Book of Dede Korkut/Legend Two
Short summary
Medieval Oghuz lands. Bay Bure Bey lamented having no son. The Oghuz princes prayed for him, and Allah granted him a son. Bay Bichen Bey also received a daughter, and the two children were betrothed in infancy.
At fifteen, the unnamed boy rescued merchants from infidels and was given the name Bamsi Beyrek. He went hunting and met his betrothed, Banu Chichek, without knowing who she was.
She challenged him to race, shoot arrows, and wrestle. Beyrek won all three contests, threw her down, and kissed her three times and bit her once. He placed his ring on her finger as a sign of engagement.
Dede Korkut went to ask for her hand, but her mad brother Delu Karchar demanded impossible bride-price items. Through cleverness, Dede Korkut delivered everything, trapping Karchar with fleas until he agreed to the marriage.
On his wedding night, infidels captured Beyrek and held him for sixteen years. A false report of his death led to Banu Chichek's engagement to another man. Beyrek escaped, returned disguised as a mad minstrel, and revealed himself to his bride by reciting:
Did I not kiss you three times and then bite you once?
And did I not then put the ring on your finger?
Am I then Bamsi Beyrek, the man you once loved?
The Oghuz princes attacked the infidel castle, freed Beyrek's companions, and he married both Banu Chichek and the infidel princess who had helped him escape. They celebrated for forty days and nights.
Detailed summary
Division into chapters is editorial.
The prayers answered: birth of Beyrek and Banu Chichek
At a grand assembly of the Oghuz princes before the khan, a prince named Bay Bure Bey witnessed three young men standing in positions of honor and began to weep bitterly. When questioned by Salur Kazan about his distress, Bay Bure explained his sorrow.
I have neither son nor brother. Allah the Almighty must have cursed me. I lament for my crown and throne, for if I should some day fall and die, my family would come to an end.
The assembled Oghuz princes raised their hands and prayed to Allah to grant Bay Bure a son. Another prince, Bay Bichen, also requested prayers for a daughter, and the princes obliged. Bay Bichen then declared before all witnesses that if Allah granted him a daughter, she would be betrothed to Bay Bure's son in the cradle. In due time, both prayers were answered.
Beyreks first heroic deed and naming ceremony
Bay Bure sent merchants to the Land of Rum to purchase gifts for his son before he reached manhood. They bought a gray stallion, a finely strung bow, and a six-part club. The boy grew to fifteen years old, handsome and bold, but remained unnamed according to Oghuz custom. One day while hunting near his father's horse range, the young man encountered merchants who had been attacked by five hundred infidels from Avnik Castle at Kara Dervent pass. The merchants' leaders were captured and their goods plundered.
The young prince immediately gathered his forty warriors and pursued the infidels. He fell upon them while they divided their spoils, struck them with his sword, and recovered all the stolen goods. When the grateful merchants offered him any reward, he admired only the gray horse, bow, and club. Upon learning these items were meant for Bamsi, son of Bay Bure, the young man realized they were intended for him and rode away without taking them.
When the merchants arrived at Bay Bure's camp, they kissed the young man's hand first, explaining that without him they would have lost everything. Bay Bure invited the Oghuz princes to a naming ceremony. Dede Korkut came and gave the boy his name, blessing him as Bamsi Beyrek with the Gray Horse, asking Allah to preserve him through all dangers.
The hunt and secret engagement with Banu Chichek
The Oghuz princes went hunting on Ala Mountain. While pursuing a deer, Beyrek came upon a red tent rising from green grass. He killed the deer near the tent, which belonged to Banu Chichek, the girl betrothed to him in infancy. A woman named Kisirja Yinge came out and asked for meat. Beyrek gave her the entire deer and inquired whose tent it was.
When Banu Chichek learned a prince had given them the deer, she proposed a test. Covering herself with a shawl and claiming to be the bride's nurse, she challenged Beyrek to compete in horse racing, archery, and wrestling. If he could defeat her in all three, he could defeat Banu Chichek as well. Beyrek's horse ran faster, his arrow flew farther, and after a fierce struggle, he threw the girl to the ground.
Young man, I am Banu Chichek, the daughter of Bay Bichen... Beyrek kissed the girl three times and bit her once. Then, putting the golden ring from his own finger on the girl's finger, he said...
