by Aziza Jafarzade (December 29, 1921 - September 4, 2003)

From the book "My Mother's Tales"

Baku: Ganjlik, 1982

Great stories for kids!

Left: Stone monument resembling ram figures. 19th

century. Kalbajar region.

Many brave and courageous men have lived in this

world, my dears, and now I'm going to tell you about
one of them. Even though his name is not written
down in any book, everyone speaks about his courage
and heroism. Anyone who has heard of his exploits will
never forget them. Nor can I forget them. Every time I
hear about him, "the tears dry up in my eyes" [Azeri
expression]. You're not supposed to cry over such a
brave man, but rather pray for him instead.

They say that this story took place at the time when
Timur the Lame [In English Timur is often referred to
as Tamerlane, who was born in 1336 near Samarkand,
Uzbekistan, and died 1405 in Chimkent, Kazakhstan.
Tamerlane was a cruel Turkic conqueror of the region].

Timur the Lame was destroying the land and killing many of the people near Shirvan. In
those times, the Shirvan region was ruled by a very wise king. He was able to persuade
Timur the Lame not to attack [Azeri expression, meaning that he offered gifts to get his
own way].

Even if the people of the Shirvan region lost all of their possessions, at least the King
was able to save the Motherland from being destroyed. Wise old men ["the white-
bearded ones"] and wise old women ["the old women with white sideburns"] offered
the king advice.

It was during those years that a shepherd's son was keeping watch over his herd of
sheep on the plains of Kudru. He had heard that Timur the Lame was somewhere in
that region. He had heard it from the caravans that had passed, or perhaps even from
peddlers and goods sellers. So even though he had not seen Timur, he had heard of
him.

The plain of Kudru. Springtime. At that time, the grass is very high there, taller than
one's knees. The shepherd was very young; you might even have called him a child. His
father had recently passed away. Now he was taking on the responsibility of
shepherding and taking care of his family-that is, his mother and sister.
And now, dear, let me tell you about Timur the Lame. By then, his troops had reached
the plain of Kudru. I don't know if this story is true, but they say that some of his
troops had lost their way in the endless desert. Timur the Lame himself was among
them. They wanted to go and join up with the rest of their troops, which were resting
somewhere. But they were very thirsty. The sun was blazing hot and their horses were
panting from thirst. The animals were panting so much and the people were sweating
so much that their clothes and the saddlecloths had become salty with sweat.

They started to imagine a murmuring river, a babbling spring or a wave-swept lake. But
all of these were mirages. There was no river or spring or lake on the Kudru plains.
There were only small pools. In the summer pastures, the waters of the rain and snow
left over from winter gathered in these pools. Both people and sheep would drink from
those pools.

Timur the Lame's troops didn't come across any of these pools, and the ones that they
came upon were all dried up. Finally, when the troops were very tired, they came upon
the shepherd boy with his herd of sheep. Timur the Lame told his people: "I bet this
boy knows where water is. Where would he water his sheep if he didn't know? Go and
ask him."

One of the horsemen went up to the boy and asked: "Hey, boy, is there anyplace
nearby where we can water our horses?"

The boy looked up at the horseman and then started poking the ground with his stick.
He replied: "Where could there be any water around here? There is no river, no lake
and no spring."

Just then, Timur the Lame arrived with his men. When he heard the boy's answer, he
said: "Then where do you water your sheep?"

The boy didn't reply. Timur the Lame asked again:

"Didn't you hear what I said? Where do you water your sheep?"

The boy pointed to one of the dry pools with the end of his stick: "Over there in the
pools..."

"Don't lie to me, shepherd, there is no water in the pools. They have all long since dried
up."

The boy thought to himself: "Everything dries out wherever you appear." Then he
answered: "But the spring where I water my sheep is very small. It wouldn't be large
enough for your troops."

The ruler flew into a rage:

"That doesn't concern you, shepherd. Tell me where the water is! I'll give you gifts. I'll
give you money - whatever you want..."

The boy replied again, poking the ground with his stick: "I don't need any money. And I
won't tell you where the spring is. Or you will dry it out, too."
"Do you know who I am?"

"Of course, I know."

"Then who am I?"

"Timur the Lame..."

"Do you know that I can have you hanged? That I can make you food for dogs? I can
have you cut into very small pieces. Do you know that?"

The boy looked straight into Timur the Lame's eyes and said: "I know."

All of Timur the Lame's men and troop leaders were astounded at the boy's courage.
Could a child be so brave?

"Boy, show me where the spring is, don't make me angry!"

"The water is as holy as the land, your Majesty. One isn't supposed to show it to
strangers. I wouldn't do anything dishonest."

"This will cost you very dear, shepherd. I feel so sorry for you because you are so
young."

"Don't pity me. Let me be the one who is afraid. I'm the one who will have to pay with
my own life"

"Cut out his tongue... No, don't cut out his tongue. Then he won't be able to tell us
where the water is. Beat him! Beat him until he tells us where the water is!"

Two of Timur's men stepped forward and started beating the boy. The blows struck,
like a snake, hitting the boy on his head, eyes, shoulders and back. But still the boy
would not speak. He was as silent as a stone. He didn't utter a word. Timur servants
kept hitting the child. At last they stopped, seeing that they couldn't get a word out of
the boy, who was now covered in his own blood.

"Bastard! It's as if he is a body of stone rather than flesh."

Suddenly, Timur the Lame's eyes caught those of the little shepherd. He froze in
astonishment. He raised the boy's shirt. Timur's people held their breath in
astonishment: the shepherd boy had turned into stone. They looked around and saw
that the boy's sheep had also turned into stone.

Timur the Lame's men became scared. They quickly mounted their horses, as if they
had seen the devil himself, and galloped away out of that mysterious, strange land.
Since those times, you can see sheep made of stone and other stone monuments
everywhere in those lands. They say that the shepherd boy's courage spread
everywhere throughout the villages, hamlets and even graveyards. It spread
everywhere so that everybody could see what brave sons this land had. May this
country always be the Motherland of brave men.
_______

Translation from Azeri: Gulnar Aydamirova

Editor: Betty Blair
Webmaster: Aynura Huseinova
Launched on AZERI.org: February 2003