The Defender

In the mountains of northeastern Siberia, Turgen lives alone among wild rams and becomes a target of rumor simply because he treats the animals with unusual kindness. The valley folk, stirred by a shamanist's drunken "visions" and fed by gossip and fear, begin to shun him, while Turgen's only refuge is the humble warmth of Marfa's crowded yurta, where a widow's hard-won dignity and her children's trust offer rare human fellowship. When he finds a starving little home with baby Lad and their mother absent, he brings food, comfort, and quiet help, deepening a bond built on gratitude rather than suspicion. As the story turns toward the mountains, Turgen's grief, solitude, and reverence for nature sharpen into moral purpose. Haunted by memory and moved by pity, he sabotages a reckless hunt, then receives a mysterious dream that seems to consecrate his duty to the rams. But when a gunshot scatters the flock and a young lamb falls into danger, Turgen rescues and nurses the injured creature with patient tenderness, discovering in Lad a fragile companion and a sign of sacred hope amid hardship, superstition, and loss. This edition has been fully restored with modern typesetting, custom cover design.