He is an old man known to the village elders as 'Nimble Mumin,' recognized for his quick hands, industriousness, and endless good intentions. He has taken the child into his care. Despite all his goodwill and hard work, he submits unconditionally to Orozkul's bullying so that his daughter Bekey's unhappy marriage will not end. He pays the price for a lifetime of allowing himself to be crushed; in the final scene, under the threats of bullies, he kills the Horned Mother Deer—the cultural myth he believes in most—with his own hands. This becomes the irreversible collapse of his dignity and soul.
He worked in labor battalions during the war years, toiled in hardship during the construction of Magnitogorsk, and lost his only son at the front. After losing his first wife, he married his current shrewish wife, the 'Grandmother,' and has been working as a forest ranger for years to struggle for survival for his daughter and grandson.
He is not tall; his nose is flat like a duck's, without cartilage and soft. He wears his old forester's jacket and felt skullcap all the time. He is as nimble as a young man, but he possesses a hollow, withered look with only two or three thin hairs on his chin.
Nine
The grumpy wife whose endless nagging he endures only with silence.
Çocuk
His most precious being; he instills epics in him but breaks his heart with his inaction.
Orozkul
His terrifying son-in-law. The wall of fear against which the grandfather's entire character is crushed.