Read the Ural Batyr epic in Bashkir. The epic “Ural Batyr” and the Scythian genealogical legend
A long time ago, when there were no Ural Mountains yet, there lived an old man and an old woman. And they had a son named Ural. When Ural grew up and became a real hero, he began to take care of his parents - go hunting, get food. That's how they lived.
During the day, Ural killed birds and animals in the forest, and in the evening he brought the prey home and lit a fire. While the meat for dinner was being cooked in the cauldron, the batyr sat by the fire and cut out a pipe - kurai - from a dry stem. Then he brought the pipe to his lips and extracted wonderful sounds from it, similar either to the murmur of a stream or to a distant forest echo. A wondrous melody filled the air - and the birds in the forest fell silent, the leaves on the trees froze, the rivers stopped running. The native land was falling into sleep.
But one day the Urals went hunting and saw that the mighty trees began to dry out, the tall grasses turned yellow and drooped, and the fast rivers dried up. Even the air became so heavy that it was difficult to breathe. Everyone in the area was slowly dying - animals, birds, and people. No one could do anything against Death.
The Ural thought: how to continue to live? And he decided to fight Death and defeat it forever. He put a crust of bread, a handful of salt and his magic pipe in a canvas bag. He asked his father for a diamond sword, which struck lightning with each swing. Handing over the weapon, the father warned:
- No one on earth can resist this sword! But the trouble is - he is powerless before Death. Death can be destroyed by immersing it entirely in the spring of living water, which is located behind the dark forests, behind the wide fields, behind the rocky deserts. But you have no other choice.
The Ural set off. On the third day I found myself at the crossroads of three roads. There I met a gray-bearded old man.
“Grandfather,” Ural turned to the old man, “which way to go to the spring of living water?”
- Why do you need a spring?
- I want to defeat Death, but without living water this is impossible.
“I’ve been standing here for forty years, showing travelers the way to the spring for forty years,” the old man shook his head. “But no one has come back yet.”
- I still dare!
- Then I'll tell you what. You will walk along this road and you will see a herd. There will be only one white horse in the herd. Try to ride him, and he will serve you well.
Indeed, the Urals had not walked along the road even seven miles when he saw a herd in a field. Among the bay and black horses stood a tall horse - dazzlingly white as snow. He was so handsome that the warrior could not take his eyes off him. Ural crept up to the stallion and quickly jumped onto him. The horse became furious, struck with one hoof - the earth shook, struck with the other hoof - a column of dust rose. The horse reared up and threw the rider to the ground. “Proud horse caught! - Ural decided. “I’ll try to tame him not by force, but by affection.” 
Got it out canvas bag the crust, salted it heavily and handed it to the stallion - the horse gratefully accepted the bread and offered its mighty back to the hero. Ural sat down on the stallion and lightly pressed his heels on his sides. The horse rushed across wide fields, through rocky deserts, like a white blizzard.
And the Ural grabbed his mane so tightly that he couldn’t tear it off. In the end, the horse stopped in the middle of the dark deep forest and says:
- Ahead is a cave where a monster lives - a nine-headed deva. He guards the road to the spring. You, Ural, will have to fight him. Pluck three hairs from my mane. As soon as I am needed, they will fall, and I will immediately appear before you.
The hero pulled out three hairs from his mane - the horse took off under the clouds and disappeared into the dark thicket. Before the dust had time to settle from under the hooves, a shadow similar to ebony. The hero took a closer look - it was a beautiful girl walking, bent over, dragging a sack.
- Hello beauty! - Ural smiled. - What is your name? Where are you going, what are you carrying?
- My name is Karagash. A few days ago, a nine-headed deva kidnapped me and made me his slave. Now, for his amusement, I carry river pebbles to the cave from morning to night.
- Drop the bag, beauty, and show me where the monster lives!
“Dev lives behind that mountain where the sun rises,” Karagash waved her hand. - But don’t even think about approaching him. He will destroy you!
“You wait for me here,” said Ural. - I will leave you my pipe - kurai. If everything goes well with me, milk will drip from the kurai. And if I feel bad, blood will drip.
The hero said goodbye to the girl and went on his way.
When Ural finally approached the cave, he saw that a nine-headed deva was lying right in front of the cave, and human bones were lying around him.
“Hey, Dev,” the batyr shouted. - Get out of the way, I'm going to the living water.
But the monster didn’t even move. Ural shouted again. Then the dev with one breath pulled Ural to him. But Ural was not afraid and shouted to the deva:
- Shall we fight or fight?
“I don’t care,” the deva opened his mouth. - The death you want to die is the one you will die.
They climbed a high mountain and began to fight. The sun is already approaching noon, and they are all struggling. And so the dev tore Ural off the ground and threw him. The batyr went waist-deep into the ground. Dev pulled it out and threw it again. The batyr entered the ground up to his neck. Dev pulled Ural out again, and they continued to fight. And the day is already approaching evening.
And then the deva, already feeling the closeness of victory, relaxed for a moment. At that moment, the Urals threw the deva so that he entered the ground up to his waist. The batyr pulled out the dev and threw him again. Dev went into the ground up to his neck, and only nine of his heads remained sticking out.
Ural pulled Dev out again and this time threw him with such force that the Dev fell into the ground forever.
The next day, poor Karagash climbed the mountain to bury the heroic remains. But when she saw that the hero was alive, she cried with joy. And then she asked:
- Where did the dev go?
“And I put the deva under this mountain,” said Ural.
And suddenly clouds of smoke began to emerge from under the mountain. It was the defeated deva who was burning underground. Since that time, people have called this mountain Yangan-tau - Burning Mountain.
The Urals did not stay on Burning Mountain for long. Having pulled out three hairs, he set them on fire, and immediately a White horse. Having seated Karagash in front of him, the batyr rode on.
They drove through wide fields and deep gorges. Finally, the white horse stopped and said to the Urals:
- We are already close to the spring of living water. He is guarded by a twelve-headed deva. You'll have to fight him. Take three hairs from my mane. When you need me, fire them up and I’ll come right away.
Ural pulled out three hairs from his mane - the horse took off under the clouds and disappeared behind a rock.
The batyr ordered the girl to stay in place, occasionally look to see what would drip from the magic pipe kurai - blood or milk, and he himself went to the place where the twelve-headed deva lay.
And now a spring of living water flashed ahead, and one could hear healing water flowing from the rock, one drop of which could heal the sick and immortalize healthy person. But this water was guarded by a twelve-headed deva.
“Hey, Dev,” the batyr shouted. - Get out of the way, I came for living water!
Dev didn’t even raise an eyebrow at Ural’s voice. Batyr shouted again. Then the deva opened his eyes and with his breath began to attract the hero to himself. But the Urals were not afraid and issued a challenge:
- Shall we fight or fight?
“I don’t care,” Dev gaped. - The death you want to die is the one you will die.
“Okay,” said the hero and waved his diamond sword in front of Dev’s eyes. The deva almost went blind from the flashing lightning.
- I will finish you off with this sword! - Ural shouted and began to cut off Dev's heads - one after another, one after another.
Here, hearing the desperate roar of the elder deva, small devas began to run to his aid from all sides. As soon as the batyr dealt with them, a great variety of small evil spirits appeared. She leaned so heavily on Ural that blood dripped from the kurai that remained with Karagash.
Seeing the blood, the girl became worried. Without thinking twice, she put the pipe to her lips and began to play a melody that she had once heard in the cave of the nine-headed deva.
Hearing their native tune, the little evil spirits began to dance. The Urals took advantage of the respite and defeated this entire pack. And in the place where the pile of hacked devas remained, the high mountain Yaman-tau - the Bad Mountain - appeared. Until now, nothing grows on this mountain and there are no animals or birds.
Having finished with the evil spirits, the batyr went to the spring. Alas, there was not a drop of living water left in the spring - the devas drank it. No matter how much Ural sat in front of the dry spring, he did not wait for a single drop.
And yet the victory of the Urals over evil spirits bore fruit. The forests turned green, the birds began to sing in them, nature came to life, and smiles appeared on people’s faces. And Death began to come to these lands less often, because he was afraid of the hero’s sword.
And the Ural, having mounted Karagash in front of him on his faithful horse, rushed home. They got married and began to live in peace and love. And they had three sons - Idel, Yaik and Sakmar. And the people were grateful to the Urals for raising such glorious heroes.
But the Urals, completing one hundred and first year of life, did not have long to live. Death had been waiting for a long time for the hero to weaken. And now Ural lies on his deathbed. People gathered from all sides to say goodbye to their beloved hero.
