10
Where the Alatau Sleeps Under the Ice
Djantemir’s aul passed the cheerful and clear waters of the river Ili and stopped for its last night on a plain. The sun slipped slowly behind the black mass of the Suuk Tiube Mountains and twilight descended on the plain, while a foamy strip of sun-tinted clouds glowed high over the horizon for a long time thereafter.
Kuljan was seeing mountains for the first time and admired them with fascination. Three weeks had passed since the sandstorm, but she felt so weak that even Shauken did not pick on her and force her to work. While recuperating, the girl looked on everything she met with the joy of a person who had been brought back to life, and together with her brother Rahim she rejoiced at everything that was new and strange to her.
Rahim loved
