“Mirzo Ulug‘bek” (II) and tragedy

The scene in the village takes place on an autumn evening in the yard of Ota Murod. When Ulug‘bek wants to leave the yard he sees armed soldiers posted in ambush on every side and says Abdullatif’s cowardice is plain. The ambush is led by Abdullatif’s confidant Abbos: he intends revenge for his father’s death and shows a legal ruling that holds Ulug‘bek responsible. Ulug‘bek does not believe him: he says exile from the city was the lightest punishment for what Abbos’s father had done. Ulug‘bek, who had sworn not to take up a sword, this time must use the sword inherited from his grandfather, but after the lantern is knocked down, in the dark the enemies wound and bind him. In his testament he says he leaves not property but his books and tables, that time cannot destroy them, and that his heirs are the people of the homeland. His faithful retainer Berdiyor arrives a minute late and punishes Abbos. Ulug‘bek sees the full moon come out of the clouds, bids farewell to the stars, friends, Firuza and people, asks Abdurazzoq to write the events down in detail, and dies. Piri Zindoniy, who spent fifty years in prison, weeps for the first time. The textbook’s analysis shows that although the tragedy ends in death, the reader is not left in despair: the great scholar’s work goes on, and the life of parricidal usurpers like Abdullatif is short.