Contemporary Kazakh Literature Prose Anthology The project «Modern Kazakh Culture in the Global World» has been realised upon the initiative of the First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan – Elbasy (Leader of the Nation) Nursultan Nazarbayev within the framework of the State Programme Rýhani Jańǵyrý (Spiritual Rebirth – Modernisation of Kazakhstan’s Identity) Contemporary Kazakh Literature Prose This book is commissioned by the Ministry of Culture and Sport of the Republic of Kazakhstan ©Ұлттық Аударма Бюросы (National Bureau of Translations) 2019 18 Dostyk Street, Office 25, Nur-Sultan, Esil District, The Republic of Kazakhstan https://100kitap.kz/kz This book is published by ‘Ұлттық Аударма Бюросы’ қоғамдық қоры (Public Foundation National Bureau of Translations) working in partnership with Cambridge University Press. All rights reserved. No parts of the publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher. The publishers would like to acknowledge the support of the Chairman of Rýhani Jańǵyrý National Commission Marat Tazhin, the Secretary of the National Commission Aida Balayeva, and the assistance of the following individuals: Khaliolla Baimen, Dauren Boranbaev, Assiya Issemberdiyeva, Aigul Kemelbayeva, Rauan Kenzhekhanuly, Gaukhar Khalyk, Timur Muktarov, Zira Nauryzbayeva, Umit Tazhken, Zhibek Tileshova, Roman Tokbergenov, Aknur Toleubayeva, Alikhan Tuiebay, Murat Yergaliyev, Zemfira Yerzhan. First published in 2019 Printed in the United Kingdom by Latimer Trend ISBN 978-601-7943-60-8 If we want to be a nation with a unique place on the global map of the 21st century, we should implement one more project – Modern Kazakh Culture in the Global World.We need the world to know about us not only because of oil resources and major foreign policy initiatives, but because of our cultural achievements as well. First, we need a targeted approach in order to make our domestic culture better known in the six UN languages: English, Russian, Chinese, Spanish, Arabic, and French. For the first time our culture will be known in all continents and in all main languages. First President of the Republic of Kazakhstan – Elbasy Nursultan Nazarbayev CONTENTS A NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION XIII FOREWORD XIV SHERKHAN MURTAZA 1 Bojtu̇ mar AKIM TARAZI 19 Retribution KALIKHAN YSKAK 79 A Quiet Autumn SAYIN MURATBEKOV 119 The Smell of Wormwood KABDESH ZHUMADILOV 147 A Beggar Man ASKAR SULEIMENOV 159 The Old Man ABISH KEKILBAIULY 183 Lucky Tortoise Grass SABIT DOSANOV 209 By the Wayside MUKHTAR MAGAUIN 225 Death of a Borzoi BEXULTAN NURZHEKEYEV 269 Death of a Soul SOFY SMATAYEV 287 The Song TOLEN ABDIK 297 The Battlefield of Sanity KAZHYGALI MUKHANBETKALIULY 343 Old Friends DULAT ISABEKOV 381 Growing Pains xi CONTENTS ORALKHAN BOKEY 421 Kеrbu̇ ġy MARHABAT BAIGUT 433 The Kazakhs of Hamburg SMAGUL YELUBAY 447 Gift for the Grandson DIDAKHMET ASHIMKHANULY 457 Grandmother’s Samovar JUMABAY SHASHTAIULY 477 Waking Dream ALIBEK ASKAROV 497 Mona Lisa TALASBEK ASEMKULOV 505 The Old Kùjši RAKHIMZHAN OTARBAYEV 525 Heavenly White Butterflies TURSYNZHAN SHAPAY 535 The Mirror Shrine NURGALI ORAZ 545 The Nest of the White Cranes ZHUSSIPBEK KORGASBEK 553 Art ROZA MUKANOVA 561 The Image of the Eternal Child AIGUL KEMELBAYEVA 571 Kôkenaj and Ķalķaman DIDAR AMANTAI 589 Your Cherished Eyes DAUREN QUAT 597 Pygmalion in the Backwoods YURIY SEREBRYANSKY 609 Riding a Tortoise xii A NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION The international ISO 9 standard of Romanizing the Cyrillic Characters has been applied while transliterating the Kazakh terms, geographical and personal names. The fact that this norm has been developed by the International Organization for Standardization and adopted by a number of countries in Europe and Asia as a main tool in transliterating the Cyrillic characters into Latin characters has been taken into consideration. Moreover, the Euro-Asian Council for Standardization, Metrology and Certification of 9 CIS countries adopted The System of Standards on Information, Librarianship and Publishing Rules of Transliteration of Cyrillic Script by Latin Alphabet in 2000, authentic to the ISO 9 standard. The Kazakh government has been developing a Latin alphabet for the Kazakh language which, it is planned, will replace the current Cyrillic script in 2025. Although the new version of the alphabet was published in 2018, the grammar is yet to be developed. The current standard of transliteration of Kazakh terms is used in order to avoid any misspellings and discrepancies in the future. However, while transliterating the names of contemporary Kazakh authors, their own preferred spellings through which they are recognised internationally have been applied. Russian terms, geographical and personal names have been transliterated according to the BGN/PCGN Romanization System for Russian widely used elsewhere. xiii FOREWORD I am delighted that this exceptional anthology of Kazakh prose is being published