Afterwards, the grandfather and grandson traveled to the Katon-Karagay district to see the Berel royal burial mounds, which are famous far beyond the borders of Kazakhstan. The travelers visited the open-air museum-reserve, where Sanzhar learned about the ancient nomadic civilization of these places. And at night, in a dream, a mighty warrior in golden armor came to the boy from the valley of the kings and told him a fascinating tale...
A long time ago, a freedom-loving tribe of Griffins lived in the high-altitude Berel Valley. They owned gold mines, and therefore they were called "gold-guarding griffins". From the gold of Berel, alike Sun, skillful craftsmen made elegant things, from which it was hard to look away. On all their works and even on the surrounding rocks, the craftsmen liked to depict fantastic animals and monstrous half-birds, half-beasts - griffins, which were called "dogs of Zeus".
However, the military craft was considered to be the main one in those parts. The people of the tribe were excellent horsemen. As if released arrows, they flew on their horses across the steppe. Even when pursued by enemies, they pulled the bowstring and hit them with arrows without a miss, half-turning in the saddle.
The leader of the Griffins was a brave and strong-willed man named Alpan (meaning "valiant" in Turkic). Around his neck he wore massive pendants portraying a three-dimensional head of an elk in the beak of a griffin.
The fabulous riches of the Griffins did not give peace to the surrounding tribes, which were tormented by envy day and night, as Berel's gold blinded people's eyes, just like the Sun. Next to the Griffins lived tattooed tribe of Arimaspians (meaning "one – eyed people" in Greek). Drawing an image of a large eye on their forehead, they considered themselves sharp-sighted and watchful. The historian Herodotus mentioned the Arimaspi. And Aeschylus wrote: "Beware of the sharp-beaked hounds of Zeus that do not bark, the griffins, and the one-eyed Arimaspian folk, mounted on horses, who dwell about the flood of Pluto's stream that flows with gold. Do not approach them." During the raids, the Arimaspians burned the settlements of the Griffins and took away their gold. The bald-headed Argippaei, Issedones and other neighboring tribes also attacked Griffins from time to time. But the leader of the Griffins was a wise military leader who showed his warriors a striking example of fearlessness. While fighting with the enemy, he had suffered several fractures of his ribs and neck vertebrae, but, having excellent health, he quickly recovered from injuries, and as soon as the fractures healed, he once again personally participated in battles. A fortune-teller once foretold to the superstitious head of the Arimaspi tribe, Bahir (meaning "blinding" in Turkic), that the leader of the Griffins would soon have a boy who would possess more gold than all the other leaders combined. Bahir believed the prophecy and became afraid. He willed to eliminate Alpan at whatever cost. One day, during a quiet period of feuds, Alpan decided to unwind and set off on a hunting trip. Many loyal griffins went with him. They managed to lasso a fox, a hare and two saiga antelopes. Proud and delighted, the horsemen were returning home through a blooming field. Everyone was anticipating the joy of meeting their mothers, wives and children, and their excited voices carried far across the steppe. Only the leader was brooding, disturbed by some doubts. Approaching his native village, he suddenly willed to be alone: he sent the tired warriors ahead with the loot, and he let his steed set off to the stream. Alpan dismounted and sat down on a rock by the water. The leaves rustled softly, the water slowly babbled, soothing his pounding heart. Suddenly, a rustle broke the silence, and his old enemy, Bahir, appeared in front of him. The treacherous Arimaspan tracked down and waylaid his arch-enemy, tethering his horse nearby. Alpan never expected that he would be attacked almost at home. The suddenness of the attack gave the enemy an advantage, and yet Bahir faced fierce resistance. The rampant struggle lasted for a while, ending with the victory of the Griffin. Rival, who had treacherously attacked, now fell lifeless. However, Alpan felt that his strength had run out. Sinking to the ground in the rays of the setting sun, he suddenly remembered his childhood and his mother, who adored him. With difficulty, he whispered to the familiar figure that had appeared to him: "I'm sorry, Mom! Farewell! I love you." And he lost consciousness. Shortly after, his men arrived at the scene of the fight. In great sorrow, they picked up their wounded leader in their arms and took him to the healers, but he died during a complex surgery. For the last journey, the leader was carried on a chariot. The inconsolable mother willed to bury her son with all sorts of honors, like a nobleman of his rank should. His warriors dug a huge hole and built a magnificent tomb for him from stones and felled trunks of centuries-old larch trees. Alpan was buried in luxurious clothes, embroidered with beads and decorated with thousands of plates in the form of small figures of animals made of pure gold of Berel, alike Sun. Along with the supreme leader, 13 saddled stallions of the "golden" color (fiery red) were buried in the mound, which were supposed to accompany him to the other world. Alpan's mother watched over the arrangement of sending her son to another existence. But when all the necessary procedures were over, and the large mound, called "golden" by the people, could be filled in, she considered her maternal duty fulfilled and died of grief and anguish. Just a few months after the death of her son, she was buried next to him in clothes richly embroidered with jewels and gold of Berel, alike Sun. Later, due to a terrible drought, the legendary Griffins, Arimaspi, Argippaei and Issedones settled throughout the world. Historians consider these places to be the homeland of the Kipchaks – a Turkic-speaking people engaged in nomadic cattle breeding and crafts. Almost the entire territory of modern Kazakhstan was the domain of the Kipchaks and was called the Kipchak Steppe. According to one of the scientists' versions, the Kipchaks, whose descendants were the Kazakhs, came from the sary-kipchaks ("sary" means "yellow " in ancient Turkic) – they might have been called so because of their light hair or the popular fiery-red horse color or gold they had, bright alike Sun. From here, from the Kazakh land, the Kipchak culture spread around the world, across ethnic groups, languages and religions. The Kazakh people have put together proverbs about the military valor of the Kipchaks: «Where there is courage, there is victory», «Fortune is always on the side of the brave», «The warriors that possess strength do not fear the waves of foes», «We did not live in servitude on our own land».