Then one young man approached the Urals and handed him a horn of water:
- Our dear hero! On the day when you lay down on your bed, I went to the spring. It turned out that there was still some living water left there. I sat at the spring for seven days and collected its remains drop by drop. I ask you, drink this water and live forever for the joy of everyone.
Ural slowly rose, gratefully accepted the horn, sprinkled living water all around and said:
- Not me, but ours motherland let her be immortal. And may people live happily on this earth.
These steppe expanses and forests framing the steep slopes of the Ural Mountains have recently changed their ancient appearance. Oil rigs steel business card republics where more than 15 million tons of oil are currently produced per year. Oil is a symbol of Bashkir treasure. At modern ways production, oil no longer allows it to gush out of the ground so openly. But once upon a time, “black gold” itself came to the surface and in ancient Bashkir legends oil was called “the oil of the earth.”
Many thousands of years ago, this “oil of the earth” was formed from the spilled magical blood of a hero, whose name was Ural-batyr. But he gave his people more than just the opportunity to enjoy oil wealth. Thanks to the Urals, a whole beautiful world with all its mountains, meadows, rivers and underground treasures. But the main legacy of the epic hero is the rules of life for descendants, the secret of happiness for all people. What made Ural Batyr famous, that even the mountains bear his name? And what do we know now about this national hero?
In 1910, the teacher and collector of folk tales Mukhametsha Burangulov went on an expedition to the Itkul volost of the Orenburg province. Today this is the Baymaksky district of Bashkortostan. His attention was attracted by the ancient tales of the sesen poets, filled with the spirit of the mystical past and revealing the secrets of the creation of the world.
The Bashkirs have always had great respect for the sesen. These poets not only composed, but also memorized, performed, and passed on ancient tales from generation to generation. And the saesengs accompanied their performances with the abrupt sounds of ancient musical instrument dumbaras. In addition, it was believed that ancient tunes also had a healing effect on listeners, which, of course, only added to the general respect of saesengs.
The tales of the sesen impressed Burangulov so much that he thanked the poets by giving them his horse. He had to walk home, but what did that mean compared to the newfound treasure? It was not only about unique ethnographic material, but also about mysterious information, which took Burangulov more than 10 years to process. At the beginning of the 20s, a written version of the epic about the batyr first appeared, i.e. about the hero Ural and his glorious exploits.
In ancient, ancient times, there lived an old man and an old woman. And they had two sons. The eldest's name was Shulgen and the youngest's was Ural. When they grew up, the father saddled two lions and sent his sons to wander. He asked to find them living water, which will give immortality to man and nature, and destroy death itself. And the brothers left their father's house. Their journey was long. Along the way, dangers and temptations awaited the brothers. Shulgen could not stand all the tests, he betrayed good and went over to the side of evil. Shulgen became the main enemy of his younger brother and one of the main warriors dark forces. But the Urals remained faithful to the behests of their father.
Day and night, year after year, Ural Batyr performed his feats. He defeated the bloodthirsty king Katila, the king of the snakes Kahkahu and finally found living water. He fought with the evil divas and their leader Azraka and finally met his brother in battle. And all this so that people are happy, so that grief and death leave the earth forever.
It would seem that almost every nation has similar epics. But Ural Batyr clearly stands out from his fellow heroes. And the fact that his path is a search for absolute good and the fact that in today's Bashkiria the epic about his exploits is more than just a fairy tale.
In one of the battles, Ural killed the main evil diva Azraka. He cut off his head with a diamond sword and when the diva fell, it seemed that the whole world shook. His huge, terrible body cut the expanse of water in two. In that place a mountain rose. Big Yamantau is the very mountain that, according to legend, arose from dead body Azraki. This is the most high point Southern Bashkortostan. The name Big Yamantau means Big Bad or Evil Mountain. Among the local population she always enjoyed notoriety. It is believed that something strange is constantly happening in her area. The horses never returned from there. Previously, many ferocious bears lived there, and even now no one dares to predict the weather on the slopes of the mountain, and they even say that by climbing Yamantau you can bring disaster upon yourself.
In these places the Urals performed their last, most heroic feat. Entrance to the mysterious dark cave Shulgan-Tash. There are two underground lakes here - a round lake with stagnant water (aka Dead) and a blue lake (it is considered alive). It is fed by a river whose waters flow deep underground. This river is also called Shulgen. Why does the reserve, the caves, and the river still preserve the name of the older brother of the Urals?
When the Urals fought with Shulgen, he, in order to avoid complete defeat, along with his servants, evil divas and other evil spirits, dived into the local bottomless lake. Then Ural Batyr decided to drink all the water from the lake filled with snakes and demons. Ural drank water for a long time, but even he was unable to cope with this task. In addition, along with the water, the Urals swallowed evil divas. They tore his noble heart from the inside.
According to legend, the batyr also had living water and it could heal him and even give him immortality. But he didn’t keep a single drop for himself when he sprinkled it on nature and said that no one should live forever except her. So he revived the land depleted by evil, but he himself fell in the last battle with the enemies of humanity. But why didn’t legend make its hero immortal? Why did the Urals have to perish in the minds of the people?
The life and work of the Urals was continued by his descendants. The children tried to make people's lives even better. The warriors went on long journeys to look for the source of happiness. With their diamond swords they cut through the mountains and where they passed, they formed big rivers.
The ancestors of the Bashkirs settled on the banks of four rivers. Later, the rivers were named after the children of Ural Batyr and his nephew: Sakmar, Yaik (Ural), Nugush, Idel (Agidel). This is how the world in which the Bashkirs still live appeared. And all this thanks heroic deeds Ural Batyr.
But the epic itself and the image of the hero have posed many mysteries to researchers, around which there are heated debates. Here is just one of them: when exactly did the first stories about exploits appear? legendary hero?
One of the legends of the epic says that Shulgen, who went over to the side of evil, arranged global flood to destroy humanity. The Urals entered into battle with the evil divas subordinate to Shulgen. While he was fighting, people escaped the water by climbing high mountains.
And water covered the whole earth
The land disappeared under it forever
People made boats for themselves
Didn't die, didn't drown in the water
To the mountain rising from the waters
The saved people were chosen.
Isn't it a very familiar story? Of course, this is very similar to the biblical legend of Noah and his ark. And therefore, some researchers believe that the epic Ural Batyr and the Bible arose from a single source. They find parallels in the Bashkir epic with ancient Sumerian myths and claim that these myths are almost the same age. So, let's try to establish when the legends about the most glorious Ural Batyr arose.
Every resident of Ufa knows one of famous buildings made of glass and concrete. This is one of the most modern hippodromes. On weekends, serious sporting passions reign here, but now we are not interested in the breeds of horses and the results of races or bets, but in the name of the hippodrome. It's called Akbuzat. And this is not at all accidental.
Akbuzat is the winged horse of Ural Batyr and his true friend. According to legend, Akbuzat himself had to agree to leave with the batyr, and Ural had to prove his right to be a rider on a wonderful horse. When our hero got tired, his faithful horse carried him out of the battle. When the batyr gained strength, Akbuzat again rushed into battle with a whirlwind. He did not burn in fire and did not drown in water and blinded everyone with his beauty.
According to legend, all the horses that live on earth today are descendants of Akbuzat. They remember the order of the faithful horse Ural Batyr to always and at all times serve people faithfully and truly. But the life of the legendary horse itself was not easy. The evil brother of the Urals, Shulgen, managed to steal Akbuzat from the hero and hid him at the bottom of the same underground lake where he himself was hiding.
It would seem that this is completely fairy tale story. Well, what can be realistic in a story about a horse being imprisoned under water for many years? Of course, these are all legends and traditions, but...
At the end of the 50s of the last century, the Shulgen-tash cave presented scientists with a real sensation. From it appears the first version of the origin of the Ural Batyr.
Later, historian Vyacheslav Kotov, using modern technology, examined images in the famous cave that were not visible to the naked eye. He noticed that the focus of primitive artists was the horse. The researcher saw in this the trinity of the universe: the top horse in the picture with a trapezoid on its back is a winged horse - a symbol of the sky and the sun. In another composition, the hero and his horse are seen fighting the dark forces of the underworld.
Another interesting detail is that Ural Batyr and other heroes of the epic travel, from time to time, on a flying lion. This, of course, is also a mythical image, but where did the ancestors of the Bashkirs, who lived in the Volga region and Southern Urals, could they know about lions even if they don’t fly?