The girl revealed her true identity, and Beyrek placed his golden ring on her finger as a sign of their engagement. She told him to leave, and he returned to camp. When his father suggested marriage, Beyrek described the kind of wife he wanted.
Father, get me a girl who can move before I can, who can mount my black stallion before I can and who can bring me my enemy's head before I reach him. This is the kind of girl I want.
Bay Bure immediately understood his son wanted Banu Chichek, but warned that her mad brother killed anyone who sought to marry his sister.
Marriage negotiations: Dede Korkut and Delu Karchars tests
The Oghuz princes decided to send Dede Korkut to ask for the girl's hand, providing him with two fast horses from the khan's stables. Dede Korkut found Delu Karchar shooting arrows at a target. When Dede Korkut announced his purpose, the violent brother immediately mounted his stallion and pursued him through ten passes. As Delu Karchar raised his sword to strike, Dede Korkut invoked Allah's protection, and the brother's hand froze in mid-air by divine power.
Delu Karchar repented three times and agreed to give his sister to Beyrek. However, he demanded an impossible bride price: one thousand male camels that had never seen females, one thousand stallions never crossed with mares, one thousand rams that had never seen ewes, one thousand dogs without ears or tails, and one thousand fleas. Bay Bure provided the animals, and Dede Korkut found the dogs and fleas.
When Delu Karchar asked to see the fleas, Dede Korkut led him to a sheepfold where the fleas were kept and locked him inside after having him remove his clothes. The fleas swarmed over Delu Karchar until he begged for mercy. Dede Korkut advised him to jump into a stream, and the fleas were washed away. Humbled, Delu Karchar began preparations for the wedding.
The wedding night ambush and Beyreks capture
Following Oghuz custom, Beyrek shot an arrow and erected his nuptial tent where it landed. His betrothed sent him a long red gown as a gift, which he shared with his forty warriors, promising each would wear it in turn. That night, as Beyrek and his men sat drinking, an infidel spy observed them and reported to the commander of Bayburt Castle that Bay Bichen's daughter, promised to him, was marrying Beyrek instead.
The commander attacked with seven hundred infidels while Beyrek slept. His deputy drew his sword to defend him but was torn to pieces. Beyrek and his thirty-nine warriors were all taken prisoner. In the morning, Bay Bure and his wife discovered the torn nuptial tent and the deputy's body. The father threw down his turban and wept, while the mother scratched her face and pulled her hair in grief.
Sixteen years of captivity and false news of death
Bay Bure's household filled with sorrow. His daughters and daughters-in-law discarded white clothes for black. Banu Chichek tore her red cheeks until they looked like autumn apples and wept loudly.
Oh, the owner of my red trousseau!
Oh, the promise of my forehead!
Oh, my fine young hero, my handsome man!
My young khan, whose face I have not yet gazed upon enough.
All of Beyrek's friends and the Oghuz princes mourned deeply and lost hope. Sixteen years passed without any news of Beyrek. Delu Karchar came to the khan's court and declared that if anyone brought news of Beyrek alive, he would receive a bag of gold, but if anyone proved Beyrek dead, he would give his sister in marriage. A man named Yaltajuk, son of Yalanji, produced a blood-stained shirt that Beyrek had once given him and claimed it as proof of death.
The shirt was shown to Banu Chichek, who recognized it and began mourning again. When the news reached Beyrek's parents, they gave up all hope. Yaltajuk became engaged to Banu Chichek and fixed the wedding date. Bay Bure sent two merchants to search for any news of his son's fate.
The merchants discovery and Beyreks escape
The merchants traveled until they reached Bayburt Castle during an infidel celebration. Beyrek was there playing the kopuz for his captors. When he saw the merchants, he communicated with them through song, asking about his family and whether Banu Chichek remained unmarried. The merchants replied in verse that everyone lived but wore black in mourning, and that Banu Chichek was engaged to Yaltajuk with the wedding date set.
Beyrek went to his forty companions weeping and told them the news. The prince of the infidels had a daughter who visited Beyrek daily. Seeing his distress, she asked what troubled him. When Beyrek explained his situation, the girl, who loved him, offered to help him escape if he would return and marry her. Beyrek took an oath, and she lowered him down the castle wall with a rope.
At the infidels' horse range, Beyrek found his gray stallion grazing. The horse recognized him, reared, and neighed. Beyrek praised his faithful companion and mounted him.
