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.
FOLKLORE GENRES
PROVERBS (Bálint íiliger, Kalm. ülgiir) 25 ] Surymjig - ämtnäs awdg. Uxag - ülgürmüdds awdg. "The teaching comes from people. The idea comes from the proverbs." Most of the twenty-one proverbs recorded by Bálint have an ethical-moral emphasis, focusing on proper, honest behaviour and the importance of education. This apparently reflects the social status of his student informants and possibly those of teachers, at the educational institutions he worked with. However, some proverbs might be part of the (wider) oral heritage as well as those included in the school books of that time. Some proverbs about knowledge and ignorance might be derived from Buddhist religious-moral teaching and from parables such as the four-lined verses of the Subhäsitaratnanidhi or other parabolic teachings of Indo-Tibetan origin. Unfortunately, Bálint did not specify the circumstances of recording the proverbs or riddles, merely noting briefly in which sequence he recorded the folklore material. "Following the tales [I recorded] proverbs, riddles and samples of letters and official documents. 25 . g [12] 1. A man who has escaped from danger will be faced with danger. ÍS 2. A man who has eaten his bread alone will raise his bag 25 4 alone, c 3. A man who knows a lot makes a lot of mistakes. fi 4. A man who knows the way well will not get tired. 5. The strongly [flowing] water strains the canal, the deeds performed strain their performer. 6. While caressing one's braid {kükül), one cuts off one's neck. 7. After the Buddha has seen someone, even the wolf won't eat him. 25 5 8. A man who has caused suffering to others will suffer himself too. 9. Do not tell everything you read, tell only what you know. 10. The wolf s mouth is red no matter whether it has eaten [something] or it has eaten nothing. 11. When the enemy comes, take your goods into consideration. 12. Good milk brandy and a beautiful girl are in fact tasty poisons. 13. If love happens, it happens to the lame and blind as well. [13] 14. To a person with good nature gather many people, to the [water] with good sea grass gather the fish. 15. The yellow butter does not remain in the dog's stomach. 16. Learning the knowledge 25 6 is bright light, ignoring the knowledge is bluntness [and] darkness. 25 0 KotviC: Kalmyckie zagadki. p. 30. The second solution is that of Bálint's, but the riddle differs concerning its motif-elements and syntactic structure 24 1 Manuscript pp. 12-13. 25 2 BukSan, Badm - Macga. Ivan (ed.): Xal'mg ülgürmiid boln tälwrtä tül's. Eist, Xal'mg ASSR-in degtr yaryaC 1960 [Kalmyk proverbs and riddles] p. 76. "A mesék után jöttek a példabeszédek, a talányok, levelek és ügyiratokból való mutatványok, ..." Bálint: Jelentés p. 12, Zágoni p. 151. 25 4 Bálint eberän'i acayän yakcäran örgödek. Kalm. ewrän acän yaycär örgdg. Bálint acayän cf Kalm. acän "Bürde, Last" (R. 18), acan "gruz, poklja2a, bagai" (Mun. 58). 2" Bálint Kügi bur.xan i xäl 'äksän xöinö cono cigi idedek ügä. . Kalm. Küg burxn n ' xaläsn xön. con cig iddg ugä. I. e. If the gods protects someone, there is no further danger to threat him. The lexeme nom denotes "religious doctrine, religion" and "knowledge, learning" as well. Here, I prefer this later meaning as the informants were presumably schoolboys. Kalm. nom "Heilige Schrift, Religion, Buch religiösen Inhalts", nom ügä kiln "Atheist" (R 48
