Tambura

Tambura (Dongbula in Chinese) is the most common instrument for the Kazakh people,and people use it to accompany singing.There was a beautiful legend about Tambura.Long long ago,there was a cruel khan on the grassland.His son,as fierce and cruel as him,disappeared during a hunting trip to celebrate his 50th birthday.Khan ordered his servants in the palace to find him within three days,and said that whoever brought bad news would be punished by pouring boiling aluminum water into his mouth.

A young rider found the body of khan’s son.He visited the wisest old herdsman on the prairie,asking him for advice.The old man,thinking over for a long time,finally thought of a way to escape the cruel punishment as long as he did not have to talk.From the tree in front of the house he cut down two pieces of the finest planks.He also killed his horse,getting two pieces of long tendons of its legs.The old man made a magic musical instrument out of the finest planks and long tendons.They went to the palace.Khan sat on his throne,and in the center of the palace was a pot filled with boiling aluminum water.“Have you brought me news of the prince?”Khan shouted at the old man.The old man took out the instrument he had made last night and played it to the khan.The sad music told the story as it happened.When khan heard this,he became furious and ordered to punish the old herdsman.The old herdsman calmly told khan that it was the Tambura that told the story and if he wanted to punish somebody,he could punish it.(https://www.daowen.com)

The senseless khan ordered the warrior to punish the old herdsman.He kept playing Tambura singing his anger in his heart buried for a long time.The old man’s song infected the people around him and they sang along with him.The song was like a volcano erupting,and the khan,paralyzed by the angry song,fell from his high throne into the boiling aluminum pot.From then on,Tambura has been popular in the prairie,as the Kazakh people’s partner.