Tursunboy Adashboyev

Poet Tursunboy Adashboev has been awarded the «Do‘stlik» (Friendship) Order for his services in strengthening the bonds of friendship between the Uzbek and Kyrgyz peoples. He is also a Merited Cultural Figure of Kyrgyzstan and a recipient of the «Manas» Order. A number of his works, imbued with humor and wit, have been published in Russian, Latvian, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, and Tajik languages.

Biography

Looking at the history of great writers, it can be seen that the birth of talent happened differently for everyone. If Alisher Navoi memorized Farididdin Attor's work «Mantiq ut-tayr» from his early youth and amazed such a peerless poet as Mavlono Lutfiy with his first works while still in his adolescence, Usmon Nosir achieved fame by the age of maturity. While the well-known children's poet Samuil Marshak practiced writing poetry from the age of 4-5 and created his first poems by the age of 11-12, Quddus Muhammadiy was nearly 40 years old when he published his first poetry book titled «O‘quvchiga esdalik».

The beloved poet of little ones, Tursunboy Adashboev, recalls with longing that he was 12-13 years old when he began to pair words with words and put his wonder and all his energy onto paper. «My entry into literature,» writes the poet, «was primarily due to the influence of my teachers, and secondly, people like Abdullajon Shaitov, who was devoted and had a great love for literature, I am not mistaken in saying.

When I was in the sixth grade, a letter from the famous scholar Hodi Zarif appeared in the newspaper «Qizil O‘zbekiston» (currently «O‘zbekiston ovozi»). In the letter, there was an appeal to readers asking for help in recording epics from among the people. Our school principal brought the newspaper and told me to find a person in the village named Olim Qarg‘a who used to recite epics at weddings, write down his epic, and send it in. I wrote a letter to Hodi Zarif about this. A reply came from Hodi aka: 'Brother, I ask you to write it down exactly as it comes out of his mouth, without adding anything to the epic, and send it to me.'

This was the epic «Yozi bilan Zebo». In short, I searched for Olim Qarg‘a; he was working on a mud wall in a neighboring village. I found Olim aka at work, introduced myself, and told him my purpose. 'Fine, you'll scribble on paper for me for a week; if I sit there telling you an epic, my livelihood will be left behind. We'll write in the evenings,' he said. We agreed. In a week, I had written down the epic and sent it to Hodi Zarif... It would not be surprising if these interests during my school years were what led me to great literature.».

It can be seen that, as is the case with many creators, folklore works in the form of fairy tales, epics, legends, and fables played a great role in the budding of Tursunboy Adashboev's talent. Indeed, the passion for the unique magic and charm hidden in the layers of the oral art of words is one of the factors that internally illuminates the poet's entire body of work.

Having attracted the attention of masters like Mirtemir and Qudrat Hikmat with his first works, while also faithfully following the lessons he learned from them, Tursunboy Adashboev is currently considered a leading representative of Uzbek children's poetry.

Born in 1939 in the village of Safed Bulon in the Alabuka district of the Osh region of fraternal Kyrgyzstan, T. Adashboev, a Merited Teacher of Uzbekistan, Merited Cultural Figure of Kyrgyzstan, poet, translator, and publisher, traversed a long life and a laborious creative path.
When his first poetry collection, «Kamolning olmasi», was published, he was still a student at Tashkent State University (currently the National University of Uzbekistan).

The poet, who considered tireless creative research as his calling, studied at the Higher Literature Institute in Moscow and had the opportunity to get closely acquainted with rare examples of world children's literature. He was tempered by participating in creative debates and discussions with fellow children's poets and translators in the former Soviet Union.

When speaking about the leading characteristic of T. Adashboev's work, it is worth mentioning first and foremost that he does not settle for achievements and his restless, inquisitive nature. Because some creators, after reaching a certain level, do not rack their brains about improving their skills, and as a result, they cannot go beyond repeating themselves. T. Adashboev deeply feels that this path is extremely dangerous for a creator.

