Kazakh Legend
The Legend of the Dombra
Have you ever heard of the dombra, a musical instrument from the Far East? In this Kazakh legend, you will learn about the magical sounds of the dombra and its association with the famous Genghis Khan.
Once upon a time, deep in an overgrown forest, there lived a clever and cunning monkey. She was also always a little angry. One day, she was eating a ripe purple fig high up in a tree when a long sharp thorn
“Ouch! Owie zowie zowie, gosh that hurts!” screamed the monkey, so loudly that nearly all of the ripened figs fell from
She tried and she tried, but she couldn’t pull the thorn out on her own. It hurt too badly and it was too big for her little hands. She rushed to a nearby human village in the valley to ask someone for help. “Their hands are much larger than mine,” she thought hopefully.
She wandered the muddy streets until she stumbled upon a
“My friend,” she said to the man behind the work table, “Please help me! There’s a sharp thorn in my tail,” she bent it to show him, “Ouch! Owie zowie zowie! And I can’t get it out.”
The craftsman was a kindly sort of man and happy to try to take care of her thorn. But as he was pulling the thorn out, the monkey winced and jerked her body, and the man’s knife
Just like that, a piece of the monkey’s tail dropped on the ground. Plop.
“OWIE ZOWIE ZOWIE!!!” The monkey screamed her lungs out. “Put my tail back together right now! ” Unfortunately, the startled craftsman couldn’t do anything but wring his hands and weep into…