The apartment is cold, all clothes and winter sunshine littering the floor. The light always seems to shine brighter in the winter, such a simple pleasure. I had my 10 ounces of coffee this morning (I'm monitoring it, I'm pretty sensitive to coffee. Once I drank too much and worked 25 hours at the chocolate shop---I never told my boss.)
I'm reading The Book of Dede Korkut (Dada Gorgud) for my Humanities class, and some of their cultural expressions just tickle me pink. The Dede Korkut is the epic of the Oghuz Turks (supposedly the original Turks). The Inner Oghuz live in a tribal Western Mongolian society under various Khanates, and their lives are centered around horses and subsistence farming. Just a few interesting expressions in the book:
- When mourning, the Oghuz tore their cheeks and "wept bloody tears"
- The Oghuz society is quite egalitarian. In the story of Bamsi Beyrek, Beyrek must first beat his betrothed in a horserace, an archery competition and a wrestling match before she will consent to marry him. I thought this part was pretty funny:
- (During Beyrek's wrestling match with his betrothed) "'If I am beaten by this girl, they will talk my head off and say awful things to my face in the land of the Inner Oghuz.' He gathered his strenth and finally threw the girl. He took off her shirt and caught her by the breast while she struggled to free herself. Then Beyrek took the girl by her narrow waist and threw her down again, making her fall flat on her back. The girl said, 'Young man, I am Banu Chickek, the daughter of Bay Bichen.' Beyrek kissed the girl three time and bit her once. Then, putting the golden ring from his own finger on the girl's finger, he said: 'May your wedding be a happy one, oh, daughter of a khan. Let this be a sign of our engagement.'" Wow.
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