Chapter XVII

And then there was this:
[Geser] opened his liver,
Took out  a mottled book.
Opened his forehead,

Took out Mayidari’s yellow book.
And then
Took from among the yellow books of fortune
The first three books
And began to read in agitation.

“Where are the souls
Of those monsters?
There must be the souls
Of  both the elder and the younger brothers?”
That was what he read:

“The place where there are [their souls]
Is upon the shore gorge
Of the great black sea,
There are their estates
At the foot of the  Khatan mountain.

In a stone cave
There are their palaces.
Their great-grandmother,
Ninety-seven years of age, lives there.
If you don’t finish with the great-grandmother

There will always be some trouble.
Great is her
Magic power,
Awful is her
Sorcerer’s power.

She is approaching
To meet with us.
All these books
Must be taken away!”
[Geser] said the right word.

And instantly he took away and hid
The yellow books of fortune
And then
Hardly did he hide in the liver
The cherished mottled [books of fortune]

That there rushed in
The wife of the old malicious monster
With a very white beak,
With a pointed big chin.
She had on top her head, just in the middle,

The only big eye,
In her mouth
There was the only tooth.
And that woman
Ran in brandishing a white shining

Six-thousand-feet-long
Leather-dressing  stick.
[Geser] was at a loss.
Not knowing what to do
He snatched out

A Khangai mighty arrow.
Began to spell over its notch -
Red flame broke out,
Began to charm the bow-string -
Blue flame broke out.

“Hit and break
The first neck-bone [of the old woman].
Hit and break
Her shoulder bone,
Scatter [the pieces]

About the tops of grass,
Scatter [the pieces]
About the tops of reed!
If I am to be defeated by the old woman
You fly past!

If I am to defeat her
Having scattered all about the tops of grass
Fly back!”
Having scattered all about the tops of reed
Fly back!”

He fully stretched [the bow-string],
It seemed the arrow-head was about to slip off,
Drew back [the bow-string] up to the end,
It seemed [the arrow] was on the point of coming off.
And he shot [the arrow]!

The arrow [meant for] the elk
Flew very fast.
The arrow [meant for] the Manchurian deer
Soared up
And hit the target, broke

The first neck-bone [of the old woman],
[The arrow] broke
Her  shoulder bone.
Scattered [its pieces]
On tops of grass,

Scattered [its pieces]
On  tops of reed.
[She collected the pieces] from the tops of reed,
Joined [them], again recovered and got up,
Collected [the pieces] from the tops of grass,

Joined them, again recovered and got up.
She threw [at Geser] the awful white
Six-thousand-feet- long leather-dressing stick.
The stick flew with a whistle following him.
When throwing [the old woman] spelled:

“Pursue [Geser] persistently
Until the hair on his head get rotten,
Until his scull is split and turns to dust!
Break his first neck-bone,
Break his shoulder bone

And throw
About the tops of grass,
Throw
About  the tops of reed!”
Abai Geser the Mighty