Birtalan Ágnes: Kalmyk Folklore and Folk Culture in the Mid-19th Century: Philological Studies on the Basis of Gábor Bálint of Szentkatolna’s Kalmyk Texts.
ETHNOGRAPHICA CALMYCICA
Together with the goods (Kalm. xuld ), the festive food [called] sayät* 00 5 is also brought. 10 0" The festive food contains boiled beef and mutton, some gourds of milk brandy and some packets of tea. 100 7 If the son-in-law is rich, this festive food is ample; if he is poor it is scanty. When the maid is taken, a similar gift (Kalm. xürm) u m to the previously mentioned] festive food is brought. Seven-eight days before the delivery of this festive food (Kalm. sayät), several old men, women, daughters-in-law, children"""' and young men come together. [142] People coming from the son-in-law's place send two young men ahead with three sacks of milk brandy and the boiled meat of a whole sheep (Bálint bolyokson xöinä maxatägi, Kalm. xönä bolysn maxtäg) to the maid's parents before their arrival at the destined place. While the gathered people eat the meat and drink the milk brandy that was brought, [people] who brought the gift (Kalm. xiirm) sit outside and wait for what the maid's father or brother say [concerning the wedding]. If one of them 101 0 says to them: "Please let them enter!", they are allowed to enter the yurt. But before they enter the yurt, some daughters-in-law and children hide half of the milk brandy in another yurt. The people who brought the gift enter the yurt and sit down according to their age; but the son-in-law sits last, at the end."" 1 All the food is brought by the son-in-law for the people who gathered in the yurt. After seven or eight days the wedding celebration 101 2 takes place. If the son-in-law is ashamed at the celebration and does not dance"" ' and sing, the daughters-in-law and the children hit him with pieces of wood or whips and force him in this way to dance and sing. [People] from the maid's place [sit] on the right side [of the yurt] and all the maid's goods are also collected separately [there]. For the taking of the maid, one person should first touch her and her goods. [143] That person — not [only] the son-in-law - who touches the maid first should match her concerning the year of birth. Then at the time the astrologer said was proper to take the maid, the person touches [first] the maid's goods and thereafter the people who arrived from the lad's place pack them on camels. Meanwhile the children and the daughters-inlaw hit [them] with pieces of wood and whips. Meanwhile he enters the yurt where the goods are, takes her goods and packs them on camels. While he packs [the goods] on camels, the children and the daughters-in-law hit him and get the camels to stand up as well and [try] not to let him pack [the camels]. [But] meanwhile he packs the camels. After the packfed camels] depart, the man that should touch the maid touches her and the son-in-law's people together kidnap the maid (Bálint kükülgi bulädik, Kalm. kükig bulädg). 101 4 While the maid is being kidnapped, children and daughters-in-law hit the young men while others [try] not to give the maid yet. Before talking the maid, the son-in-law's people ask the astrologer about the colour of the horse the maid should be set on. A strong man sits on is definitely derived from this meaning. This term can be found in the description of Kalmyk wedding rituals and ceremonies cf. Habunova: rulml. pp. 51-53. 100 5 Bálint sayäta, Kalm. sayät lit. "with shine-bone"; Kalm.Ö. sayät "Hochzeit", cf. sayät xür 'm (R. 344), sayat xürm "svadebnyj pir (v dome u otca 2eniha)" saya cimg bärülx "vruőit' maluju bercovuju kost' (svadebnyj obrjad)" (Mun 661).This is one of the most significant symbols of Mongolian and particularly Oirat wedding rituals, for the semantics of this phenomenon cf. Szynkiewicz, Stawoj: On Kinship Symbolics among the Western Mongols. In: Religious and Lay Symbolism in the Altaic World and Other Papers. Proceedings of the 27"' Meeting of the Permanent International Altaislic Conference Walberberg. Federal Republic of Germany June 12 , h to 17' h, 1984. Ed Sagaster, Klaus in collaboration with Eimer, Helmut. Wiesbaden, Otto Harrassowitz 1989. pp. 379-385. Further detailed description on the phenomenon: cf. Pallas II. p. 240; Nebol'sin pp. 69. 73. loo« <<p)j es e Verlobung nun, welche bey der Braut mit Zuziehung beiderseitiger Eltern und Verwand[t]schaft in Schmausen und Lustbarkeit feierlich begangen wird, heißt wegen der dabei unentbehrlichen Schatkeule, Schagailu " Pallas IL p. 236. " H' 7 Bálint cinäd bolokson ükiirä, xöinä maxa bederä ärki biiküle cäi . Kalm. canäd bolsn ükrän. xönä maxn bedrän ärk bükl cä. 100 8 Bálint xorim. Kalm. xürm, xürm means the "wedding celebration" and the previously to the wedding given "gift" from the bridegroom's side, as well as the "gift" contributed previously to the wedding given by the bridegroom's side. Cf. Pallas II p. 239; Habunova: Fulmt. p. 49. 100 9 Bálint küküd, Kalm. kükd "children" or "maids"; here the more general meaning, that includes both sexes, is used. 101 0 I. e. the father and the brother of the bride are meant here " ) n Bálint ämitäin süldü, Kalm. ämtrii süld. The place is closest to the yurt's door and is less honoured. This is a kind of prostration gesture on the bride-groom's side for the bride's relatives. Bálint näir jiryal, Kalm när jiryl lit. "feast and enjoyment". I 0" Bálint. Kalm. bil-. 101 4 Cf. Nebol'sin p. 80. 140