in English for the first time. Kazakhstan has an incredibly rich and deep literary heritage, from folktales of the steppe to epic poems and from ajtys narrative singing to modernist short stories and novels. But until now, readers in English have been denied the opportunity to access the great trove of Kazakh literature, as it remained largely untranslated. As such, this anthology represents a new epoch, in which a range of Kazakh literary voices from the twentieth century can be discovered and appreciated by readers the world over. It is one of the many exciting products of President Nazarbayev’s ‘Rýhani Jańǵyrý’ initiative, an ambitious programme to revive, modernise and internationalise the Kazakh cultural sector, while burnishing the best of Kazakh heritage and national identity. These short stories and novellas vividly conjure life in the auyls – the famous Kazakh steppe villages – with tales of tribal rifts, hardships and migrations, filial separation and reunion. But they also chart the impact of modernisation and geo-politics, with stories of life under Soviet rule, militarisation, nuclear contamination, and the draw of late-twentieth century urbanisation. Above all, these are stories of fortitude, wit and ingenuity in the face of adversity, laced with folk wisdom; indeed, the anthology is an indispensable repository of Kazakh aphorisms and there are helpful footnotes providing historical and cultural context. I am thrilled that the authors within these pages are taking their rightful place in the pantheon of world literature. A nation’s literature gives voice to its people. It transcends time, summoning the past to life before our eyes. It flies across borders, piercing the hearts of readers in distant lands. In this way, this wonderful anthology brings us closer together, cultivating friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of Kazakhstan and the rest of the world. As such, it is to be hoped that this anthology is not a destination, but a vital first step on a journey for English-speaking readers into Kazakh literature, a tantalising glimpse of what is to come. Sir Ciarán Devane, FRSA Chief Executive of the British Council xiv SHERKHAN MURTAZA (28.09.1932 – 8.10.2018) Sherkhan Murtaza was a Soviet Kazakh writer, politician and public figure. He studied journalism at Lomonosov Moscow State University and graduated in 1955. He began his career as a literary critic and newspaper correspondent (1955–62). Subsequently, he was editor-in-chief of the Žalyn almanac (1971–72), secretary of the Writers’ Union of the Kazakh SSR, and editor-in-chief of the Žu̇ ldyz journal (1973–80) as well as Ķazaķ a̋ debiеti (1980–89) and Socialistik Ķazaķstan (now Еgеmеn Ķazaķstan: 1989–92) newspapers. He was also chairman of the State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting (1992–94). Murtaza was a People’s Deputy of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic (1990–94), member of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Kazakhstan (1994–95), deputy of Ma̋ žilis (Mazhilis), the lower house of the Parliament of Kazakhstan, and chairman of the Committee for Culture, Literature and Art (1999–2004). His first book,Ķu ̇ rylysšy Da̋ ku (Da̋ ku the Builder), was released in 1958, followed by Tabylġan tеņiz (The Sea Discovered, 1963), Bu̇ ltsyz kùngi najzaġaj (Lightning in the Clear Sky, 1965), Bеlgisiz soldattyņ balasy (The Unknown Soldier’s Son, 1967), Myltyķsyz majdan (The War Without Weapons, 1969), Ķyryķ birinši žylġy kelinšek (The Woman of ’41, 1972), Ahmеtžannyņ anty (Ahmеtžan’s Vow, 1973), Internat nany (The Boarding School, 1974), among others. His novel Ķara maržan (Black Pearl, 1976) won the State Prize of the Kazakh SSR in 1978 and his epic novel Ķyzyl žеbе (The Red Arrow) was published to wide acclaim (1980–84). He was designated a People’s Writer of Kazakhstan (1992), a People’s Writer of the Kyrgyz Republic and an Honoured Worker of Culture of the Kazakh SSR (1984). He was awarded the Ķu̇ rmеt and Otan orders (1999), as well as the Independent Tarlan Award (2000). 1 Bojtu̇ mar How sweet it is to sleep at sunrise! At first, I tell myself: ‘Just a bit longer, just a little bit more’, and carry on lying there. But still, somewhere deep inside, piercing through the thick, drowsy layer of sleep, something keeps on nagging at me: ‘Get up, you’ll be late for work, get up’. But I think: ‘Just a bit longer, just a little bit more.’ The red bull calf is licking my hair again. ‘Go to hell, damn you’, I mutter, not completely awake yet, ‘I could just cut out that scratchy tongue of yours…’ I finally lose patience and, still lying there with my eyes closed, I free my hand from under the blanket and fling it upwards really, really hard… ‘Oho, just look at this bold horseman’s fancy capers!’ I hear a familiar voice say. And only then do I open my eyes – there, kneeling down beside me, is one- armed Siâķu̇ l. His beautiful, slightly watery eyes, the colour of bird cherries, are narrowed in a smile.