IN Bashkir folklore There are two proverbs directly related to the lion. They sound something like this: “If you sit astride a lion, then let your whip be a saber” and “If a lion goes hunting, then he will not return without prey.” But proverbs are not created out of nowhere.
Research by paleontologists indirectly proves that prehistoric cave lions, which were much larger than their current descendants, could be found not only in Africa, but also in Europe, the Urals and even Siberia. In addition, they could jump further and higher than modern lions. Maybe that’s why ancient people encountered these formidable creatures and came up with the myth of flying lions.
In the archives of Ufimsky scientific center The RAS houses the oldest copy of the epic manuscript. It was printed in the Bashkir language in Latin script about 100 years ago. But how exactly this written text arose is probably the most big mystery this whole story. The appearance of the written version of Ural Batyr is a real detective story.
By official version Ural Batyr was written down in 1910 by Mukhametsha Burangulov, but no one has ever seen its original handwritten recording. It is believed that she got lost during the searches of Burangulov. At Soviet power he was arrested several times as an enemy of the people.
Skeptics object - the records were not lost anywhere because they simply did not exist. And Mukhametsha Burangulov was the real author of the Ural Batyr. So, did he really just make up all the stories about the glorious exploits of the batyr and the image of the main character in general, and all his stories are just a stylization of the ancient Bashkir epic, which the ancestors of the Bashkirs simply did not have.
Journalist and public figure Karim Yaushev suggested that the Ural Batyr epic cannot be considered authentic folk work, but is literary composition writer Burangulov. Or he reworked together all the scattered tales of the southeastern Bashkirs. But why should Burangulov write a poem about the Ural Batyr? Perhaps it was a matter of personal creative ambitions, or perhaps political reasons. One version is that he did this on instructions from the Soviet leadership of Bashkiria, which sought to create new story Bashkir people. True, he later suffered for this same reason - he was declared a nationalist.
Ural Batyr was first published in the Bashkir language in 1968. And in Russian even later – seven years later. Since then, many editions and translations of the epic have been published, but disputes about it do not stop. In general, Ural Batyr is the only one epic heroes around which the spears break with such ferocity with which, probably, the hero himself fought with his enemies.
So did the Ural Batyr exist? There is little specific human information in the legends about him, and there are no ancient images of him. But perhaps his appearance is not so important, because the legend gives the Urals all positive qualities making his image and life path an example to follow. That is why the presentation of the entire epic from beginning to end was considered by the Bashkirs to be the most important part of the rite of passage. adult life.
Here is an example of respect for other people's lives and nobility even towards defeated enemies. One day, the evil and bloodthirsty king Katilla sent a gigantic bull against the Urals. But it was not there. No matter how the bull puffed and tried, no matter how he struggled, he didn’t try to free himself, he couldn’t find the strength, he sank knee-deep into the ground. But having defeated the bull, Ural Batyr took pity on him and left him alive. Since then, the bulls have crooked horns and hooves cracked into two halves and have not grown. front tooth. All this is the legacy of the lost battle of the distant ancestor Ural Batyr.
Of course, the circumstances of the fight with the bull and the size of the batyr’s horned opponent in the legends are truly mythological in nature. However, this is probably the most realistic of all the exploits of the Ural Batyr. Since ancient times, the strongest men from different nations they measured their strength with bulls and information about such battles is found not only in myths, but also in Roman historical chronicles. Perhaps a certain brave fighter was one of the prototypes of the heroic Urals, or this myth about fighting a giant bull came to the Bashkirs from other peoples. So, a third version of the origin of our hero appears.
The famous historian Tatishchev cites in his book that the northern Scythians had Uranus as their first sovereign. This suggests that there really was some kind of the most ancient state whose ruler was Uranus or, as we say today, Ural-Batyr. His deification took place, as a result of which he became one of the gods, first here in the Urals and then was transferred to Ancient Greece and as a result became the initial ancient Greek god.
However, perhaps this is too bold a version. It is not shared even by the majority of those scientists who believe that the legend of the Ural Batyr is a genuine epic of the Bashkir people. The prevailing opinion is that the glorious batyr is a purely mythical figure. This also distinguishes him from his colleagues from other legends, say, from the Russian hero Ilya Muromets. Although the Ural Batyr surpassed many in the number and scale of his feats famous heroes, because in fact he created the whole world.
When Ural died, having accomplished his last feat, people were overcome with grief. But then they decided to preserve his memory forever. The people buried Ural at the highest point with great respect. Each of the people brought a handful of earth to his grave. This is how a huge mountain grew. Over time, she shone like the sun - the body of the Urals turned into gold and gems, and blood into the oil of the earth - oil. Well, the mountains began to be called in his honor - the Urals.
For many centuries, in any school in the world, during geography lessons, children have learned that the border between Europe and Asia runs along the huge Ural ridge. So the name ancient hero becomes known to billions of inhabitants of our planet. These mighty peaks are an eternal monument to the exploits of the Ural Batyr, who forever gave the Bashkir land and people incredible beauty of nature, inexhaustible wealth of mineral resources and great history.
Source: Z.G.Aminev. The epic "Ural Batyr" and Scythian genealogical legend// Peoples of the Southern Urals and their neighbors in ancient times and the Middle Ages. Materials of the international scientific conference dedicated to the 75th anniversary of Professor N.A. Mazhitov. – Ufa: RIO BashGU, 2004. – 254 p. – P.219 – 223.
Note: Published with the permission of the author of the article on the historical and local history portal Urgaza.ru.
Basic information about the Scythians and their culture has reached us thanks to the works of ancient authors and, above all, the “father of history” Herodotus.
In the transmission of Herodotus (VI, 5-7) the actual Scythian genealogical legend about the origin of the Scythians has reached us: “The Scythians say that their people are younger than all others and originated as follows: in their land, which was a deserted desert, the first man was born, named Targitai; They call the parents of this Targitai, in my opinion incorrectly, Zeus and the daughter of the river Borysthenes. Targitai was of this origin, and he had three sons: Lipoksai, Arpoksai and the younger Kolaksai. During their presence, golden objects fell from the sky onto the Scythian land: a plow, a yoke, an ax and a bowl. The eldest of the brothers, the first to see these objects, came closer, wanting to take them, but as he approached, the gold ignited. After removing it, the second one came up, but the same thing happened with the gold. Thus, the gold, igniting, did not allow them to come to itself, but with the approach of the third brother, the youngest, the burning stopped, and he took the gold to himself. The older brothers, understanding the significance of the miracle, handed over the entire kingdom to the younger ones.”
The researchers suggested different interpretation of this legend. They established that the second part of their name comes from the Iranian word “khshay” - “to shine, to rule” (K. Mullenhof, Vs. F. Miller, V. I. Abaev). Continuing his research in the field of Scythology further, the world-famous Ossetian scientist V.I. Abaev managed to unravel the first parts of the names of the Scythian brothers. Thus, the name of Tartigai’s youngest son, Kolaksai, was explained by V.I. Abaev as “lord, ruler of the Sun.” He deciphered the name of the second brother Lipoksai as “ruler of the earth.” The name Arpoksai, according to V.I. Abaev, means “lord of the waters.”
Thus, the three brothers of the Scythian ethnographic legend turn out to be the personification of three cosmic spheres or vertical planes: the sun, the sky (Kolaksai), the earth-mountains (Lipoksai) and the water depths (Arpoksai). When studying the semantics of the names of the three Scythian brothers, V.I. Abaev used parallels from Indo-Iranian and Slavic mythologies. The idea of a three-part division of the cosmic sphere (vertically) is known to many peoples of the world and V.I. Abaev’s interpretation of the names of the three brothers, as a reflection of the Scythian worldview as a whole, was accepted by most researchers. Academician B.A. Rybakov, using materials from Russian, Ukrainian and Belarusian folklore, showed that a similar three-part “model of the world” was also characteristic of the culture of the ancient Slavs.
A comparison of the Bashkir epic “Ural Batyr” with the Scythian genealogical legend and the results of its deciphering, works by V.I. Abaev, show that Ural and his three sons: Yaik, Nugush and Idel in the epic “Ural Batyr” carry the same semantic load as and the Scythian Targitai and his three sons: Kolaksai, Lipoksai and Arpoksai.
