Published in
             CENTRAL ASIAN MONUMENTS
             (Istanbul: ISIS Press, 1992)

                      SUN IS ALSO FIRE

                    H. B. Paksoy, D. Phil.

          Part 4 of  8

  -- "Alp Tekin, don't!" -- screamed Jibilga, as she ran
in...  

  -- "Offer a sacrifice to Umay,99 for the sake of Jibilga,"
groused Alp Tekin, as he sheathed his sword.

  Bugrabek did not brave standing up, he crawled away.
  -- "Alp Tekin..." -- Jibilga's wavering voice and the
hesitant look in her almond-shaped eyes became evident to
Alp Tekin.  

  -- "Alp Tekin, as you know, reportedly Nasr has amassed
plenty of troops... 'I am going to annihilate the Turks,' he
is said to have stated..."

  -- "Jibilga, what are you saying?"  

  -- "It is said that Nasr is not going to collect kharaj or
jizye100 from us, only if we were to accept his religion.
Alp Tekin, I expect this condition will unite the Turks!"
  -- "For God's sake go away, go away Jibilga!"
  Alp Tekin was compellingly drawn to the banks of Kitkan
river, began splashing water onto his face. "Ey!" -- he
roared, towards the wide open spaces -- "where are you now,
the glorious batirs101 of the Turks, those of you who at one
time held sway from Chochon102 to Rum; from Altay to
Boipin,103 where are you?"  

                           * * *  

  Shadows were settling in from the East. The night quietly
embraced the Kitkan korugan with its helmeted guards visible
at the turrets on high walls. When darkness became total,
the scarlet tongues of flames leaping from the oven
fireboxes remained visible. Eternally defiant of night, yet
again rearing their heads, because light is born to the arms
of darkness!..  

  -- "If we were to learn Arabic, speaking in this beautiful
language, will would be communicating with half of the
world. It indeed is the language of Bagdad, Damascus, used
by the alp poets of the world!"  

  -- "You are forgetting the most powerful poetry in the
world, lullabies recited by our mothers as they stood over
our cradles,104 Jibilga!.."  

  The flames in the hearth were casting a pale light upon
Alp Tekin and Jibilga, lying on the wooden platform, then
causing a naked sword on the floor to glisten before
dissipating into the dark corners of the house. Suddenly
Jibilga reached over the bare sword and touched the wrist of
Alp Tekin with her long fingers. Alp Tekin's flesh tingled,
his body stiffened.  

  -- "Alp Tekin, do you recall our talks at the apple
orchard?"  

  -- "Could those times be ever forgotten?"  

  ... Ah, those sweet memories, recalling the delightful
times of days past! Enjoying the exquisite melodies
emanating from the chankavuy105 played by Jibilga which
would accompany drinking kimiz,106 then, knowingly winking
at each other, begin courting.

  Alp Tekin would silently visit his Toga's107 apple
orchard, sit and wait for Jibilga in the quiet corner. Their
greeting the dawn together was ostensibly unknown by anybody
in Sebuk Tekinbek's household, accepting the gifts of Tuput
origin from Alp Tekin and turning a blind eye to Jibilga's
early morning outings, which supposedly went totally
unnoticed.  

  When the moon reached overhead, as Alp Tekin's patience
ebbed from waiting, Jibilga would appear from the direction
of the water canal.  

  During those heady days the sounds of the Enchi Oghuz
would be audible at the distance, until dawn... Ah, what
would they not discuss! Their intense discussions would
inevitably turn to the appreciation of the prominent Turks
of the past, they would end the night without sleep. "The
land of Turks were in a single religion at the time of
Bumin108 Han and contemporaries, now some worship fire,
others became Manichean or Buddhist. What calamity that it
turned out so!" would say Jibilga. "What are you getting
at?" "It is necessary for the Turks to belong in one
religion for their future unity." "Did that thought
originate from your father?" "What do you think? He is not
called the Tonyukuk109 of Arslan Tarhan, by the Beys for
nothing." "Which language of the Tengri110 are we speaking
in Jibilga? Our ancestors did not leave us the pyramids of
the Pharaohs, they only bequeathed us their language. If we
were to forget this language, would they not be dried like a
river absorbed into the sands? No, it is best to be seeking
refuge in fire -- worshipping the Tengri is the best path.
Actually, the mother of this realm -- is the sun and fire!
Worshiping the sun!" "The sun! Ha-ha-ha!" Jibilga's hearty
laughter reverberated in the orchard, causing {....}111 to
come out in a hurry, her hair reflecting the moon's glow.
"If I were the sun, I would not simply radiate, but I would
have destroyed the enemies of the people and bestow upon
them life sustaining warmth!"112

  At times, while Jibilga played the changavuy, the melodies
seemingly melded with the silky light of the moon and draped
like a soft mist over the apple blossoms...
  -- "Alp Tekin, did you fall asleep?"  

  Alp Tekin rubbed his eyes like a child about to fall into
sweet slumber.  

  -- "Alp Tekin, listen, I have a few words for you."
  Alp Tekin quiveringly shook his head and looked.

