The 9-year-old Tem¡§?jin is taken on a trip by his father to select a girl as his future wife. He meets B?rte, who says she would like to be chosen, which he does. He promises to return after five years to marry her. Tem¡§?jin's father is poisoned on the trip, and dies. As a boy Tem¡§?jin passes through starvation, humiliations and even slavery, but later with the help of B?rte he overcomes all of his childhood hardships to become one of the greatest conquerors the world has ever known.