The eldest son of the Urals, Yaik, was born from the daughter of Tsar Katil. The Ural Batyr, leaving his father’s house, in search of living water, and with the goal of finding and destroying Death, first enters the country of King Katil. All the data available in the epic characterizing this country shows that we're talking about about the otherworldly, chthonic world. Thus, the very name “Katil” is translated from Iranian as “killer”, i.e. the epic only indicates the function of this king, not his name. His daughter also has no name. This can be explained by the taboo nature of their names. After all, the Bashkirs, like many other ancient peoples, were afraid to name death, for fear of causing it. The symbol of his country is black - the color of mourning and the world of the dead. Bashkirs are still afterworld They call it “Karangi donya”, which translated into Russian means “black, dark country”. On the black banner of Katil there is a Raven, which in the mythology of many peoples of the world, including the Bashkirs, is also a symbol of the chthonic world. In the domain of Katil, the Ural batyr fights with an angry bull. The bull, in the mythological views of the Turkic and Iranian peoples, is a character of the chthonic world. Arriving in the country of Katila, the Urals there at the very beginning meet completely naked people, which also indicates that this is world of the dead. It is known that nudity is one of the markers of the chthonic world. The very name of the eldest son of the Urals “Yaik” is explained by Turkologists as: a flood, widely spilled, slowly flowing water, that is, even the name of this character is associated with water world. The water world, as is known, among the Turks and Iranians is associated with the otherworldly, chthonic world.
Thus, all of the above facts give us reason to believe that the eldest son of the Urals, Yaik, is the ruler of the lower, otherworldly world.
The hero of the Bashkir epic Ural, after marrying Yaik’s mother, continues his journey and ends up in the country of the white snake, where he marries Gulistan, who bore him a son, Nugush. The very name of the second wife of the Urals, “Gulistan,” translated into Russian means “land of flowers,” that is, she belongs to the world of beauty and is connected with life. Bashkirs very often compared their country Ural (Ural ile) to a flower garden and, waxing poetic, called it “Gulistan”. In the epic “Ural Batyr” there are lines from which it can be seen that Gulistan is the daughter of an earthly man:
Algyr tigan ir bulgan,
Algyr ҡart ҡordashynyn,
Togo ber yuldashynyn
Bulgan Gulistan.
As can be seen from these lines, this Algyr was an earthly man and, together with his comrades-in-arms, fought against dark, evil forces. Gulistan was the daughter of one of Algyr’s comrades. The symbol of the country where the Ural married Gulistan is White color. According to Bashkir beliefs, white means this, light, earthly world person. The Bashkirs still call the earthly world “yakty, ak donya.”
After marrying Gulistan, the Ural Batyr continued his journey in search of living water and ended up in the country where Khumay lived, who, as can be seen from the epic, is the daughter of the king of Heaven Samrau and the Sun. Thus, Khumay is a celestial being from both her father and mother. In the same country, the Urals became the owner of the heavenly horse Akbuzat. This horse belonged to the Sun and was presented to Humay.
Before marrying Khumay, the Ural climbs to the top of the world mountain (“Kot Tauy”). The top of this mountain is in heaven. The world mountain in the mythological views of the peoples of the world vertically connects the three spheres of the universe. So the third younger son Ural, Idel personifies the third, heavenly sphere of the universe and is the ruler of the sky.
Based on all the above facts, apparently, there is every reason to assert that Ural is a warrior through his three sons, born by women, belonging to the three spheres of space, marks the world vertically: underwater, underground (Yaik), earthly (Nugush) and heavenly (Idel).
We see women personifying the three spheres of the universe in the Ashvamedha ritual Vedic Aryans. In this rite of sacrifice of a white horse– The king's first wife was associated with the celestial sphere, the second with the middle world, and the third wife personified the lower, deep part of the earth. Apparently, ordering the world through marriage three times is a universal phenomenon.
Due to the established parallels between Bashkir epic and the Scythian genealogical legend, the question naturally arises: “do we have a typological connection here, or should we look for a genetic connection between the Bashkirs and Scythians?”
Apparently, answers to these questions can be provided by further research by historians, folklorists and other specialists in the field of both Scythology and Bashkir studies, and– Turkology and Iranian studies.
List of used literature :
1. Abaev V.I. “Children of the Sun” // Selected works. – Vladikavkaz, 1990. – pp. 279-281.
2. Ural Batyr // Bashkort Halyk Izhady. – Ufa, 1972 (in Bashkortostan).
3. Bashkir folk epic"Ural Batyr" – M., 1977.
4. Bongard-Levin G.M., Grantovsky E.A. From Scythia to India. – M.: Mysl, 1983, – p.84-86; They are: Scythians and Slavs: mythological parallels // Antiquities of the Slavs and Rus'. – M.: Nauka, 1988, pp. 110-119.
5. Herodotus. Story. – Leningrad, 1972.
6. Rybakov B.A. Herodotus Scythia. – M., 1979, p.233, 238; his: Paganism of the ancient Slavs. – M., 1981, p.434, 529.
"Ural Batyr" - folklore work of the Bashkir people, which carries the spirit of the history of this ethnic group, is an unforgettable symbol of the culture and customs of this ancient people. Like other epics, “Ural Batyr” tells to the modern reader about how individual peoples lived, what they believed in, what powers they worshiped, with whom they fought and were friends.
The meaning of the epic
“Ural Batyr” is a real storehouse of information about the long-forgotten past and passes it on to new and new generations of the Bashkir people. For for long years the epic existed exclusively in oral form. Only in 1910, the famous folklorist M. Burangulov was able to codify all the poems and legends into a single work.
The epic consists of three parts, which include 4576 poetic lines. "Ural Batyr" refers to the oldest genre folk poetry of Bashkiria kubair (a type of heroic tale).
The heroes of this epic are often found in other Bashkir folk tales “Alpamysha”, “Kongur-bug”, “Zayatulyak and Khyukhylu”. Later works were created that became a continuation of the legendary epic: “Babsak and Kusek”, “Akbuzat”.
The plot of the epic "Ural Batyr"
The plot basis of this epic is a description of the heroic struggle of the Ural Batyr for the well-being of other people. The main character's opponents are invaders from other lands, who are helped by evil otherworldly forces. The characters in the story are ordinary inhabitants of the earth who defend their right to happiness.
The plot includes mythical creatures- heavenly king Samrau and the spirits of nature. Each part of the epic describes the life of one of the three heroes, who are the children and grandchildren of the old man Yanbirde. The first part of the epic tells about the old man himself and his wife Yanbika.
By the evil will of fate, they are forced to live in deserted areas. An elderly married couple hunts wild animals, as this is the only way to get food for themselves. In a woman’s declining years, the heavenly king gives her two sons, Ural and Shulgen.
Old man Yanbirde told his children about the existence of the evil force Ulem, which destroys all life on earth. At the time of the conversation, a swan swam up to the people and said that there was an immortal spring of life on the planet, Yanshishma. The guys, impressed by the stories of their father and the swan, decide to find a life-giving spring, and thereby destroy Ulem.
However, during their journey, Shulgen goes over to the side of evil and in every possible way prevents his brother, Ural batyr, carry out his mission. Evil mythical creatures come to the aid of Shulgen and attack the Ural Batyr, but the courageous young man manages to defeat them.
According to Bashkir legends, from the bodies of killed enemies, the Ural Batyr created mountains ( Ural Mountains). At the end of the second part The Ural Batyr dies, but leaves behind worthy heirs of his children, who, like their father, become as courageous and brave.
The third part of the epic This is a legend about the settlement of the Bashkir people in the Ural lands. The children of the Ural batyr were able to continue their father’s work and found a source of prosperity, which allowed them to live happily in fertile lands at the foot of the mountains raised by their parent.
“Ural-Batyr” is the largest work of the Bashkir folk epic, created and enriched over the centuries, starting from the era of the decomposition of the primitive communal system and up toXIXcenturies..
Compositionally it consists of three parts, telling about the actions of three generations of heroes. First, it tells about the first people Yanbird and Yanbik, about the birth of their sons Ural and Shulgan. As the plot develops, there is a transition from archaic myth to a concrete historical understanding of reality. Ural and Shulgan leave home in search of immortality. Along the way, Ural Batyr destroys the cruel conquering khan Katil and the kingdom of the king of snakes Kahkakha; kills Azraku - the king of the Underground and Underwater Kingdom; fights with brother Shulgan, who has gone over to the side of Evil; sprinkles the land of the Bashkirs with living water and thus brings immortality to it. The third part of the epic tells about the birth of the sons of Ural and Shulgan, who continue the work of the Urals - they fight with divas, extract living water. The events in the epic end with the destruction of the Urals. After his death, the body of the batyr turns into Mount Uraltau, symbolizing the homeland of the Bashkirs.
