In the early morning when the air was sweet, a young man in a spotless white shirt, a colourful tie and with perfectly combed hair, walked flamboyantly along the city’s clean and tidy central street. A girl of about twenty in a yellow striped dress and scarf on her head, secretly looked at him with wayward eyes.

“Is he a teacher or a scientist… or an official in a foreign organization? But who’s care? In any case it’s not my destiny to meet and walk hand in hand with him”, she thought with sadness. From morning until late at night many people passed this way, filling her clean streets with paper and other litter. But this young man liked to walk early in the morning, as she found out one morning when a friend of his passed in his car and asked him, “Hey, Saruul! Have a seat. I’ll give you a ride”. But he answered: “No, thank you. It’s a pleasure for me to walk in the morning along this clean street and breathe in the sweet air”.
Thereafter the girl began to enjoy her work which she had disliked before. She met many young men but no one was like him – grand, self confident and he appreciated her work. “He is really cultured and well educated” she thought. Once she stopped her work and leant against the fence to give him a smile when he passed by. He smiled and winked his eye and went on his way. Maybe it was his gratitude for the clean street.
One morning the young man, who had always walked alone before, appeared hand in hand with a beautiful young lady. The girl was shocked for a moment, then thought “No wonder, he ought to have such a girlfriend.” She heard the young man say to his girlfriend, “I like to walk along this street. But if they plant flowers on each side of the street it will become even more beautiful.”
A few days later the girl had finished planting the flower seeds, the same flowers as in the park near the Government Palace. She even worked at night. Every morning she hurried to see her flowers growing and opening their petals. Soon the flowers bloomed.
Each morning the young man continued walking with his girlfriend. When he finally saw the flowers he rejoiced saying, “God heard my words!” and laughed. The girl was happy that she was giving him joy. She wanted to say: “I have sown these flowers, deliberately! But she was happy, and thought, “Anyway I’m important to him, because the street I have cleaned and flowers which I have sown give him pleasure”. She imagined herself as his girlfriend. She supposed that his girlfriend was also a teacher or scientist.
The girl had many younger brothers and sisters, her mother worked hard to get money just for meals. The girl graduated from high school with high marks, but could not afford to go to university. She thought about it and sighed deeply, “Maybe, some day I’ll go to the university along this street.”
One morning, as she happily finished cleaning the street, the young man and his girlfriend were nearing the place where she stood. “What, are they talking about my flowers?” she thought. The young man with the brisk walk and a kindly smile on his face suddenly threw his expensive cigarette with golden filter into her wonderful flowers. “What are you doing”? asked his girlfriend. The elegant young man looked out of the corner of his eye, and said, “It doesn’t matter, she will clean it up”, and continued on his vigorous walk.
The sweet cleaning girl’s eyes filled with tears as the silhouette of the young couple slowly disappeared down the street.

A six year old little girl was standing and staring with fascinated yet downcast eyes at the train. She ran back when it was out of sight.
She went over to a young woman who was fixing the railway earth wall. She looked at the two cranes flying slowly, flapping their wings to the southeast, and said happily:
“Sister Enkhmaa, look there … a crane.”
The young woman held her shovel in one hand, wiped her sweat with the other, and said:
“Yes it is!”
“Sister Enkhmaa, what happened to the promise that you will go with me and look at the fledglings.”

