An exciting day in the life of an
Arhorchin boy
St Margaret’s Co-educational English Secondary and Primary School, Andrik Fernandes, Fiction:
Group 2
Y
ou may wake up in the morning, look at the sky and think it’s going to be an ordinary
day, but it could turn out to be the most exciting day in your life.
Let me illustrate by telling you a story about myself.
My name is Mergen Batukhan and my family belongs to the tribe of Arhorchin
Mongol herdsmen roaming the steppes of Inner Mongolia in the Gobi desert. We keep moving
with our possessions on our horses and camels, to keep our sheep fed and watered. When we find
fresh pastures, we set up our yurts, and that is our new home for a couple of weeks or months, till
the grass and shrubs run out.
Nomadic life can be very tough. Our food consists mostly of meat and milk and we often eat
wild plants and herbs and sometimes even these are scarce. Still, we are very good at finding food
for our family and cattle, and we know where the best grazing lands are to be found.
So one day in May, when the sun was especially strong that it hurt to look up at the sky, my
brother Azbek and I were lying in the shadiest spot we could find, while herding our sheep a few
kilometers from our yurt. We were talking about the adventures we would like to have when we
were men, and that was when we heard a noise in the distance. We were a few hundred metres away
from the path taken by caravans passing the Silk Road with spices, fabrics and expensive goods on
the way to the cities of China, where they would try to get the best price for their merchandise.
We started running towards the path and soon the caravan was upon us and it was led by
merchants dressed in fine clothes - they even wore some jewels in their turbans and around their
necks. What finery! They were talking in a foreign language we couldn’t understand, and when
they saw us they got down from their camels, shouting and gesticulating animatedly.
On seeing them, our first impulse was to turn and run, but since they looked more like they
wanted assistance from us, we tried to understand what they were trying to tell us. They were
about fifteen people, women and children included. They were well attired, but dusty and looked
like they were used to a comfortable life.
Two of their men who probably were their leaders, were trying to communicate with us
through sounds and gestures. It turned out they wanted to find a good grazing spot for their
camels, which were now standing tiredly with their heads drooping down and looking weary. The
family of merchants had food for themselves, but no fodder for the camels, and would not be able
to cover the distance towards their destination if their animals were not fed soon.
Now as experienced herdsmen roaming the Gobi desert with our family and tribe all our lives,
we knew where the best grazing places in the area were located. Azbek and I quickly conferred
between ourselves about whether it was okay to share this information with these strangers.
Of course, we wanted to help but we did not want our own flock to be at a disadvantage, they
needed to graze too. We assumed that these merchants would feed their animals and take some
grass and shrubs with them as fodder for their animals, and go on their way. This would not
impact our herd too much, and so we decided to help.
