“Qutadg‘u bilig” (excerpts)
The poem has four allegorical characters: the king Kuntughdi stands for Justice, the vizier Oytoldi for Fortune (Davlat), the vizier’s son Ogdulmish for Reason, and the vizier’s distant relative Ozghurmish for Contentment. In the excerpt, Oytoldi does not sit where the king points; he puts down a ball and sits on it, shuts his eyes when the king looks at him kindly and turns his face away; he then explains that he was showing that fortune, like a ball, never stays in one place and is blind. The king first grows angry, then grasps the meaning; in another conversation he explains his own symbols: a three-legged silver chair for balance and rightness, a large knife for settling a case decisively, sugar for the wronged who seek justice, and bitter medicine for the oppressor. He took the name Kuntughdi because, like the sun, he gives light to everyone equally. Ozghurmish declines the king’s invitation, asks for four things – a flawless life, youth without old age, health free of illness and wealth – and warns about death.
Table: write each of the four characters’ names, symbolic meanings and traits in your notebook, then check each other in pairs.