“Okay. It’s lunch-time” said she, leaving the shovel standing on the earth-wall, and walked to the small rocky outcrop holding the girl’s hand.
While jumping up and down, the girl said:
“Sister Enkhmaa, where do the cranes go?”
“To bring food for their fledglings…”
“From far away?”
“Yes. Delicious food is always far away”
“Then every day?”
“Every day!”
“Do the fledglings ask for delicious food every day?” the girl asked.
Enkhmaa answered tiredly: “Yes they do”
“Then how come they come back so quickly?”
“Because they have wings.”
The girl pondered a while and said, “Then perhaps, Mommy is gone for a bear-covered-chocolate”
“Why?” Enkhmaa asked surprised.
“Because I ask my Mom for a bear-covered-chocolate everyday. And Mommy would say, ‘A bear-covered-chocolate is not in this desert and the town is a far-away. Mommy will bring it when I go to town’. Mommy has no wings. That’s why she is late, isn’t it?”
Enkhmaa didn’t think so.
“I don’t think your Mom went for a bear-covered-chocolate”
“Then where did she go?”
“I don’t know”, she said, but she remembered that the girl’s mother had gone to the town with a young man from the repairing brigade, leaving her husband and daughter behind. She used to say sadly, “I want to go to town. I am becoming sunburned to my eye-lashes, with nothing to do, nothing to hear and no one to talk to in this desert. I asked him to transfer to town, but he wouldn’t move. I do not want to turn into lizard, why should I stay in this desert?”.
Then, they came to the rocky outcrop.
Yesterday’s red flood water had sunk into the sand with no trace.
Seeing the two crane fledglings crying open-mouthed asking for food, Enkhmaa marveled, “Oh, what wonderful creatures.”
The girl jumped forward saying in excitement, “Wow. Look!”
Enkhmaa wispered “Wait, move aside, you might reflect your shadow on them”
“What would happen if my shadow fell on them?”
“Their mommy will leave them. Look at your shadow. It’s black, it gets dirt on them”. She continued, “They are amazing. Houses and railways were all destroyed in yesterday’s flood. Yet, nothing happened to these two little creatures.
She looked at the girl. She was standing with tears in her pretty little eyes, and her lips were shaking.”
Enkhmaa enquired, “What’s the matter?” and held her hand.
The girl said with a shaking voice, “My Mommy rejected me and left.”
“No, no. Why would she reject such a pretty girl.”
“No, she rejected me. The day before Mommy left, the man who was talking to Mommy told me that I would get sunburned and sat me under his shadow. That’s why my Mommy left me.”
“No, no. Do not speak of such a thing.” Enkhmaa said tying to comfort the girl. “Only birds get dirt on them from people’s shadow. Only birds,” and hugged her by the shoulders. Looking up she saw that the nest high above the ground was safe from the flood waters.
Then with a loud flapping of their wings, the two large cranes appeared, with delicious food for their fledglings.

On the way to the exhibition hall, Gantsetseg was very excited about her picture and remembered how she had been ashamed to be naked the first time, but the need for money forced her to act so flagrantly. It is now funny to think how uncomfortable she felt with the 2000 tugrigs in her hand as she entered the artist’s meager house with its austere furniture. The artist’s chaotic style of living did not fit with his talent. At that time she didn’t realize that she would come to admire the artist’s talent and be captivated by a desire to be painted only by him. To see how her image was appearing on the paper with the skillful and agile motion of the artist was fascinating. He always said “ Gantsetseg, what I achieve in this exhibition will decide my future. Therefore this picture will play an important role. We must work to be successful”.

No one knows that she is working as a nude model. If her peers knew, they would gossip about her naked picture displayed in the exhibition. Maybe she would not be able to face anyone. The artist knows all about her, her skin, her wrinkles, palm line etc.

Being selfish about her modeling for him, he said: “You are my model. You cannot be painted by any anyone else, whatever they offer as reward to paint you. Your skin like silk, it is your most significant feature which I noticed when I first saw your body through your delicate blouse. I will not let you be painted by others. When painters see you, they will beg to paint you. Please be patient until the opening of the exhibition”. Gantsetseg was about to say: “Don’t worry. I will only be painted by you. I won’t be naked in front of any other person”.  When she was being painted for the first time she thought about the painter and what he was thinking, as he painted her as she was born, whether he wanted her. At first she wanted to be painted as quickly as possible, but later she became accustomed to it and did not mind how long it took.

She was captivated by the artist’s perceptive and inquiring look, his fascinating talk about brilliant painters, their famous paintings of beautiful ladies whose pretty faces and figures had been preserved thanks to the efforts of great painters. He showed the portraits of ladies of the time and explained how these paintings such as the ‘Mona Lisa’, ‘Venera’, ‘Pretty lady with the sable in her hand’ and ‘ Sixteen Nymphs’ had been created. How the famous artist Rubens had recorded the memory of his deceased wife by painting her. He later married a sixteen year old girl who adored his talent and Rubens painted her many times. If he hadn’t painted her, then humankind wouldn’t have known how beautiful Elena had been. All this talk seemed to Gantsetseg to be a myth.

