Zoya Chokaeva, about my grandfather and his children

Abstract

Zoya talks about her grandfather and his children:I was born in the village of Zurgan-Khuduk in the Maloderbet rayon. In childhood we often listened to stories that our grandfather told us. He gathered us around him, and chanted from the epos Jangar. Then he told us stories about the motherland. In our family, we breed horses. My father spent 40 years as a horse breeder. My grandfather was a well respected person in our village. During the traditional holidays of Zul or Tsagan Sar the villagers used to invite him to their houses to listen to his well wishes and receive blessings from him. My father is the youngest child in his family. He has two siblings, a brother and two sisters. Our family and that of our uncle always lived together. Our grandfather taught us to live in harmony and share our joys and hardships. When my grandfather was sent to Siberia, he gathered around him as many relatives as he could. They went to Siberia in two carts but returned in four. My grandfather had long hair. Once a month he washed his hair with kumis (mare’s milk). Kumis is thicker than sour milk. He did not use medicine or pills. He always washed his hands with salt. When he did not feel well, he boiled water, added oil, salt, and drank it. He looked after his sheep flock by himself, whereas all the villagers kept their sheep together, looking after them in turns. Our sheep were bigger, taller, and weighed more. My father's sister was a very hard-working woman. She had broad shoulders and big hands. In general, she was very strong, for she did manual work.