Temujin’s father is murdered. Temujin’s father, a minor chieftain named Yisugei, once robbed a group of Tatars, members of a rival tribe. Neither forgiving nor forgetting this affront, the Tatars poison Yisugei years later. Temujin is nine when his father dies. Dejected, Yisugei’s followers defect to other chiefs—leaving Temujin and his family as outcasts. The widow and her children endure by fishing, foraging for berries and wild onions, and snaring rodents.   © 1997 National Geographic Society. All rights reserved.