Gantsetseg enjoyed the painting ‘Sixteen Nymphs’ very much. Every time she came to be painted, the door of a new world opened as she listened to the artist’s talk, as she thought about the young mother who loved her baby so much but was forced to send him to alien world, as described in the painting ‘Sixteen Nymphs’. Maybe this thought made Gantsetseg fall in love. She decided to tell him about it many times when being painted, but decided to put off telling him until the opening of the exhibition.

She entered the exhibition hall, the walls of which were full of paintings. The viewers were waiting for the opening and looking at the paintings. When Gantsetseg was looking around to find the artist and her painting, the picture “A Nude Model” appeared before her eyes. The young lady in the picture was her, but she didn’t recognize herself.

She was bathed in the light of the full moon as it streamed through the window on a spring night. She lay on a crimson red sofa with her head reclining, her half closed eyes immersed in thought. The young lady in the picture wanted a man who would take hold of her in his strong arms and let her to experience the happiness of physical love. Her look of loneliness invited a kiss, her lips begging, “Come to me, please come to me”.  The cool air shimmered in the moonlight around the naked young lady, a lady who rarely held her love. Gantsetseg couldn’t get the picture out of her mind. The thought that he loved her and knew that she loved him made her feel happy.

When the exhibition opened, it was announced that the picture “A Nude Model” had taken first place. Gantsetseg was very happy and decided to tell the artist about her love when he came to talk to her. But he artist didn’t look at her because there were many people to congratulate him. When Gantsetseg, with a bouquet in her hand, came to him slowly, he just looked at her and said, “Thank you very much. You are free now. You can be painted by others”.

Saying these words, he turned to the people who were congratulating him. With tears poured from her eyes the wonderful picture was washed away.

1998

There was a famous hunter, called Damdin the Black, my grandfather. We call my grandfather Ajaa.
When my ajaa comes home, with marmots hanging from his saddle, they swing from side to side as he trots on his piebald horse. My brother and I love to eat marmot meat. Our eyes are attracted to the hanging marmots. Grandpa ajaa goes hunting at sunrise and returns at sunset. Then he drinks millet tea with butter in a big koumiss bowl and drinks all the tea in a 5 liter pot, prepared by Grandma.

During the evening grandma removes the skin from the marmots and spreads them out to dry; the smell of the blood brings in the flies so she makes a smoky fire. While we are waiting for the meat to boil, we look into the pot. To cook the meat takes a long time, and it is finally ready when we are about to go to sleep. Grandma invites us to eat the meat. 

Our grandpa ajaa is resting on a mattress in the male designated part of the ger, which is the northern side. He smells the vodka being made in a neighbours ger, so takes one of the skinned marmots and goes to visit his neighbour. When the heavily drunk grandpa comes home at midnight he is singing a folk song, “Hkuren Tolgoi” with a hoarse voice and saying: “My children, sleep. My dear children! My dear children!”. He is kisses our foreheads and continues saying: “This nagging old woman, your grandmother, she probably shouts at you all day long”.
Then he stumbles against the cupboard next to Grandma’s bed; he is sitting with crossed legs in front of her bed, saying: “Hey, my wife, wake up!” shaking her shoulders.  Grandma is not sleeping but she is lying with her eyes closed and not saying a word, thinking maybe this will not make trouble.  Ajaa asks: “Are you sleeping or are you angry?  You probably are angry with me” he is saying crossly, pursing his lips. Then he looks down and says, “Greedy old woman. I can find an old woman like you anywhere. Old woman Dulmaa, every evening she has vodka. You are always lazy. All my life I have hunted marmots without rest. You could do something for me!” He is weeping. “You could do something for me!”  Then he sings another folk song, ‘Shalzat Baahan Sharga’, looking down in deep thought.  After a short silence, taking a long breath he sings again in a loud voice, “I killed my brother, who was dressed in an antelope skin, it was a mistake”, and he began crying. He is saying: “Can this be true? What a strange world!”

When he is not drunk he does not sing at all, as if he does not know a song, but when he drinks he sings different songs off-key during the whole night. He loves to sing.  Finally, he quietly falls asleep without taking off his clothes.

