Once, while the great Khan was sitting at his favourite spot, under the Chinar tree, smoking and puffing on his chillum, in his secret village in the high mountains, he saw his crazy father-in-law walking by, dragging the old donkey, along the narrow scrub path. The donkey was carrying a load of digging equipment and the crazy father-in-law looked all injured, with lots of scratches and blood-lined scars on his arms and face. Alarmed, the great Khan asked, "Oye you foolish old man from the plains, what is the matter? Why are you full of scratches and why is there blood all over you? Did you have a fight with your neighbours? or, did you go to try and get married to a new bride? Are you not satisfied with three wives already?"
The father-in-law of the great Khan was tired, and did not want to waste more time talking to his son-in-law. He knew that the great Khan would have the last word, and moreover he would keep talking about it to everyone in the secret village in the high mountains. He replied, "O great Khan, it was not anything like that. I am just now returning from burying my second wife. I am too tired, and please do not harass me now. I am supposed to be in mourning."
Shocked, the great Khan murmured in apology, "Oye old man, I am sorry. When did your second wife die? I had not heard about it. I would have also attended the burial. Why are you returning alone? And why did you come all this way, higher up in the high mountains to bury her, when you all live in the miserable hot and humid plains?"
The father-in-law of the great Khan murmured, "Not at all. I would have invited you all for the burial, but it was not meant to be. Alas. We were coming to visit her daughter in the nearby village, like your wife is the daughter of my first wife. This second wife of mine, a miserable demon, more like a Berber nomad than a Kazakhi, that I was told she was, before we got married. I was fooled. She kept on scolding me, and criticizing me, and screaming at the donkey, the poor thing, all the way from the plains to these high mountains."
The great Khan was curious now, and asked, "O, so did the donkey throw her on these high path, then? and, did you go to rescue her from the slopes and rocks? and is that how you got all this blood and scratches?"
The father-in-law replied, "No, no no no... not at all... I could not bear the screaming and the scolding. The donkey was quite ok with it all, the poor animal. But I could not tolerate the loud voice. That's why I have all the scratches and blood. She simply refused to get buried. But somehow, I managed. What to do. Now, I have no one to talk to on the way back to the plains. Only the donkey. It will do."
The father-in-law of the great Khan was tired, and did not want to waste more time talking to his son-in-law. He knew that the great Khan would have the last word, and moreover he would keep talking about it to everyone in the secret village in the high mountains. He replied, "O great Khan, it was not anything like that. I am just now returning from burying my second wife. I am too tired, and please do not harass me now. I am supposed to be in mourning."
Shocked, the great Khan murmured in apology, "Oye old man, I am sorry. When did your second wife die? I had not heard about it. I would have also attended the burial. Why are you returning alone? And why did you come all this way, higher up in the high mountains to bury her, when you all live in the miserable hot and humid plains?"
The father-in-law of the great Khan murmured, "Not at all. I would have invited you all for the burial, but it was not meant to be. Alas. We were coming to visit her daughter in the nearby village, like your wife is the daughter of my first wife. This second wife of mine, a miserable demon, more like a Berber nomad than a Kazakhi, that I was told she was, before we got married. I was fooled. She kept on scolding me, and criticizing me, and screaming at the donkey, the poor thing, all the way from the plains to these high mountains."
The great Khan was curious now, and asked, "O, so did the donkey throw her on these high path, then? and, did you go to rescue her from the slopes and rocks? and is that how you got all this blood and scratches?"
The father-in-law replied, "No, no no no... not at all... I could not bear the screaming and the scolding. The donkey was quite ok with it all, the poor animal. But I could not tolerate the loud voice. That's why I have all the scratches and blood. She simply refused to get buried. But somehow, I managed. What to do. Now, I have no one to talk to on the way back to the plains. Only the donkey. It will do."
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