THE HORSE AS AN EPIC CHARACTER 



by beasts of prey, he defends it. The mares form a circle, 

 heads to the centre, and in the centre are the colts. The 

 stallion remains outside and attacks the aggressor. He 

 always vanquishes the wolf and sometimes the bear. 

 He knows every member of the herd, and should any 

 one happen to leave it, he drives it back. When the 

 young stallions grow up and begin to crowd him, he tries 

 to expel them from the herd by biting and kicking.'' 



It is quite natural, then, that the Siberian epic horse 

 should be as mighty as any Russian or Irish animal. He 

 is even more superb than CuchuUin's steeds. He is as 

 radiant as the sun and the moon, his mane and tail are 

 golden. Fire flashes from his eyes; smoke, winds, and 

 storms issue from his nostrils; his hot breath melts the 

 bit, his iron hoof stops the arrow in its flight. Of course 

 he can fly and speak with a human voice. Now for the 

 story of one of these remarkable creatures. Nothing 

 could be wilder or more fantastic; but one must bear 

 in mind Schiefner's description of the conditions in 

 which the story is told: the winter night, the wind 

 whistling over the steppes, the men crouching about 

 the fire, the little circle lit up by flickering flames, and 

 all about it blackness as impenetrable as a wall. 



Katai Khan, mounted on his forty-horned bull, 

 carries off the two children of Ak Khan, and gives them 

 with other children as a tribute to the old Fish Kiro 

 Balak. Though, fortunately, not devoured, they are 

 drowned, and their bodies are left on the shore. There 

 they are found and buried by a certain Sadei Mirgan, 



137 