«There is a very famous English children's poet named Walter de la Mare,» he writes. «It has been 200 years since he lived. He wrote only one book in his life. This book is published every year in all countries where English is spoken. If you read that book, you will say, 'Oh, Korney Chukovsky and Samuil Marshak learned to write poetry for children from this.' Honestly speaking, we do not read not only world children's literature, for example, de la Mare's work, but not even the literature of fraternal peoples.».

The poet, who considers succumbing to creative complacency and the inability to go outside one's own shell to be the bane of artistic skill, strictly follows his convictions in artistic creation as well. While an emphasis on the traditional descriptive style is visible in the many poems about innocent childhood, the Motherland, and mother nature included in his collections «Kamolning olmasi», «Biz sayohatchilar», «Olatog‘lik bo‘laman», «Surnay», and «Arslonbob sharsharasi», most of the works in his relatively recent books such as «Uch baqaloq va sirli qovoq», «Orzularim - qo‘sh qanotim», «Oltin yolli tulpor», and «Latifboyning loflari» express a philosophy of life imbued with kindness through wonder mixed with light humor and games in a language suitable for children, yet in a way that makes adults think as well, which can be evaluated as the product of working on oneself and tireless research.

In T. Adashboev's work, the Motherland and nature are interpreted as related concepts. The lyrical hero of his works does not understand the Motherland separate from nature, nor nature separate from the Motherland. Whether he speaks of the Motherland or reflects on nature, he avoids dry description and praise. On the contrary, he shares the sense of wonder that arose in him due to a certain scene or situation.

The skylark lies on its eggs,
Confiding with the wormwood.
The black beetle makes a marble,
Dragging it to the hillock with effort.
The gopher is skittish,
Doing its work running.
The marmot under the juniper
Stands turning its prayer beads.
Grasshoppers from the reed
Make a flute – they whittle it.
To the mare in the steppe,
The gadfly plays the dutar...
«Toldi buloq»

The skylark sitting on its eggs confiding with wormwood, the black beetle making a marble, the gopher running around skittishly, the marmot sitting under a juniper turning prayer beads, the grasshopper making a flute from a reed, and the gadfly playing the dutar to the mare – the artistic imagery of the nature scene in the steppe through the examples of the creatures in it evokes bright feelings in the heart of the little reader, connecting their imagination and consciousness to the sights of mother nature. An adult reader, even if they have seen, observed, and witnessed those scenes and situations many times, is astonished by their own inattention. The lyrical hero's keen gaze and warm attitude toward nature are also transferred to them.

It is important that that nature, that land – it is his Motherland. Creating such a mood in the reader gives life to the feelings of love and loyalty to the Motherland.

«Our house was cold,» writes poet Kavsar Turdiyeva. «The 'apartment' building had not yet started heating up. My little son drew a picture of a bright red sun on the window glass with paints. For some reason, Tursunboy Adashboev's poem «Jo‘nataman quyoshni» came to my mind. In the poem ending with 'I will send the sun in my next letter,' the psychologism and national spirit characteristic of Tursunboy aka's work are prominent.

The skill of a children's writer is not only seeing and perceiving the world through children's eyes, but also presenting this perception to the wide reading public in just that way.».

In my opinion, T. Adashboev's artistic skill is precisely defined by his seeing and perceiving the world through children's eyes and conveying it to the reader in that way. Gardeners pruning the hair and beards of trees, whitened trees wearing white socks («Hasharda»), spring hanging winter by its nose to the gutter («Sumalak»), lightning cracking walnuts in the sky («Bahor kelgach»), water coming down from Askar mountain being crushed on the rocks, the pine tree being pierced into the sky, the snowy peak being compared to a Kyrgyz hat («Sarichelak»), the bear soaking its felt boots and the rabbit sewing itself a fur coat from white fluff, green comb-like junipers combing the wind's hair and white-shirted birches wearing gold embroidery («Qish») are actually products of childish imagination and perception.

