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.

INTRODUCTION

epics of Jangyr are included in the records, moreover there is no mention about it among his notes. Further, the Buddhist culture, its literature and folk religious texts are also missing from the collection (only among the yörah "blessings", in the fragment on funeral ceremony, in a couple of songs and in some folk tales appear Buddhist motifs and context).

5'' In contrast, the Khalkha material offers a great variety of Buddhist text - in fact not surprisingly - as the main informant in Urgha was Yondonjamc, a Buddhist monk, (in Bálint's transcription Yanden Dsamcza).

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0 While the folklore texts could be comprehended as a representative collection of 19

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h century Kalmyk folklore genres (except on the Jangyr epic), unfortunately their reflection of folk life are fragmentary, lacking such important topics as the rituals of birth, folk costume, food (the milk products are discussed in detail, but no mention is made of meat products) and the games with anklebones (astragal, Kalm. saya, sayä). This problem is discussed also in chapter Ethnographica Calmycica. Below a detailed content is offered on the basis of the Manuscript, following Bálint's sequence and page numbering, however the succession of texts in the present book do not follow the original page numbering provided by Bálint. The arrangement of the texts is based on a thematic systematization. The arrangement provided by Bálint

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1 Conversation and Letters 1 Xal'imik kilnden (Kaim. Xal'mg kündn) - Kalmyk conversation 1 Folklore Texts 9 Täilyätä tüli (Kalm. Tälyt túl') - Riddles 9 Üliger (Kalm. Ülgiir) - Proverbs 12 Yöräl (Kalm. Yöräl) - Blessings 14 Dim (Kalm. Dim

) - Songs 15 Utu tüli (Kalm. Ut tül

') - Tales 36 First tale: Boysry - The sparrow

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2 36 Second tale: Köwün moyä xoyr — The boy and the snake 39 Third tale: Kirne zayä - Human 's fate 42 Fourth tale: Moyä köwün - The snake lad. 46 Fifth tale: Tarwj xän - The Steppe-eagle khan 51 Sixth tale: Zul-sar Arsln bätr - The Lampe-yellow Lion hero 56 Seventh tale: Mis. noxä, xulyn - The cat, the dog and the rat 62 Eight tale: Acit köwün - The benefaction of the son\ Öwgnä yurwn köwün - The old man's three sons 68 Ninth tale: Öncn köwün - The orphan boy 75 Tenth tale: Ördin Bay in xän ba Erlg nomin xän - Oirats

' Rich khan and Erlg, the Khan of the Holy Teaching 82 Eleventh tale: Culim xar bätr - Stone-black hero 89 Twelfth tale: Ulädä bätr ba Con-bawya - Ulaadaa hero and the Wolf-wife 96 Thirteenth tale: Xäni kükn ba zäsngin köwün - The khan's daughter and the nobleman's son 105 5

4 The detailed analysis of the lack and presence of the Buddhist religious and cultural context will be topic of another study. u'Grammar p. XIV. 6

1 The titles of main chapters are given by me. 6

2 The Kalmyk titles are only tentative given by me. 17