Last of all, the grandfather brought his grandson to the Ak Baur tract. Sanzhar was very happy to be met there by a family of almost tame ground squirrels, who were not afraid of the boy and let him come to them at arm's length. There were also rocks of bizarre shapes, rock carvings made with red paint, and huge stones.
"It's like an open – air museum," said grandpa. "The history of the stones is shrouded in secrets from the past."
"And what happened here?" Sanzhar asked
"That's the thing, no one still knows!" grandpa chuckled. "These ancient idols are standing there and tell no tales about forgotten customs and aspects of the life of long-vanished civilizations.."
"Let's come up with some interesting story about this place! Sanjar exclaimed fervently.
Gazing at the lake and the strange, lone standing monolithic blocks dug into the ground, they began to fantasize, trying to put together the fragments of a mosaic of enigmatic stones. And here's what they got…
Thousands of years ago, there were green meadows with thick and juicy grasses here. Ancient people lived in these places. They had an original way of life. They obtained food by hunting animals and fishing in the lake, and also collected wild fruits, berries, mushrooms, roots and other gifts of nature. Some raised cattle, others cultivated the land, others made clay utensils, stone tools and jewelry, sewed clothing from leather and animal skins. They roamed and raised children. Since time immemorial, the mountains have been their home. People placed rough-hewn wild stones everywhere as boundary posts. In the evening, they shared their feelings and experiences with each other, looked at the stars and drew on the rocks. Through their drawings, they showed themselves and the world as they see it, conveyed impressions of incomprehensible natural phenomena. On the flat stone surface, they were scratching out the figures of animals. Then they crushed soot, chalk, and clay into powder, mixed it with fat and painted over the drawings. Deer were depicted walking proudly, horses were shown in a swift run, wild boars were painted angry and disheveled, and bears were strong and calm. To make the drawings bright, people invented a special paint that was able to accumulate light and emit it in the dark. They were making luminous paints from the liver of sacrificed animals, and known to them herbs ("Ak Bauyr" means "White liver" in Kazakh). Young tribesmen were taught songs and dances. The elders talked about the seasons, medicinal and poisonous plants, the habits of animals and birds, sang about the deeds of their ancestors. Closely observing nature and themselves, people wanted to understand what this world is like. They were interested in everything: animals, plants, rivers and mountains, the sky and the sun. They saw beauty in everything and rejoiced in it.
The leader of the tribe - Ziyaly - strictly followed the peaceful life of his people, maintaining its unity. Being already in years, Ziyaly was a man of great knowledge and a brilliant mind, thanks to which he was far ahead of his time. He would spend hours thinking about how the world works. Every day, observing changes in nature, phenomena in the sky and stars, he discovered something new for himself and depicted it with secret signs and symbols on the bark of trees and clay tablets. But the more research the old man conducted, the more disturbed he was by the thought that his fellow tribesmen are not given to understand these inscriptions - perhaps their descendants will be able to comprehend everything... "I must keep all the priceless secrets in such a place so that future generations can use them," decided the elder.
At that time, he made a smart young boy named Zerek his assistant and patiently taught him his work. One day, after much thought, the sage sat his disciple next to himself and said:
"My boy, I am now old, and you are young, strong and agile. You must take my treasures to the sacred place. In the future, there will be visionary and enlightened people who will fly to the Moon and to the stars. Those people must find the solution to the mystery that lies behind these signs."
The aksakal warned the boy that he would have a very long road to the sacred valley, the white mountain located there served as a reference point. And so, having received the blessing of the elder, Zerek set off on a long journey. The day went by, the month went by... Constantly competing in speed with the wind, he became a fleet-footed runner. Stretching out his arms, he flew up into the sky like a bird. One day, while flying, he saw a mountain below and landed on a large stone. Tired of the road, Zerek did not know where he was. While exploring the area, he noticed a hole among the rocks. Leaning over there, he suddenly fell down and lost consciousness. When he came to his senses, he realized that he was in a cave, and decided to spend the night in it. That night, he dreamed of grandfather Ziyaly, who said: "My young friend, you did not disappoint me! Here you have found the sacred place! I knew it. Now think about how to leave my precious legacy there for posterity. Our future generations must definitely find these signs to decipher them. I am certain this will be a road to science for the benefit of humanity!"
Zerek woke up and glanced around the cave. It was dark and spacious. "If I bury these vaults of secrets – the barks of trees and the tablets on which the knowledge of the elder is inscribed, they may corrupt, and the inscriptions will disappear," the boy thought. And so Zerek decided to rewrite them. He dipped his walking stick in the indelible paint that old man gave him once, and began to write the letters on the stones. "What could it possibly be?" the boy thought in the meantime. "Evidence of an alien ship visiting Earth, some indication of the path of migration of peoples, or something else? So cryptic..." He carefully inscribed petroglyphs and drawings, yet he could not figure out the solution to the mysterious signs.
Hungry and exhausted, Zerek somehow climbed out of the cave to the top. Having lost all his strength, he barely crawled to a nearby spring. Once the boy had satisfied his thirst, he suddenly felt that his strength had increased. Looking back, he saw a white mountain standing in the valley. "This is the sacred mountain Ak Baur! How did grandfather Ziyaly even know about it?" the boy wondered. Zerek himself did not even notice how he named this land "Ak Baur".
Having accomplished his task, the boy hurried back to where the sage was waiting for him.
The writings of the ancient wise man are yet to be unraveled.
"I enjoyed the story!" Sanzhar smiled happily.
"Here I experience an extraordinary sense of harmony, peace and balance" said grandfather.
"And you know what, grandson?" he grinned. "Perhaps you will be the one to uncover the mystery of the Ak Baur land, which is regarded as one of the most wonderful places in the world."
"I dream of solving this mystery! Sanzhar flushed with excitement."
"And to do this, you need to study a lot and be constantly in search," grandfather told him earnestly.
"I'll do my best!" Sanzhar promised solemnly.
As he was saying goodbye to this mysterious place, the boy made a wish and, according to the sign, stuck a coin into a crack between the rocks in order to comeback here many more times.