The heroes of T. Adashboev's poems are «happy, inventive, dreamy, hardworking children with a good appetite who raced the splashing water, ate cream dipped in bread to help their aunt, compared the sun rising from the mountains to the bread their mother baked, advised their grandmother looking at her wrinkles, 'If you pressed it with an iron, it would become smooth,' and returned home in the evening with their pants sagging after sliding on a garden slide all day» (Muhtarama Ulug). Their mischief and playfulness are in harmony with their curiosity to know the puzzles of the world around us and their unceasing questions:

The ant has no heel,
The dragonfly has no ear.
Born with a beard
Are the kids of the goats.

The spineless black beetle,
The snake is without hands and feet.
What happens to the trees –
If they are colorless and paintless.

Why does the bee
Sting and die itself?
Interesting, why is the worm
Two-headed?

In the creative development of T. Adashboev as a children's poet, the expressive style of folklore works, the examples of masters like Qudrat Hikmat, Sulton Jo‘ra, and Zafar Diyor, and the creative traditions of world children's literature serve as an inexhaustible source of inspiration and a school of experience. That is why he honors his masters by calling them «the gardeners who raised and brought me up,» and respectfully emphasizes the work of the representatives of world children's poetry by calling them «the springs I drank water from.»

Many examples of world children's poetry have become the literary property of the wide reading public through T. Adashboev's translation. Among them are works such as K. Chukovsky's «Yuvin, do‘mbog‘im», «Maydadir», S. Marshak's «Ahmoq sichqoncha haqida ertak», «Tentak ovchi», «Dono sichqon haqida ertak», S. Aksyonov's «Sehrli qizil gul», V. Berestev's «Ko‘lmakdagi suratlar», «O‘qishni bilsang o‘zing», B. Zaxoder's «Samovar», «Bo‘ri maqtasa...», N. Dumbadze's «Ketino», «Igna», Ovsey Driz's «Kutilmagan hodisa», V. Danko's «Qorbobo bo‘lsam agar», Yan Bjexva's «Tuxum va tovuq», «Tuz haqida ertak», and Walter de la Mare's «Pat saqlanar yostiqda», «Bekinmachoq». Pay attention to this poem titled «Kutilmagan hodisa»:

– Tell me, hey, Flea,
Why are you so happy?
– While reading a newspaper
Inside the bear's fur,
My eyes caught a hunter
Pointing a gun at me.
Such a terrible situation
My seven ancestors hadn't seen.
Aiming at me,
He pressed the trigger: bang!
Luckily, the bullet suddenly
Hit the bear, look...

The translator's skill is such that if his name is not written, the little reader will not immediately believe that the work is a translation. The Flea's confession regarding the terrible situation of a hunter pointing a gun at it, which its seven ancestors had not encountered, gives the poem a national spirit. As a result, the boundary between the original and the translation disappears.

The rise of translation to the level of a true work of art as an original is a laborious task that requires diligent and long research. Translation does not tolerate carelessness and superficiality.

«Tursunboy aka avoids rhyming Ali with Vali, or 'omon' with 'yomon', and finds extremely new rhymes,» writes Ravshan Fayz. «Just take a look at the rhyming words below: qishloqqa-pishmoqda, toza man-yozaman, baliqlar-aniqlar, o‘z dardi-o‘zgardi, oldimdan-qoldim man, baraban-qaramang... It is evident that Tursunboy Adashboev plays with words like a skilled juggler without any difficulty.».

In Yusuf Khos Hajib's epic «Qutadgu Bilig», it is mentioned that when one of the little characters was asked why he achieved success in doing good deeds without having life experience, he said that he had received his father's blessing. If we approach the matter from this aspect, T. Adashboev can be said to be one of the creators who has received the blessings of two peoples. This is also confirmed by the poet's own confession:
Uzbek-Kyrgyz blood is infused,
If I tell you, I am straightforward.
That's why I am the pampered poet son
Of two nations.

He has been awarded the «Do‘stlik» (2001) Order for his services in strengthening the bonds of friendship between the Uzbek and Kyrgyz peoples. He is also a Merited Cultural Figure of Kyrgyzstan and a recipient of the «Manas» Order.
In 2003, the poet's collection titled «Orzularim - qo‘sh qanotim» was published.