In the morning Grandma is saying; “Children! Get out of bed. Get out of bed, the sun has already risen”. Grandma’s eyes are swelled, as if she cried during the whole night and in the morning. Grandpa is sitting near the stove, smoking his pipe and listening with patience to Grandma’s nagging, in deep thought.
When the tea is prepared, Grandma gives the tea to Grandpa, he drinks the hot tea quickly. Then taking his gun, he goes out without saying a word.

He is riding on his piebald horse, his yellow dog  follows him. The marmots see him and they cry.

My brother and I quietly watch our Grandpa ride past our ger, silently wishing that he would not drink vodka in the evening when he comes home from hunting...

Ulaanbaatar  1989

“Mr. Shanyue, in the nine dice I tossed, a wolf is foreshadowed”, happily cried the fortuneteller. “It’s not a usual wolf but a white wolf”, he said bringing his dice near to his eyes. “Yes, it’s most fortunate a divination”, said Tumen Shanyue, and he smiled with satisfaction. Then he signaled to the fortuneteller to go out, and, grinning, began to reflect on something. He felt satisfied with the possibility of fulfilling the request that his young wife made as she suffered during childbirth. Her lips trembled and her eyes brimmed with tears as she begged “I’m dying, I may die, but if I give birth to a son, please make him the heir of your throne.” He gave his word, “I promise. But don’t die! Without you I will wither away alive.”
The queen gave birth to a son but for several years he was distraught as to what to do with his elder son born of his deceased wife. Later, when a demand was made by the vengeful Yuechji tribe to give one of his sons as hostage, he decided to send his elder son. For that reason, he had asked the fortuneteller to toss the nine dice to see what consequences such a measure could have for his tribe, his family and descendents.
Tumen Shanyue called his elder son Maodunna to him and, placing him by his side, cautiously said, “You know well that king Yuechji repeatedly demands me to give my son as hostage. We are dependent on them in our everyday life. So, there is no other way than to give one of you as hostage. Your younger brother still is too carefree and is a child. But you have reached maturity and are able to understand the real meanings of life. So, for the sake of your native land, your relatives and beloved people you have to leave for a foreign country. You are my child and as dear to me as my own life. In the foreign country you will find out what is worthy of learning and what to despise”. Then he kissed him on his forehead. The boy with his keen intuition and premonition felt a rush of blood through his whole body and was overwhelmed by grief.
Maodunna looked around to observe the people who came to see him off, but he couldn’t see anybody who expressed sympathy for him. When he saw a satisfied look and mischievous smirk hidden in the corner of the mouth of his stepmother, who stood stroking the head of his ten year old brother, he remembered his mother who worried about the future of her son when she died several years ago. “If my mother were alive….” he whispered in despair to himself, as he gulped down the bitter tear that knotted in his throat. He mounted his horse and galloped away towards the strange country without looking back.
The queen and her son entered returned home, she caressed his cheek and heaved a sigh, and said happily, “My dear son. You’ll inherit the throne of your father”.
Several months later, Tumen Shanyue attacked the Yuechji tribe. The Yuechji king warned him several times that he would kill his hostage son by cutting him in pieces, but he ignored it. He occupied half of his territory and killed many of its citizens. One pitch dark night when it was pouring down with heavy rain and Shanyue was peacefully sleeping with his young queen, a rider galloped up and startled Shanyue awake. His large and strong two year old dogs not only didn’t attack but didn’t even bark at him, which meant that the rider belonged to the family. The man opened the door and entered his home. He grasped a cup and scooped up some airag (fermented mares milk) from the leather sack hanging on the eastern corner of the ger, and began to gulp it down. Shanyue grabbed his sword from the wall and cried:
“Who’s it”? The startled man dropped the cup and uttered:
“They wanted to kill me by cutting me in pieces. I escaped from them and ran away. My father, it’s up to you what you do with me”, and he fell down on his knees before him. Shanyue recognized the son he had sacrificed. He looked at the water running down the face of his son, his clothes were wet through and he trembled, rattling his teeth.
“You ran away? Is it true?”, he asked roughly.
“Why should I lie?” He answered indignantly. Shanyue replied coldly:
‘If its true, go back and bring the head of Yuechji king! Take this! He threw his sword at him”. The confused face of his son changed to scorn as he fiercely stared at his father. The father, though afraid of his stare, pretended to be untroubled and gave him his pouch. The queen, awake but drowsy, recognized the arrival of Maodunna and become terrified, getting cold shivers down her back as she hid herself in the chest of Shanyue. The boy bit his lips until they bled, squeezed the sword into his hand and ran out.
Tumen Shanyue was celebrating his victory over his worst enemy and distributing the gains among his worriers. He was enjoying wine filled in a cup made of the skull of the Yuechji king. He was drunk and boasted:
“It’s Yuenchji king’s own fault! While I had given him my son as hostage he missed his chance, and now let us make a cup of his skull. Many khanates must know that through the veins of Tumen Shanyue runs not blood but fire, and they must pray to my face and kneel down before my shadow”.
Then he embraced his elder son by his shoulders saying.
“My son, in acknowledgement of your courage and wisdom, I make you commander of ten thousand units! You’ll be the sharp edge of my sword and the spear-head of my darting arrow! Blood revenge is pursued by arrows”. Then he became a little pensive and lowering his voice:
“My son, I hope you have no grudge against your father. A sword at first is heated in fire and then is hardened by putting it into water”.
Then smiling happily, he added, “You are the wolf foreshadowed in my divination. Come on! Look at me! He stared at his son at length, his eyes dimmed by intoxication, and cried:
“You see, his eyes are just like of wolf. Exactly!” and laughed.
Maodunna, realizing the meaning of his words, looked at his father and smiled.
From that day Maodunna, though not close to his father, served him honestly. As if preparing for a far off war he trained his soldiers, taught them how to shoot with whistling arrows and applauded his soldiers which evoked everybody’s admiration. The taught them to follow his lead without question. One day he ordered his soldiers to shoot at their beloved horses, and he shot his whistling arrow at his horse. Some of the soldiers shot but other did not. He beheaded those who didn’t shoot. Then he shot at his wife, some of his soldiers followed him but others not; again, he beheaded those who didn’t shoot. He later shot the best horse of his father Shanyue. This time, all his soldiers shot their whistling arrows. Though Shanyue knew all these activities of his son, he ignored them. He is his native son and even after his treacherous act to give him as hostage, he came back. Therefore he forgave his return from hostage and made him commander of ten thousand units. He thought without doubt that he came back because he was loyal to his father. If he had been vengeful he could have taken his father’s head to the Yuechji king. Never mind! Either one of his two sons will inherit their father’s throne. The state I have established by great suffering and hardship, must be headed by a real leader. He refused to listen to the incessant requests of his queen.
One autumn day, Tumen Shanyue decided to take his elder son hunting to a place of beautiful pristine nature of bushy trees with yellow leaves, to see his bodily strength and prowess with his own eyes. Shanyue, riding his vigorously trotting horse, looked at the thick suntanned neck and broad shoulders of his son and admired his muscle-bound hands. For him, riding alongside his son amongst robust young men and talking to them as equals about forgotten or hidden details of their history, ancestors and heritage seemed to him the happiest day.
Then suddenly, from a depression in the mount on their left, sprung a he-wolf which ran off. The men cheered and gave chase, the horses excited by the deafening hurrah, raced after the wolf. The white wolf was scared of the chasing horses and darted through the green steppe at its highest speed. The son shot his whistling arrow and the other men, including Shanyue, shot too.
They spent the day full of enjoyment and started to return before darkness. On the way back Tumen Shanyue dismounted his horse and began to drink water from a cold spring. Suddenly, from behind him he heard a trembling voice, full of grievance.
“Father!” Alarmed, Tumen slowly turned back and looked at his son with fearful eyes.
“I’m the wolf foreshadowed in your divination!”, and he shot his arrow. Alongside his arrow, many other arrows whistled and plunged into the chest of Shanyue. Shanyue fell down on his back looking towards the sky. In his eyes the cirrus clouds looked like the waving arms and legs of the new born Maodunna, his umbilical cord tightly tied up with wolf sinew.
His words, “I’m the wolf foreshadowed in your divination” repeatedly echoed and faded away.

Translated by G. Dashdavaa