  -- "Suppose I accept the new religion... What would
happen?"  

  -- "I do not have mercy upon those who betray113 their own
religion!"  

  Jibilga suddenly grasped the sword by its blade and placed
the hilt in Alp Tekin's hand:  

  -- "In that case, strike!"  

  -- "Jibilga!" -- cried out Alp Tekin, jumping to his feet.

  -- "It has been three years since my father recited the
creed,114 all of us, even Bugrabek..."  

  -- "Jibilga!" -- to Jibilga, the frightening scream
emanating from the throat of the yigit resembled the
moanings of a men who has been hit by a dirk in the chest.
  Alp Tekin drew his knife and began slashing his own
face...115 Jibilga's pearl-like tears were discernible in
the reflecting light.

                          *  *  *  

  -- "Brothers!" -- upon noticing the face of Alp Tekin, the
troops looked at each other as if to ask "Is Arslan Tarhan
dead?" -- "Hear me! I rebelled against my own brother!116
You should know that he was once a worshipper of fire.117
Now he has made his religion, language, subservient to
throne. Mind you, this is religion, language; living in the
bosoms, the tongues of each of us, our homeland! The flowing
Enchi Oghuz, plentiful apple orchards and pastures are our
homeland, but when we consider it closely, there is another,
altogether mighty homeland, inseparable from our selves;
that is, our language. Can any man who ruthlessly discards
this precious inheritance, homeland, still be a lord in his
own home? Tell me, people!"  

  -- "Certainly not! Certainly not!" roared the troops.
  -- "Correct! Tomorrow the regent of Nasr is arriving in
Ferghana. Are there quarters for him in Ferghana? Tell me
Turks!"  

  -- "There is! But it is in the dark earth!" shouted the
troops.  

  -- "Good! Starting today, Orda of this homeland is Kitkan!
The Hakan of the people is me; I am Alp Tekinbek! I issue a
mobilization118 order to all Turks. We are going to defend
the korugan with all our might.119 No mercy to those who
sell or buy this homeland!"

                           *  *  *  

  Although Apatarhan Sebuk Tekinbek's troops were reinforced
by the ghazis120 arriving from Samarkand, and together they
had laid siege to Kitkan korugan for twenty days, they had
been unable to conquer it. The Apatarhan was most unhappy.
He was incessantly ordering new attacks, but an unknown
number, according to some rumors one thousand, or said some
informants, one hundred Turk troops defending the thick
walls were keeping at bay a force of five thousand. Those in
the fortification had stockpiled naphtha from the Chimyan
mountain, which they were burning in bowls and pouring onto
those who came close to the walls, thereby keeping them
away.  

  The water-wells began to dry-up with the choking of Kitkan
korugan by Sebuk Tekinbek. Food and drink was rationed and
the women and children who came to the korugan from
surrounding kishlaks121 began suffering. The use of naphta
against the attacks had to be carefully husbanded. The days
of Kitkan korugan appeared numbered when catapults from
Usrushana and reinforcements from Arslan Tarhan's orda
arrived to aid the attackers. All of the possessions of the
korugan was defended by some one hundred troops, who were
rendered weak from malnourishment and lack of water.
  In deep thought, Alp Tekin approached the distant guard
room of the korugan. Humidity greeted him upon opening the
small, squeaking door. As the door opened Jibilga rose,
looking at the entering figure, and faced away. At the
corner, with beard and hair unkept like weeds, Bugrabek was
eating noisily with full cheeks. Noticing Alp Tekin, he
pressed his forehead to the ground and rose.
  For a moment, both the yigit and the girl were silent. Alp
Tekin lowered his head:  

  -- "Jibilga," he started, "give up that path! Do not turn
your face away from homeland!"  

  -- "I am but a servant of God..."  

  -- "Jibilga, but your father accepted that religion to
preserve his own wealth...122  

  -- "You are speaking in vain! My father wishes to unite
his subjects who are adherents of Zoroastrianism,
Manicheanism, Buddhism in one religion and language!  

  Alp Tekin shook his head, Jibilga looked at him a moment
and noticed the bandaging on his arm:

  -- "What happened to your arm?" she asked.  

  -- "An enemy sword touched it."  

  -- "Alp Tekin!" Jibilga suddenly kneeled, put her head on
yigit's foot, began crying. "They will kill you! The entire
population is aware that your brother is afraid of you! If
they were to kill you, your brother will have his day. Could
not a knowledgeable yigit like you perceive that? If you
were to go to them, they would look after you. And then..."

   -- "I would ascend to my brother's throne?" Alp Tekin's
voice was weighty -- "No, I shall not climb to the throne
treading on the faces of my ancestors."  

  -- "According to the defenders, korugan has a day
remaining, it is not late. Come, I can teach you the
creed..."  

  -- "I do not wish to reach Tengri shame-faced, as one who
has sold his religion and language!"  

  -- "Ah my undesired path, my heart rends seeing the wound
of your marrow. When you undertake the fight, it is your
stubbornness that gnaws at me and not the rats of this damp
dungeon. Still, you do not speak of the future of our love?"