I shall not call you 'Horse', but 'Brother',
For you are even better than a brother.
I say that I have work to do,
Oh, my comrade, who is better than a comrade.
Beyrek rode to the castle gate and entrusted his thirty-nine warriors to the infidels, warning that if he found ten missing, a hundred infidels would die. Forty infidels pursued him but could not catch him. In Oghuz lands, Beyrek met a minstrel going to Yaltajuk's wedding and exchanged his horse for the minstrel's kopuz.
The false wedding and Beyreks return in disguise
Beyrek encountered shepherds piling rocks by the roadside. They explained they planned to stone Yaltajuk as he passed, preventing him from marrying their prince's betrothed. Beyrek blessed them and continued to his father's camp. At a spring, he met his youngest sister drawing water and weeping for her lost brother. Through verse, he questioned her about the lands and herds, and she replied that everything remained but unused since her brother's departure.
Beyrek then approached his elder sisters, who fed him and gave him an old coat. When he put it on, it fitted perfectly. The oldest sister noticed his resemblance to Beyrek.
If your black eyes seemed not so sad,
I should have called you 'brother Beyrek', minstrel... With your swinging walk,
With your lion stance,
With your handsome look,
You are so like my brother.
Realizing he might be recognized, Beyrek returned the coat and put a camel cargo sack over his head, pretending to be mad. At the wedding, he watched the groom and other beys shoot arrows. When Yaltajuk shot, Beyrek cursed him. Angered, Yaltajuk ordered him to pull his bow or die. Beyrek pulled it so hard it broke. They brought Beyrek's own bow, and he shot an arrow that shattered the groom's ring. The Oghuz princes laughed and clapped.
Recognition and confrontation with Yaltajuk
Kazan Bey summoned the mad minstrel and offered him anything he wished. Beyrek asked only to attend the wedding feast. Kazan granted him authority for the day. At the feast, Beyrek overturned kettles and threw food around. He then entered the girls' quarters, dismissed the musicians, and demanded that the bride dance while he played kopuz. Two women pretended to be the bride, but Beyrek exposed their secrets through song until Banu Chichek herself came forward.
As she danced with hands hidden in her sleeves, Beyrek sang about the khan's daughter whose fingers were lost to frost. Angered, Banu Chichek revealed her hands, showing the golden ring Beyrek had placed there. He demanded its return, and she challenged him to prove it was his by recounting their first meeting. Beyrek described their race, archery contest, wrestling match, and how he kissed her three times, bit her once, and gave her the ring. Banu Chichek recognized him and fell at his feet.
Dressed in new clothes, Beyrek was brought to his parents. Banu Chichek rode ahead to announce his return.
Your round black mountains had fallen, but now they are rising again... And Beyrek your son, who was gone sixteen years, has returned. My father and mother, what gift will you give for good news?
Bay Bure tested whether this was truly his son by rubbing his eyes with a handkerchief soaked in blood from Beyrek's finger. By Allah's power, his sight was restored. The father embraced his son.
Son, the support of my tent with the chimney of gold,
A flower to my daughters and brides, like white geese;
The light of my reopened eyes, oh, son;
The strength of my backbone, oh, son.
Yaltajuk fled to the marshlands in fear. Beyrek followed and set fire to the rushes. When Yaltajuk emerged and passed under Beyrek's sword, Beyrek forgave him.
Battle at Bayburt Castle and the true wedding
Beyrek declared he could not have his wish until he captured the infidel castle and freed his companions. Kazan Bey called the Oghuz princes to mount their horses. They raced to Bayburt Castle, performed prayers, and engaged in terrible battle. The field filled with human heads as the Oghuz warriors knocked down infidel princes. They attacked the castle, and Beyrek found his thirty-nine warriors safe. They destroyed the infidels' church, built a mosque, and delivered a sermon in Allah's name.
They presented valuable goods and beautiful girls to Bayindir Khan. Beyrek married the commander's daughter and returned home to begin his wedding ceremony. Kazan and Bayindir Khan gave girls to the forty warriors, who erected forty tents. The weddings and banquets lasted forty days and forty nights. Dede Korkut came, played the kopuz, told legends, and declared this story would be Beyrek's legend. He concluded with prayers that the listeners' mountains not be destroyed, their fathers and mothers go to heaven, and that Allah forgive their sins for the sake of the Prophet Mohammed.