The unfading universal significance of the Kubair "Ural-Batyr" and greatest wisdom its creators lies in the idea that human immortality does not lie in endless longevity, but in his good deeds for the benefit of the whole world, the whole people.
Ural-batyr
About how old man Yanbirde and old woman Yanbika lived; about how their eldest son Shulgen could not restrain himselffather's orders, did not heed his mother's words; like the king's daughterSamrau named Khumay was captured by them
In ancient times, long ago
There was, they say, one place
Where no one has gone before
(And in the whole world no one
I didn’t know, I didn’t know about that dry land).
Surrounded on four sides
This place is sea water.
Since time immemorial she has lived
There's a family there:
An old man named Yanbirde
With Yanbiko, his old woman.
Wherever they want to go,
There were no obstacles in their way.
How did they end up on earth,
Where is their mother, their father, where is their native land,
They say they forgot themselves.
So or not, off to the sea side
They planted the seed of life [...]
Two children were born to them,
Two sons are daring.
They called the eldest Shulgen,
They named the younger one Ural.
So the four of them lived,
Not seeing people, in a remote place.
They had no livestock of their own,
Didn't acquire good things
They didn't even hang up the boiler
Over a blazing fire;
Didn't know what diseases were
Death was unknown to them;
They thought: for everyone in the world
They themselves are death.
No horses were saddled for hunting,
They didn’t yet know the bow and arrows,
Tamed and held
Lev Arslan to carry them,
A falcon to beat the birds,
A leech to suck the blood of animals,
Pike so that there are enough fish for them [...]
Well, black swamp leeches
Animals were stabbed into herbivores,
So that from the strained blood
Make your own drink.
To your young children,
That they didn’t hunt for a living,
Drink blood, eat head or heart
It was strictly forbidden [...]
And then one fine day
An old man with his old woman
The two of us went hunting
Leaving the home to his sons [...]
Shulgen didn’t think for a long time,
At least he knew about his father’s prohibition:
Don't joke with that sink
Never drink from it,
Still, he began to persuade his brother,
He incited him in every possible way [...]
“Even if that blood is very sweet
I won't take a sip
Until I grow up as an egg,
Until I find out the reason for the ban,
Until I walk across this world
And I’m not sure what in the world
There is no more trace of Death,
I won’t hit anyone with Sukmar,
I will not kill any creature,
Blood sucked by a leech
I won’t drink - that’s my word!” […]
Hearing these words,
Shulgen thought at first,
But he decided later
Persevere again.
He drank the blood, and, fearing retribution,
He decided to shut Ural’s mouth:
And he made his brother swear
What he won’t tell his father.
They returned home with rich booty
An old man and an old woman, they say.
As usual, the whole family
They gutted the game, they say
And before a rich meal
We sat down, pleased with ourselves [...]
“Father, if you follow Death,
Will it be possible to find her?
If you manage to overtake, tell me
Is it possible to smash her head?”
“Death is treacherous. She never
It did not appear openly to the human eye.
That creature lives invisible -
Nobody knows when it will attack.
There is only one possibility here:
In the kingdom of divas, on a distant land,
The Living Spring flows.
Someone will drink from it - and instantly
He will immortalize himself, they say,
Death will retreat, they say.”
Having told this about Death and having had enough of food, one hundredRick pulled out the shell to drink the Krivi. Seeingthat the contents of the shell had decreased, Yanbirde began to ask his sons which of them drank the blood. Shulgen began to dodge: they say, no one touched that blood. Old man Yanbirde took a stick and began to beat his sons one by one. Out of pity for his brother, the Ural also continued to remain silent, and Shulgen, unable to bear it, confessed his guilt to his father. When the old man again began to beat Shulgen, Ural grabbed his father’s hand and said these words to him:
[…] If you kill your brother today,
Tomorrow you will plunge your knife into me,
If you're left alone,
You will become a deep old man,
You will bend to death,
You won't be able to climb a lion,
Hunt in the forest, eat game,
Launch a falcon at the beast,
Give food to hunting birds -
And your lion and your dog
Won't they die of hunger here?
Will their eyes glaze over with melancholy? […]
Hearing these words, old man Yanbirde stoppedbeat Shulgen. “Death can appear invisible;It’s probably she who came, and that’s why she’s tempting me. Notmaybe so no one can see with their own eyesDeath. We must ask the animals and birds,” he thought and called the forest population
[...] Everyone reasoned in their own way,
I thought and wondered in my own way,
So, without arriving at unity,
A little while later,
They separated, they say.
The old man wilted after that,
Go hunting alone
I began to be afraid and completely lost the habit.
Somehow four of us - the whole family
Go hunting early sometimes
They set off together.
Having stuffed a lot of forest game,
They returned to their shack.
Among the prey - birds and animals -
There was a swan...
[…] She began to ask, to beg:
“I flew to see the world [...]
My father is the lord of birds -
I was looking everywhere for a couple,
But there was no such thing on earth.
To find an equal
Father rushed to heaven,
I met the Sun and Moon there,
I loved them with all my soul.
He had two children.
Neither me nor my half-sister,
Neither our father knew illness,
We did not recognize the power of death.
My father still rules there.
I appeal to you with a prayer:
Let me go,
I'm returning to my native land.
If you eat me, it won't matter
I am not destined to become food -
I will lie down inside you like a stone.
Water from the Living Brook [...]
I am the daughter of a king whose name is Samrau,
And my name is Humay [...]
Let me go,
I'm returning to my native land,
Path to the Living Spring
I can show you."
Hearing such words, Yanbirde and Yanbika began toreap advice with children. Shulgen was in favor of eating the bird. Ural is in favor of letting her go. Because of thisthey started a quarrel among themselves. The Ural took the bird,so that Shulgen wouldn’t get it, he took it aside...
When everyone started eating, the bird flappeda ditch wing - and three feathers fell out of it; When shemoistened them with blood from a broken wing, three appearedswan and took her away with them. Old men Yanbirde and YanbikaWe were very sorry that we could not find out whereThe Living Spring is flowing.
The old man immediately ordered Shulgen and Ural to sendfollow them, find the Living Spring. If Death meets you on the way, cut off its head and returncrawl home. Having placed two sons on two lions,he accompanied them on their way.
About how the Urals became famous by defeating and destroying King Katil and giving people freedom
Ural and his older brother together,
Counting the days, months, years,
Where through the black windbreak,
Where through the mountains, and where by ford -
We moved together on the same path...
They met an old man
With a white beard reaching to the ground...
“Two paths lie before you:
If you go left, you will be ahead
Laughter and carefree fun await.
There, not knowing worries and enmity,
They live in complete harmony:
Wolves and sheep in free meadows,
Foxes and chickens in dense forests,
The Samrau bird is revered with all my heart,
They don't eat meat, they don't drink blood -
They don't give way to death.
That's the kind of country there is.
To return good with good -
A custom in a blessed land.
And you’ll go right - along the entire road
Only tears and crying of people.
Full of cruelty and sorrow
That miserable side.
The treacherous king Katil rules in it,
Drinks living blood from people.
You'll see piles of bones everywhere -
This is what awaits you if you go right”...
And the Urals took the right path.
Shulgen took the left path [...]
On the way, Ural meets two women who tell him about the atrocities that Katil and his associates are committing (ed.)
The Urals said goodbye to them,
He jumped on his lion, and headlong
To the palace where King Katil lived,
The lion galloped as fast as he could...
The king didn’t keep himself waiting either:
He was surrounded by his closest nobles;
And the four royal warriors
The path was paved for the ruler of the world.
On a wondrous throne carried by slaves,
Bishop Katil himself rode.
He was like a furious camel,
Like a bloodthirsty predator, he was...
And the people are afraid of him
He bends his head to the ground...
The Tsar's daughter chooses Ural as her groom, but Ural is in no hurry to take her husband's place and arouses the Tsar's wrath by speaking out in defense of his subjects.
"I'm still such a king
And such customs
To slaughter living people like this,
I neither saw nor heard,
Although I have seen a lot of lands.
I am looking for the villainous Death around the world,
I will take revenge on her for all mortals;
I'm not afraid of your orders,
I am not afraid of insidious death..." [...]
Eget evoked pity in everyone.
Oh, he'll be lost, he'll be lost! -
They said, crying bitterly.
