Autobiography no. 2

Sayram Lake is the most beautiful lake in the world
and it is nestled near the mountains of Tian Shan
in the conquered land of Mongolia close to the Kazakh border,
where they bow to the flags of Chinese Empire though once they were masters.

It is an enormous lake and the largest by far at such an altitude,
but speaking of its volume or comparative size disguises the beauty of Sayram.

As with every natural formation that fills us with wonder and awe,
stories have long been told of Sayram.

It is said that once the lake was a vast dry chasm cut deep into a valley beneath the peaks.
A young woman of surpassing loveliness and virtue loved a young man of her village
and with the logic of myth he loved her in return,
but a Devil stole the young woman away and imprisoned her in a cottage in the mountains.
She managed to escape and when she felt the Devil coming close behind her
with his breath blistering her neck and his hands close to grasping her hair
she wept and leapt into the open maw of the earth and fell upon the rocks
and afterward for agonizing days her mortal lover searched for her
until he found her footprints and gazed down to see her body floating upon her tears
and his bitter pain cried out and was added to hers
as he stepped to his death to fall to his rest beside her
and today the waters of Sayram are a monument to their despair and loss.