An Extract from the Uzbek epic Alpamish (Alpomish)
The following extract was recorded by me from the Uzbek epic singer (bakhshi) Chori-shoir Egamnazarov (born in 1927) in the Buka district of Uzbekistan in 1981. The performance of this extract is discussed in my article "Turkic Bard and Medieval Entertainer: What a Living Epic Tradition Can Tell Us About Oral Performance of Narrative in the Middle Ages", in Performing Medieval Narrative, ed. E. B. Vitz, N. F. Regalado, M. Lawrence. Cambridge, 2005. 167-78. On this singer see also my earlier article "Oral Tradition and Performance of the Uzbek and Karakalpak Epic Singers", in Fragen der mongolischen Heldendichtung. III, ed. W. Heissig. Asiatische Forschungen, 91. Wiesbaden, 1985, 613-43.
Audio Sample:
Text:
(in the orthography of Modern Uzbek, but preserving some dialect traits of the singer)
Ot boshini saqlab gapir,
Ko'kaman!
Qahrim kelsa, qora jerga
tiqaman.
Yo hanjar deya o'zimga yo
senga suqaman.
Ot boshini saqlab gapir,
Ko'kaman, ey Ko'kaman!
5 Ot boshini saqlab
gapir, Qorajon!
Qiz bo'lsam ham, mening
achchig'im yomon.
Qahrlansam, yo senga yo
menga dur ohir zamon.
Ot boshini saqlab gapir,
Qorajon!
Qirq ming yotgan mening Qo'ngrat
elim bor.
10 Qo'ngrat elda Hakimbekday
yorim bor,
Sevgili, sevgili, ey dildorim
bor.
Agar kelsa so'rab shaharlaringga,
qalmoqlar,
Bo'lasanmi ani menen baravar?
Boshim qilma ming bolaga
giriftor!
15 Ot boshini saqlab gapir,
ey qalmoqlar! Ah... ih ...
Tortip olib ketkaningga iya
tiymayman,
Kallam ketsa ham, qalmoq
seni suymayman.
Bir shartim bor, quloq soling,
qalmoqlar!
Anda nima bo'lsa, endi bo'laman,
20 So'ngra tag'dirimnan bir
kun ko'rarman.
To'qqiz kunlik yo'ldan bedav
jiydiraman,
Uch kunlik yo'llardan payga
qo'ydiraman,
Chilbir cho'li aylab,
ko'na Boboxon tog'iga,
Besh yuz juyrik otti
olib boraman.
25 Shul Boboxon tog'iga kimning
oti o'zib kelsa,
Mening baxmal, ey, chotirimga
Shu kokilni shunasidan qiyaman.
Oti o'zog'on chavandozga
tiyaman,
To o'lguncha shul
botirni suyaman.
30 Agar tortip olib ketaman
desang,
Bir kun, qalmoqlar,
Ko'zing o'yib ko'zlaringga, ey,
qo'rg'oshin quyaman. Ey...
Translation:
Hold firm the horse's head
and speak, Kokaman!
If I get angry, I will throw
you down on the black earth.
I will thrust the dagger
either into me or into you.
Hold firm the horse's head
and speak, Kokaman, o Kokaman!
5 Hold firm the horse's
head and speak, Qarajan!
Although I am only a girl,
my anger is deadly.
If I get angry, life will
have come to an end either for me or for you.
Hold firm the horse's head
and speak, Qarajan!
I have my tribe Kongrat of
forty-thousand peoples.
10 In the tribe Kongrat I
have my beloved Hakimbek (Alpamish),
My darling, my darling sweetheart.
If he comes and asks for
your abode, Kalmucks,
Will you then be his equal?
Don't bring over my head
a thousand sorrows!
15 Hold firm the horse's
head and speak, o Kalmucks! Ah... ih...
Even if you take me by force,
I will not marry you,
Even if my head is cut off,
I will not love you, Kalmucks.
I will set a condition,
pay attention, Kalmucks!
Whatever the outcome, I
will be (in agreement),
20 I will then live according
to my fate.
I will let swift-footed
horses collect from a distance of a nine days's journey,
I will arrange a race lasting
for three days,
Crossing the Chilbir desert
up to the old Mount Babaxan,
I will have five hundred
race horses.
25 The person whose horse
will first reach Mount Babaxan,
(For him I will wear) my
velvet yashmak, ey,
And cut off this plait from
here.
I will marry the rider whose
horse is fastest,
I will love this hero until
I die.
30 If you want to take me
away,
One day, oh Kalmucks,
I will rip out your eyes
by pouring lead into them. Ey..
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