And here is Katila’s daughter standing:
"Oh father, in the name of love
Don’t destroy him without a reason!”...
But her father did not listen to her,
He did not soften his black soul.
A gigantic bull appeared,
He scraped the ground, beat with his hooves,
She poured out her poisonous saliva...
“...I...destroy you
I'm not going to, little guy.
To knock you to the ground,
I won’t waste my energy, little bull.
Know that there is no creature on earth
Who would be a stronger person?
Not only you - all your descendants
From now on they will become slaves of people."
And now his Ural
He grabbed the horns and squeezed tightly;
No matter how the bull puffed or tried,
No matter how I fought or struggled,
I couldn’t find the strength to free myself -
He went knee-deep into the ground...
"The horns that I have bent,
Will remain crooked forever
The mouth from which the tooth flew out,
The hole will remain with it forever.
Cracked hooves
If they don’t grow overgrown, they will remain like that.
And your children have hooves
Will remain double forever”...
In an unequal battle, Ural defeats King Katil and his minions and marries his daughter (ed.).
About how the Urals saved Zarkum from death, how theythe two of them came to Zarkum’s father, King Kahkaha; HowUral penetrated the secret palace; about how I got marriedhe is on Gulistan
After a few days
After his magnificent wedding
He has overcome many waters, they say...
The Urals witness a fight between a huge snake and an antlered deer. Unable to defeat the deer, the snake turns to the Urals with a prayer (editor's note):
“Hey, eget, I’ll be useful to you,
Just don’t let me die here.
I am related to Kahkaha's son
And my name is Zarkum.
If you help me I can
To repay - I will not remain in debt...
Have pity on me, damn it,
Help me in misfortune,
Break off the deer antlers;
Let's go to my father together,
We’ll take whatever you want...”
Having learned the secrets of the divas, Ural
Instantly he broke off the deer's antlers.
I didn’t even have time to blink an eye -
The serpent has become a beautiful eget...
However, Zarkum, fearing that he will be punished by his father for revealing palace secrets, is plotting evil against the Urals. Together they come to the Kahkahe Palace (ed.)
...And then I saw the Urals
At the huge iron fence
Nine-headed terrible reptile
That snake lay curled up in a ball,
Protected the royal chambers...
He soared up in one leap,
Opening his mouth, hissing, they say,
He threatened to burn it down in a fire, they say.
This did not bother the Urals either,
He hit the snake on the head,
And the snake from that head
A bunch of keys fell with a clang...
The Ural cut the heart of the serpent,
Opened the palace of secrets with a key,
I found a beauty behind the door...
There, inside, he saw a throne,
He saw the pearl rod.
“Take the rod with you on the road,”
The warriors advised him in unison.
At this time the doors of the palace
The white snake opened wide.
His anger bent this way and that:
“Who dared to enter here,
Who dared to take my staff?
Not accessible to anyone?”...
Ural defeats Kahkahe, frees the people swallowed by the reptiles and marries the girl he saved named Gulistan (ed.).
About how Shulgen fell for the cunning of the king of di-vov Azraki; how he went to the land of birds Samrau;how Humay locked him in the dungeon of the palace
Shulgen, who walked to the right,
I met another old man...
[…] Along the way, when I wasn’t expecting,
He met Zarkum by chance -
He fled desperately from the Urals.
Zarkum Shulgen began to question him.
When Shulgen told everything,
That Azraki was called his son,
So Zarkum lied to Shulgen,
I promised him with an oath
Go to Azraqa together,
Receive gifts from him,
And on the slope of a steep mountain
Drink from the living spring,
To prolong life endlessly...
Zarkum entered the lord of the palace.
Somewhere near Azraki
He saw his father.
Azraka with Kahkakha
About the Urals sometimes
They were talking among themselves...
“...We need to find a person,
To use it to enter
In trust of King Samrau,
Take Akbuzat away from him...
How winter needs white snow,
So now we need a man
To Humay at any cost
I could bewitch myself;
For her to love him,
So that Akbuzat with a diamond sword
She gave it along with her.
Then, having pleased him in everything, -
Giving any beauty to him,
By giving any country,
We will find his soul,
Then we’ll beat Ural Batyr..."
Zarkum deceives Shulgan. He calls himself the son of Azraki and introduces him to the beautiful Aikhylu, introducing himself as her brother. In fact, she is Humay’s sister, kidnapped by the diva Azraki. Playing on Shulgan's envy of the glory of the Urals, Azraka sends Shulgan and Zarkum in search of Khumai and the wonderful diamond sword. They arrive at the palace of King Samrau, but Khumay recognizes Shulgan, exposes Zarkum and imprisons them in a dungeon (ed.).
About how the Urals came to the Humay Palace; how are youfulfilling the princess’s condition - to find the Living Spring,found Humay's sister Aikhyla and brought her to the palace
The maid Humay informed that
That a certain hero came to their house.
Humay immediately recognized
In the unknown eget of the Urals,
But she didn’t tell him about this.
And he couldn’t even think about it,
What is it that Rock brought him to Khumay?
She approached the batyr,
Full of immeasurable beauty:
Vast like a waterfall
If you throw it down, it will fall to your toes
Everything is covered with coins
Flowing braid;
Black eyes burning gaze
He looks straight through his eyelashes.
Floating eyebrows above the eyes
Smile with love.
And the elastic breasts are full,
Like a river wave, it plays;
Her figure is as thin as a bee's,
Shimmers with silver;
Seeing a girl who is cheerful,
Had a friendly conversation,
The Ural did not know what to answer.
About the fact that this is Khumay,
The Ural still had no idea...
Ural tells Khumay about the search for the Living Stream. Khumay is ready to help him if he finds an unprecedented and unheard of bird that has absorbed “the tones and colors of all other birds,” and promises a wonderful Akbuz-tulpar and a diamond sword as a reward. Ural finds a bird, which turns out to be the beautiful Aikhylu, who escaped from the divas (editor's note).
About how King Samrau agreed to marry Khumay to the Urals and give him the horse Akbuzat as a giftand a damask sword; about how the Shul brothers metgene and the Urals, how the older brother turned out to be treacherous andan evil man, how he disgraced himself on the Maidan, convenedMr. Princess Khumay, how the Urals surprised everyone who gatheredon the Maidan
...And, Khumay is in love with the batyr,
She rushed to her father. There she is
Full of passion and confusion
I revealed the secret of my heart to him,
To your sovereign father.
“If you love, don’t torment your soul,
Marry him
Give him Akbuzat,
Know happiness and joy in love;
Batyr is the same as the Urals,
Become a noble mother;
In the name of Ural Batyr you
Let him go to his brother's will..."
Having met with Shulgen, Ural
He didn’t hide his joy.
Seeing my brother in front of me,
He was happy to meet such
About everything I saw on the way,
I told Shulgen in detail.
listening to my brother,
Shulgen reasoned in his own way...
But he decided to kill his brother,
Give yourself the glory of it,
Go ahead and take a beautiful wife,
Akbuzat is then saddled
And take the diamond sword for yourself.
The fact that Shulgen was constantly angry
That he wandered sullen like an ox,
That he looked at everyone suspiciously,
The Urals did not take it seriously.
“Because he was captured,
He’s uncomfortable now,”
Ural thought to himself...
“...Let's go to war against Samrau,
We'll take him away from Akbuzat,
One of us will take the magic wand,
Another one will sit on Akbuzat -
Can anyone resist such a force?
We will become the head of the country -
We must conquer everyone around us;
Let us become mighty kings!..”
“Know this, Shulgen: they will never
No harm was done to people
They did not shed anyone's blood,
They did not consider others as enemies.
It's better for the two of us to go
To the kingdom of divas and we will beat them.
All those who are languishing in terrible torment,
We will return you to freedom from prison..."
Hearing this, Shulgen fell silent,
Having finally understood my brother’s thoughts...
Seizing the moment, Shulgan declares his love to Humay. The princess promises to organize a maidan (competition), the winner of which will own her, Akbuzat and a diamond sword (ed.)
A k b u z a t:
“Handsome will not bring me fame,
He won't climb onto my back,
I recognize only courage and strength...
To the bow of the golden saddle
The sword is attached like a wing...
That diamond sword will never melt.
Nothing can break it
Dull the strong blade.
If a warrior entering into a dispute
Will not throw above the mountains
The weight is seventy batmans,
Then he won’t catch it with three fingers,
Let him not call himself a hero, -
He will not take a diamond sword.
If he is not such a strong man,
A worthy friend will not be mine..."
