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

Fragment of a Maxna yöräl Blessing to the meat [= mutton] Nar awe ir. Maxn

' arsan bolad, Ijln

' oln bolad. i\ra x ,„ 291 Its meat has become nourishment. Its herd

2 '

2 has become numerous, Bring [the meat] here. Fragment of Dotrin yöräl Blessing to the chitterlings Arsan boltxa. Ijln

' oln bolj, /dsn maxn

' madnd Let its herd become numerous And meat, consumed [by us], Become nutriment! Bálint's second text is devoted to the greeting of the Lunar New Year,

2''

4 to receiving the new and sending off the old. This feast is one of the most important occasions in the life of the Mongolian ethnic groups both for the families and for the religious communities as well. The Kalmyks consider this feast to mark the beginning of spring and spring work such as the dropping of the young and the migrating to the spring camp. Both texts recorded by Bálint - the good wish for the White Moon

29

5 and the previous good wish on the occasion of consuming mutton - might have been performed during the Lunar New Year festivities (that Bálint witnessed in winter 1872).

29

6 "In February was the great feast of the Kalmyks, called cayän sar (White Moon). They identify it with the Russian New Year. Even the teacher could not tell me why it is called White Moon. A gelong (Lama or priest)

29

7 came and sprinkled the lads with the arsän™ [a kind of holy] water with saffron, possessing miraculous effect, while he muttered a certain bobor bobor,

29

9 It was the entire religious service. In the evening all the pupils of the Kalmyk girls' school - the Russian government provided such one as well - wearing entire Kalmyk [national] cloth came to the lads wearing Russian wear. They prepared and brought 2,

1 Bickdüdin antolog. p. 81. 29

2 Ijln ' lit. "its companions, its herd". 2 " Ovalov: Blagopozelanija (jorely) - zanr kalmyckogo fol klora. p. 117; Bickdüdin antolog. p. 82. 29

4 Due to the lack of space the Lunar New Year can not be discussed here in detail. For further facts and literature cf. Bordzanova: Obrjadovaja poezija. pp. 315-326 (with references on Pallas' and Bergman's and other older records); Bakajeva, E. P.: Kalendarnyje prazdniki kalmykov: problemy sootnoäenija drevnih verovanij i lamaizma (XIX - naéalo XX veka). In: Voprosy istorii lamaizma v Kalmykii. Ed. Zukovskaja, N. L. Elista, Kalmyckij NauCno-Issledovatel'skij Institut Istorii Filologii i Ekonomiki pri Sovete Ministrov Kalmyckoj ASSR 1987. pp. 71-87, Bakajeva, E. P.: K voprosu o specifike kalmyckogo kalendarja. In: Cybikovskije ctenija. Tezisy dokladov i soobscenij. Ulan-Ude 1989. pp. 19-22; Ambekova: Cecn bulg. p. Ill; Birtalan - Rákos: Kalmükök, pp. 29

2 Further texts to the Lunar New Year: Bordzanova Magiceskaja poezija. pp. 79-81, 164; Bickdüdin antolog. p. 74. 2'"' "Februárban volt a kálmikoknak cagan szára (fehér hónap) nevezetű nagyünnepük, amelyet ők az orosz újévvel azonosítottak, hogy miért nevezik fehér hónapnak, azt még a tanító sem tudta megmondani Eljött egy gelong (láma vagy pap) s valami bobor bobor (mormogás) mellett az arsan nevezetű és csodahatású sáfrányos vízzel meghintette a fiúkat, s ezzel elég volt téve a vallásnak. Este a kálmik leánynöveldének, mert ilyenről is gondoskodott az orosz kormány, összes növendékei teljes kálmik öltözetben eljöttek az orosz öltözetű fiúkhoz, s a maguk sütötte, s magukkal hozott kálmik süteményt kiosztották ezek között. Ezután egy pár örmény muzsikus zenéje mellett kezdődött a tánc, amely abból állott, hogy a fiú megfogva a leány kezét bicegtek előre, hátra; majd meg szólót táncoltak kálmik dalok mellett." Zágoni. pp 38-39. 29

7 Kalm. gelng (Mong. geleng, Khal. gelen from Tib. dge slong) "fully ordained monk" on the hierarchy in the Kalmyk Buddhist monasteries cf. Birtalan - Rákos: Kalmükök, pp. 44-46. 29

8 Kalm., Khal. arsan, Mong. rasiyan from Skr. rasäyana "blessed water, mineral water, elixir used during religious rituals and also for curing maladies". 96-98 29

9 Cf. above. 54