CHAPTER 20
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Walking home that evening, Turgen was troubled as he thought over what Marfa had told him.
“Such silly tattle can do me no harm,” he reasoned, “but what if someone takes it into his stupid head to sneak up the hill and shoot Lad? So long as he stays with me there will be this danger. I must give him back to his family as quickly as possible. There in the mountains he will have protection.”
The resolution did not make him happy, especially when he saw how Lad welcomed him and clung to him.
“How strange,” Turgen thought, “that a wild animal can understand affection while people, who should be wiser, can not.”
For a long time he could not fall asleep but tossed from side to side thinking of the empty days ahead when he would be alone again. Weariness finally won, however, just as he was praying: “Great Spirit, have pity on me ... help me ... teach me.”
Then Turgen dreamed. In his dream it was raining and there were loud crashes of thunder following upon lightning. He went out of the yurta just in time to see the Great Spirit rush past. But so swift was his flight that Turgen had no time to utter a word. Bitterly disappointed, he returned indoors, thinking, “Evidently I am unworthy to talk to Him.”
But hardly had he lain down again when someone knocked on the door.
“Come in, come in,” Turgen called, and the door opened to admit a gray-haired old man who looked strangely like himself. He carried a staff in his hand and a pack on his back.
The visitor bowed, saying, “Thank you, Turgen, for your invitation. It is raining and I am tired. You live so far from me.”
Turgen, delighted to have company, begged his guest, “Come, sit closer to the fire, friend, and rest yourself. I will get you something to eat.” Then, struck by the old man’s appearance, he added: “Why do you climb mountains in this weather at your age? You’re not strong enough for that. You see my yurta--it is spacious and I live here alone, except for this lamb. But I must return him soon to his family. Won’t you stay and make your home with me?”
It didn’t surprise Turgen that Lad awoke just then, jumped from his corner, and going over to the visitor placed his head on the old man’s knees. The visitor stroked him as he said, “You are a good boy and you fell into the hands of a good man.”
Turgen, rejoicing at such praise, replied: “The lamb and his family are a worry to me because people hunt them, even though they are harmless. It is my belief that they should be allowed to live in freedom and peace like....” He was about to say, “like the birds and beasts who dwell with the Great Spirit,” but something told him that his guest already knew what was in his mind for he was nodding. “There is a whole tribe of wild rams not far from here,” Turgen went on. “Splendid animals. While I am alive I’ll see that no one molests them. But I am old and alone. Who will look after them when I die?”
Instead of giving him the sympathy he expected, the old man burst out in anger: “Alone, alone! And whose fault is that? Your own. Happiness is right under your nose, but you don’t see it. You are blind as a bat! Why don’t you ask Marfa and her children to share your yurta with you? She is a fine woman, and so are the children.”
“You know,” Turgen replied, taken aback, “I never thought of that. But it is not yet too late.”
“Don’t wait too long,” the visitor advised him. “Inquire of your heart and act as it prompts you. In such matters the heart is better than the head.”
Turgen started to say that he agreed but would have to consult Marfa--and what would the Yakuts say who called him a sorcerer?
But the old man answered him before he could speak: “Don’t let this disturb you. Marfa and the children will be delighted. As for the Yakuts--don’t pay any attention to them. It is not that they are evil, only ignorant. Believe me.”
At this moment, before he could thank the visitor for his advice, Turgen awoke. So real was his dream that he could not rid himself of it. “Amazing,” he murmured. “A miracle.”
The yurta was quiet. The fire in the komelek was dying. The lamb slept peacefully in his corner.
Being a man of simple faith, Turgen did not doubt that the dream was a sign given him by unknown powers. Had he wanted to ask Marfa before to bring the children and share his yurta? If so, he would never have found the courage alone to speak to her of his desire. The dream made everything simple and right. He had begged the Great Spirit for help, and help was given him in the form of advice. Now he had only to act.
It was Lad who roused Turgen from his reflections by butting him gently and crying, “Ma-a, Ma-a....”
“Yes, yes,” he agreed. “It is nearly daylight and time to get up and you are hungry. Come, we’ll have breakfast and off we’ll go.”
Although it was the last meal they would have together, Turgen was not sad. Two thoughts were uppermost in his mind: Lad was going back to his family where he belonged, and Turgen would soon have a family of his own to love and care for.
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