Shulgen approached the stone,
I began to feel from different sides,
I realized that the stone is very heavy,
I'm so tense that I'm up to my knees
He went into the ground where he stood.
I've been pushing for a month, they say
I've been pushing all year, they say
Pushed with both hands -
Only the stone did not move;
Finally exhausted
He fell powerless from his feet.
Humai looked at the Urals,
“Well, now you, hero,” she said;
The Urals have approached the stone, they say.
I was sad and filled with shame
For his brother was put to shame.
He hit the stone with his fist,
He was torn out of the ground with a jerk,
And then he grabbed that stone,
Launched into the blue sky -
Accurately shot, he soared
And disappeared into the heavenly space...
Ural offered one hand,
Caught a falling stone.
“Which side of Azraq?” - asked
And when they showed him
Towards the country of Azraqi
The stone launched as hard as it could [...]
Ural marries Humay. To reassure Shulgen, who has suffered a fiasco, they decide to marry him to Aikhyla. Shulgen, seeing her, understands that he was deceived by Azraqa and Zarkum, but is afraid that Khumay will find out about his insidious plans (editor's note).
About how he stole a magic wand andhaving caused a storm and flood with his power, Shulgenwanted to destroy people, as he escaped with Zarkumom to the king of divas Azrak; about how the Ural killed Azrakuand other divas, as he created from their mangled bodiesmountain ranges
When Humay returned to the palace,
She went down to Zarkum;
The light suddenly dimmed for Shulgen:
What if Zarkum reveals the secret?
This promises him a lot of trouble...
While Humay was talking to Zarkum,
Then she came out of the dungeon,
Shulgen found out about everything
And he took the magic wand into his hands...
He hit the ground with his staff,
Flooded it all with water,
Shulgen plunged the human race into horror.
Having seen such a change,
Zarkum turned into a big fish...
The Ural guessed that
That my own brother turned out to be an enemy.
When the water gradually receded,
When Shulgen is full of poison and evil,
I realized that the power of the rod is weak,
To resist the horse,
Then I went with Zarkum again
To seek salvation in Azrak...
And trouble came to earth:
It was all flooded with water...
The Urals did not flinch in the face of trouble,
Before the fiery veil.
He quickly jumped on Akbuzat,
He immediately grabbed the diamond sword,
To the insidious divas at that very moment
Declared war to the death...
The Urals fought for days on end,
The Urals fought for nights without sleep.
When he was engulfed in battle,
When I crushed my enemies in shoals,
Azrak met him -
And the two of them clashed...
Azraki's sword fell into the water -
The whole world seemed to tremble;
This is how Ural killed Azraku.
His huge, terrible body
The expanse of water was split in two;
In that place a mountain rose,
So that people can get there,
Rest and gain strength.
And the Ural galloped forward;
His horse cut through the abyss of water.
Where he galloped, a sure support
High mountains rose
Which is no water
I could never flood;
Everyone was happy about the mountains that appeared
Both old and young climbed them.
About how his sons came to Ural Batyr:Yaik - from the daughter of King Katil, Nugush - from Gulistan.Idel - from Khumay, son of Shulgen Sakmar, bornfrom the daughter of the Moon - Aikhylu; how they became loyal to himcompanions on the road, undaunted companions in battleve and defeated the insidious dragons; about what happenedbetween the Urals and Shulgen
The Urals fought for many years,
He destroyed many Divas.
Mountains were born one after another -
Under his mighty hand.
Children born into the world
When he entered into a fierce battle,
We could now run at full speed,
Following the Ural Father,
Along the ridges and mountain tops.
Four fellows, they say,
Preparing yourself for big battles,
On four tulparas in a row
With heroic equipment
We went the way of our father, they say.
Keeping up with each other
Without losing the trace of the Urals in the mountains,
Arrived to him, they say,
They greeted him and said […]
Ural listened to everyone,
He enjoyed their speeches.
He was inexpressibly glad
Because with my own eyes
He happened to see the Egets.
He tasted great joy.
Full of new courage and strength,
He climbed onto his horse again;
Surrounded by his sons
He continued the war against the divas,
Clearing the country of them.
They fought for a month, they say,
They fought for a year, they say.
In one of the fierce battles, the Ural
Kahkaha was finally attacked,
Foaming the sea, he floundered,
He let out a heart-rending scream and a groan,
His scream rang out like thunder.
From pieces of his body later
They stacked another mountain;
To the divas and Shulgen on the mountain
A mountain divided the sea in two.
Shulgen lost his head here,
I didn’t know what to do, how to act.
Remaining by his side
He gathered every single one;
And then against the surviving divas
The Ural started the battle again.
When the fierce battles were raging,
When, seething and boiling with foam,
The sea water was bubbling,
His brother Ural
I met you unexpectedly.
The brothers clashed with each other.
A stubborn battle broke out.
Shulgen swung his staff at him,
I wanted to burn the Urals with fire,
Deprive him of 1 life by witchcraft.
Only the Urals were not at a loss,
Immediately taking out the diamond sword,
The meeting dealt a crushing blow;
His anger increased a hundredfold -
He smashed that rod to smithereens...
The Urals gathered people to that place;
So Shulgen appeared before everyone.
“From childhood you grew up to be an insidious villain,
Drank the forbidden blood,
He neglected the word of his parents.
Anger rules only you,
With all your black fate...
I waited until the deadline was up.
You just didn’t keep your words,
So I didn’t take the honest path,
I didn’t heed my father’s word,
The mother's covenant was trampled,
The whole country was flooded with water...
Evil is crushed by kindness -
It will never come back!
Do you understand now that evil
Will goodness prevail?
Have you realized that a person
Will he be above the divas in everything?..
If you kiss the ground, you won’t give your word,
Bowing my head before people,
You won't take a sacred oath,
If you don't admit that people's tears
Only on your black conscience,
And, having met our father,
Don't tell him everything...
I'll turn you into a black rock,
To whcih alive soul will not come -
Not in a month, not in a year;
No one will remember him kindly
The grass will not grow in that place...
This is the kind of rock you will become!” -
The Urals issued the following verdict [...]
Shulgen, frightened by his brother’s words, promises to improve and begs to forgive him for the last time (approx. comp.).
The Urals decided to heed his request,
Try it one last time:
“If, having lost honor, the husband goes astray,
He will lose everything in his life...
If you finally understand all this,
If you part with deceit,
If you turn from darkness to light,
If you find the strength to learn
His lion, who stumbled on the way,
Once again I will fulfill your will.
For the honor of my father,
In memory of my mother,
I'll test you for the last time
For the last time I will heed your request.”
About what the old man said, exhausted from the inability to die; how the Ural Batyr took water from the Living Spring into his mouth, but did not even take a sip - he sprinkled the earth around him with that water, and it all came to life
Having released Shulgen, Ural
So he said to the assembled people:
“Death, which was visible to the eyes,
We were expelled from our country.
The marvels that drank our blood,
Made the firmament of mountain ranges.
Water of the Living Spring,
Having scooped it up, we’ll bring it here -
Let everyone have that water.
From Death, which is hidden from view,
From the diseases that plague us,
From the pain and torment that has been oppressive for centuries,
We will save the human race,
Let's make man immortal -
We will bring joy to every heart!” […]
At this time, an ancient old man appears who experienced the endless torment of immortality by drinking water from a living spring. He says that a person’s immortality does not lie in endless longevity, but in his good deeds for the benefit of others.
“...My bitter experience of the days I lived
It will help save others from troubles.
Wanting to live forever in the world,
To be immune to Death,
Not wanting to accept power,
Don't drink from the Living Spring!
The world is a fragrant garden,
And the creatures living there
Similar to plants and flowers
Some people litter that garden with themselves,
Others grow, admiring their beauty,
Different colors and comfort
Plants add to the garden.
What we call Death
We give evil nicknames to whom we give, -
Eternity's imperishable law,
He cleanses the world from rottenness,
From sick and withered herbs
He cleanses forever.
He refreshes the garden of life.
Don't want to be forever
Pz Drink from the Living Spring!
What remains on earth
How all the best is created,
Garden beauty and fragrance -
This is goodness and beneficence.
It will not burn in fire - a good deed,
Not drowning in water is a blessing,
It will rise to the sky - a blessing,
Will remain in memory - a good deed,
It is the head of all affairs,
For all people living in the world
It will remain as the highest destiny of the world.”
And hearing the old man’s words,
Having realized their deep meaning,
Together with all the people of the Urals
I set off on a long journey.
