

Soon after, they arrived at the place were they were to meet the Wolf, and sure enough there was the Wolf waiting for them at the appointed spot.

As soon as they came within earshot of where the

Wolf was standing the Hare called out in a sharp tone of authority:

Who are you, and what are you doing here?

I am the Wolf, was the reply; and I have come here to eat this Sheep and its Lamb, in accordance with a regular arrangement. Who may you be, pray?

I am Lomden, the Hare, that animal replied, and I have been deputed to India on a special mission by the Emperor of China. And, by the way, I have a commission to bring ten Wolf skins as a present to the King of India. What a fortunate thing it is that I should have met you here! Your skin will do for one, anyway.

So saying, the Hare produced his sheet of paper, and, taking his pen in his hand, he wrote down the figure 'I' very large.

The Wolf was so frightened on hearing this that he turned tail and fled away ignominiously; while the Sheep and the Lamb, after thanking the Hare heartily for his kind offices, continued their journey safely to their own home.

Siddhi Kür. Tale XXI.

In the past there lived in the north of India, in the country of Nepal, near a river called golden-coloured, an old man and his old wife who had no son and one daughter only. As the old ones were of age, they were thinking of finding a good son-in-law for their daughter and give their property in his hand. It so happened that a poor old couple had born a son, and they gave their daughter to the son of this couple. They made him their son-in-law and gave the poor old parents many presents after which they send them back.

After some time, the poor parents' son set off with his wife to visit his parents. As they could not find the parents, they went round from tribe to tribe, begging for alms.

At one such occasion, a king gathered all the poor and gave each whatever he wished, only the distribution of rice-liquor was restricted.

After the people had received the royal gifts and had dispersed, the husband said to his wife: If we will become rich in this world, we would have to pay taxes to the king, as we could not pasture the animals. But if we go round from tribe to tribe living on alms, what would we need to give? We beg from them what we need, and live from it. We don't have to fear for thieves and robbers. We would not have to worry of guarding our property and livestock. It is no small pleasure to obtain what we need from the people and live from it. Even when your parents die, our possessions could quickly come to an end, however much our future possessions would be. But to obtain what we need from the never-ceasing gifts of the people, that would be a living for us.

While they thus went round through several cities, able to live by begging for alms, it so happened that during their wanderings the wife bore a son.

The wife thought: My parents are rich; it is better that I return to them now. I will not be able to carry around the child on my back myself. It won't do to leave it behind, because its father could kill it. And because these wild tribes only give rice-liquor, I cannot bear to stay here.

And so the wife told her husband: What would we lose if we obtain a draught animal from my parents? We can continue begging for alms while the boy rides the animal.

The husband agreed. They travelled down the golden coloured river; but her parents had died. Not the least was left from their property, and so they set off again.

While they went round living from alms, they found a tuft of sheep wool on a cliff on top of a high mountain, that had got caught in an ant heap and was left thus.

The wife picked up the tuft and said: Let's gather these and make a piece of cloth from it.

They went down, and when they saw many tents, the wife again said: We will obtain a living by asking these people for barley and rice. When we get more cloth, we can buy a donkey and let our son ride on it. Wouldn't that be good? And if we buy a female donkey, if she bears a foal, we will have two donkeys.

That's true, said the husband, if we buy a female donkey, we will have two.

Then the son of these poor people cried: If a foal is born, I will ride on it and thus beg for alms.

You will break the foal's back, his mother said, and hit her child on the head with a stick. As a result, the child died.

After the parents of the wife, because their daughter and son-in-law did not return, had breathed there last and died, wolves and jackals had seized the countless sheep and devoured them, as there was nobody to take over their house and livestock; only a single lamb of them had remained.

This lamb had fled into a cave; during the day, it used to lie in its cave, and during the night, to get out of its cave to look for fodder.

One day a hare, whose upper lip was without slit, came to the opening of this cave. Upon noticing the tracks, he thought: Surely a creature must be living in this cave. Meanwhile the sheep had come out. Who are you? asked the hare.

Thereupon the lamb replied: I am the only sheep that remained of the countless sheep of a rich man.

Where did your master go then? the hare asked.

The lamb said: My master has died of heartfelt grieve because his children did not return. Since then, wolves and jackals have seized the countless sheep. Now only I have remained, and have stayed behind in this dark cave. From now on, oh hare, I will choose you as my protector.

When the sheep spoke so eloquently, the hare answered: How could you possibly remain here all alone? Let me bring you to a herd of sheep and rams.

The lamb replied: Oh dear, hare, if the wolves come, you will not be able to protect me.

Do not worry, replied the hare, I will get you thither.

During the night of the fifteenth, as the moon was rising, he set off together with the lamb. Along the way they found a weaver's shuttle. He called to the lamb to pick it up and ordered him to take it along. As they continued their way, they found a piece of yellow cloth; again he ordered the lamb to take it along. While walking again, he also made the lamb take along a piece of paper that was written upon.

Further along the way, they met with a wolf. Just as they caught sight of the wolf, the hare said: Bring me my throne and put it up; spread my red cloth over it, and hand me over the writing of the fifteenth of this month (the full moon) that is addressed to me.

The lamb put the hare on the throne and handed the writing over to him. After the hare had looked through the letter, he read: The highest order of the God Khormusta (Indra) to the chosen, honourable hare. Subject of the letter: I want to have brought the skins of a thousand of evil doing wolves.

And when the hare, after reading this out, pricked up his long ears and made a sign of pursuing the wolf, the latter immediately took flight without looking backwards.

Thereupon the hare took the lamb with him and brought it safely to a herd of sheep in Nepal.

The Wolf

told by ANJANG