Uruz's First Journey

One day Salur Kazan looked at his son Uruz. Uruz had turned sixteen, but he had never yet been to the border, never shot an arrow in earnest, never held a sword. Kazan Khan said, "My son, if I die, you will take my place. Come, let me take you to the border and show you what courage is."

Father and son mounted their horses and set out. They crossed mountains and rivers. Kazan Khan taught his son everything: to watch which way the wind blew, to find the path from the sound of a horse's hooves, to tell direction from the stars at night. Uruz listened carefully to it all.

When they reached the border, enemy soldiers saw them. Kazan Khan said to his son, "You wait on that hill, I'll go and take a look. If you are afraid, go back; nobody will say anything to you." Uruz said, "Father, I'm not afraid," but Kazan Khan left him on the hill and rode away.

While Uruz waited on the hill, the enemies noticed him and took him captive. When Kazan Khan came back, he could not find his son. At first he was angry, then his heart ached. He rode alone toward the enemy tents to rescue Uruz.

At that very moment, back at the camp, Uruz's mother Burla Hatun heard what had happened. She mounted her horse with forty maidens and warriors and took a sword in her hand. "I will look for my son too," she said. Father and mother met in front of the enemy tents. When they charged together, the enemies scattered and let Uruz go.

Uruz threw his arms around his mother and father. "I shamed you," he said. Kazan Khan smiled: "No, my son. You were not afraid and you did not run. Today you learned that courage is not being a hero alone; it is standing together with your family and friends."

When they returned to the camp, Dede Korkut came and played his kopuz: "The son follows the father, the mother rides ahead of her son. A family that never lets go of each other is never defeated."