And here in front of them is the Living Spring -
The mouth filled the Urals with water,
On the stitch that he himself laid,
To the mountains that raised to heaven,
Sprinkled that water, they say:
“Let the bare thickets be green,
May they acquire the color of immortality,
Let the birds chirp louder and sweeter,
Let people sing funny songs!
Let the enemy flee from our region,
Dripping with black envy!
Let the people love this land,
Let her blossom into a beautiful garden,
Let the heart of your enemies be plagued with beauty!”
So the Urals said loudly...
The news reached Shulgen. “From now on, I have a protector, who will grab people, kill them and drive them out of the world. My protector is Death. There are no barriers in front of her now, She will help me, mercilessly destroy people,” - So Shulgen thought to himself...
Days and months have passed,
People built houses for themselves,
We went to visit each other,
We drank a full cup of joy,
They matched brides to grooms.
Anyone was calm and happy
Among those troubled places
Peace and quiet were established.
About how, in anger at the atrocities of the divas, the Ural drankthe lake where they were hiding; like they penetrated his insidessnakes gnawed the hero's heart; about what Ural saidhero before his death; about how they settledpeople on the slopes of the Ural-Tau, how animals, animals and birds multiplied there, how they no longer had enough foodyes; how the rivers Idel, Sakmar, Nugush, Yaik were formed;how people lived in prosperity, forgetting about the pasthardships and disasters
But then the peace was disturbed again:
Girls walking for water
Men walking along a forest path
The divas began to lie in wait
And swallow right next to the water...
They came to the Urals again in a crowd,
Through tears they started talking about divas.
And he decided to unite the people,
Destroy the evil divas to the end;
Only those who found out about it
They stopped getting out of the water.
The Ural did not think for a long time,
Idel, Nugush, Yaik,
Sakmar and other batyrs -
He ordered me to manage my army;
Then he tore out the diamond sword,
Akbuzat saddled
Causing both noise and thunder
He raced on Akbuzat,
raised a storm on earth,
Waves came out of the water;
He galloped to the lake of divas:
“I’ll drink this lake in full,
I'll dry you up to the very bottom,
From the divas who survived,
Who does not allow people to live on earth,
From shulgens and other bastards
I will deliver the people forever!”
He began to drink the lake -
The water began to bubble in it;
The divas began to shout in fear -
They wanted to hide from the hero,
The Ural just drank and drank,
And diva after diva entered it.
A lot of them have accumulated inside him,
Everyone's teeth are sharp,
They gnawed at his heart and soul.
He splashed the lake back;
Divas jumping out
The warriors killed everyone in a row.
Unable to stand on my feet,
I can't fight anymore,
The Urals fell on the same spot.
The people knocked down the rampart here.
“He was the happiness of the people until the end!” -
The orphaned people wept.
“...Listen, children, I’m telling you,
Listen, my country, I tell you:
And being the bravest lion in the world,
From birth having the name of a batyr,
Still, without bypassing your country,
Wading her grief and blood without passing,
You cannot harden your heart;
So as not to be at the same time with enemies,
Don't do anything without advice!
Children, listen to my words:
On the land that I have cleansed,
Bring earthly happiness to people;
Be wise in war.
To gain glory for the country,
Strive to become heroes yourself;
Don't ignore their advice
But don’t forget those who are younger -
It's up to you to raise them and raise them.
If a speck of dust gets into someone's eyes,
Which can make them blind
Become the eyelashes of their eyes, you
Wipe away that rubbish with your hands...
Sons! Tell your mothers:
Let the Urals be forgiven for everything,
Let each one say: “He was my husband.”
And let me remind you all of this:
Let goodness be your only horse,
Let your name be man,
Do not give way to evil forever,
May peace and goodness endure forever!”
He said those parting words
And the hero Ural died.
Having no strength to calm the grief,
The people bowed their heads low.
The falling star broke through the darkness -
She brought news for Humay;
Humai put on a bird outfit
And she flew here, they say,
And the lips of the dead Urals,
They say she kissed:
“Ay, you are my Ural, Ural,
I didn’t make it to you alive,
I didn't hear what you said
I couldn’t console my soul...
At least I have a name - Khumay,
Even though people know that I am a woman,
I won’t take off my bird’s fur coat anymore,
A look you can fall in love with
I will never accept again...
What can I do for you?
By the road where you rode
On the mountain range that you created,
I'll dig up the grave and bury it,
I will keep you in my heart forever.
The great path where you rode,
No water will flood;
The mountains you created
They will take you into their arms,
They will keep your ashes forever,
They will live forever in the world.
Once upon a time you drained the sea here,
He became the very first batyr,
Founded a country on the shore;
From now on, in the arms of a mighty mountain,
You will be the light of the country,
You will be a bright soul for people,
And dead, you will live more alive,
You will be even more famous
You will be unfading gold;
Having elevated the human race,
Your glory lives on earth!”
And, having said such words,
I buried him in the mountains,
She flew away, they say
Deciding not to go back.
The road of the Urals - great mountains,
The grave of the Urals is high mountains,
The name was adopted the same - Ural.
After many years
She felt sad about the Urals,
Along the road that he paved,
Flapping its wings, it flew by,
Sank down onto a rocky mountain,
Thinking about the Urals, I felt sad.
Later she raised chicks there,
White swans bred
And everyone knew about it.
Saying: "This is the bird Humai"
Swans were taken for relatives,
It was forbidden to hunt them;
Don't catch noble birds
We agreed among ourselves -
That is why those birds multiplied.
Therefore, swan meat
Forever forbidden to people.
Lots of thunder With has died down since then
One year after another flew by.
And again Khumay flew here,
And then animals and birds
She brought with her:
They say the land here is fertile,
She returned to the Urals again;
Keeping affection and love for her,
They came and flew in a line
Beasts, animals and birds.
Having learned that all creatures had gathered there,
That no one is in danger of trouble there,
The bull rolled his tribe,
To whom I was a leader,
On the spurs of the Ural Mountains,
Where space is blessed,
He brought me to live with everyone,
Bow your head before people.
Akbuzat wandered around the countries,
The horse family united
He himself walked at the head of the herds,
Then he brought everyone here...
Animals and birds multiplied.
There wasn't enough water to drink
(None of the people drank from the lakes).
Then to Idel and Yaik, Nugush-batyr and Sakmar,
Gathered together, people came
From all sides of the Ural land
And, unable to hide my sadness,
They began to ask how they should […]
Idel, hearing these words,
I thought about it, got out of the saddle,
The sword that the Urals left,
He took his mighty hands,
Climbed a high mountain
And he said these words:
"In my father's hands is a diamond sword
Could whip snakes and dragon divas;
Coming from the Urals into the world,
Is it worthy to bear the name - batyr,
Who will call me a man,
If people suffer from thirst
Without water, without life-giving rivers? -
So said Idel, and so
He cuts a mountain with a diamond sword;
Waters white as silver
They immediately streamed down the mountain,
The mountain on which Idel stood
Where he galloped merrily,
Where did that river come from?
The name was adopted - Iremel.
The wedge of the mountain that dammed the river,
Where Idel cut it,
It began to be called Kyrykty.
Idelem extracted water
The name of the river “Idel” took forever,
Everyone drank and was glad of this water;
And, following its flow,
Filled with happiness and excitement,
I sang this song and they say:
“Idelem is a cut down river,
Flowed through the dry valleys,
Sweet Idel and bitter she is,
Dry up all your sadness
And bloody tears to the bottom.
People sang songs about happiness and peace,
About the glorious son of Ural Batyr,
Sweet Idel and bitter she is,
Dry up all your sadness
And bloody tears to the bottom.
The tears dried up, the sorrows disappeared.
On the banks of the Idel River
People began to settle in full force,
Raise livestock there;
The number of people grew
It became more and more crowded for them,
They began to run out of land,
The Idel River kept narrowing.
Then the warriors came together
Batyrs Yaik, Nugush and Sakmar
They scattered in search of new rivers.
Like Idel, each of them
They cut down the earth's surface with a sword.
Three rivers from the depths of the earth
Having escaped, they spread to the sides.
Four warriors invited the people,
They divided it into each of the four.
In the valleys of four rivers
They began to build housing,
They settled there forever.
Batyrov of those four names
Four rivers then received;
In all generations, at all times
Those batyrs lived in the hearts of their descendants.
(Ural-batyr //Bashkir folk art. Volume 1. Epic. – Ufa, 1987. P.35-134)
