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
going to get alms, when [he saw that] a large group of novices 6 6" were about to kill a cat. The boy arrived [to them] and said: - Novices, novices! What did this cat do to you? - Thereupon the novices said: - This cat steals, that is why we are going to kill it. - Thereafter the boy said: - Please give me this cat! - And so they set [the cat] free. Thereafter he went further. While he was going, [he saw that] a large group of women were about to kill a dog. The boy arrived [to them] and asked: - Women! What did this dog do to you? - Thereupon the women said: - This dog steals, that is why we are going to kill it. - Thereafter the boy said: - Please, do not kill this dog! Please, give it to me! - He asked and so they set [the dog] free. Thereafter he went further. While he was going, [he saw that] a large group of boys were about to kill a rat. The boy arrived [to them] and said: - Boys, boys! What did this rat do to you? - Thereupon the boys said: - This rat has broken the whip. 67 0 - [63] Thereafter our boy asked them and they set [the rat] free. Thereafter the boy went further. While he was going, he met a running snake half of whose body was on fire. The boy took that snake and threw it into water. Thereafter he went further and a handsome young man was coming to him, who said: - Boy, you have saved me from death, come to [visit] us. 67 1 - Then the boy went further. While he was going, he a saw a fleeing fox. 67 2 The boy pursued and reached it. Thereafter the fox said: - Will you take advice from my mouth or will you take my palm-size skin off? 67 3 - The boy said: -1 will take advice from your mouth. - Thereupon the fox said: - Now, you will go to the great hermit Lama. Upon your arrival seventy novices will hold your horse; 67 4 seventy novices will open the door. Also seventy novices will come and offer you food in a bowl. 6 7" Thereafter the great hermit Lama will tell you: "Boy, what do you [wish to] take from me?" Thereupon say: "I wish [to take] the golden ring 67 6 from your chest." - Thereafter the boy went further. He arrived at the great hermit Lama. Upon his arrival seventy novices held his horse, seventy novices opened the door. Upon his entering and sitting down, seventy novices came and offered him a bowl full of food. He ate his food and was sitting. Thereafter the great hermit Lama said: - Well boy, now what do you [wish to] take from me? - Thereupon the boy said: - I [wish to take] the golden ring from your chest. - [64] Thereafter the Lama looking left cried, looking right smiled and gave [the ring]. 67 7 The boy took the ring and arrived home. After sleeping the boy got up and [recognised] that he was lying in a [soft] bed. 67 8 He looked upwards [and he recognised that] his yurt had turned into a yellow spotted building. When he looked to the right, there were a large group of young men who were preparing bows and arrows. When he looked to the left, there were a 66 9 Bálint manjirmüd , cf. Kalm. manji "Klosterjunge, Knabe der im Kloster lebt od. zum Lama erzogen wird. Schüler" (R. 355), manj "uőenik (v kalmyckom monastyre)" (Mun. 341), manji "1-ja stepen' monaSeskago posvjaäienija" (Pozd. 229); the additional -r- of the plural suffix appears only in some cases (cf. babaya + -rmiid). the suffix is discussed by Ramstedt in his dictionary (R. XVI) and by Benzing (Benzing, Johannes: Kalmückische Grammatik zum Nachschlagen. Wiesbaden. Otto Harrassowitz 1985. p. 82). 671 1 Bálint silbürtä ed xayaläd bäinä , "whip or broom", cf. Kalm.D T. silwür "eine lange Peitsche (mit langem Stiel und klatschender Schmitze), Schafhirtenpeitsche"; Kalm Ö. "Kehrbesen", vgl. sirwül (R. 357), Silwür "knut, biC" (Mun. 672). 67 1 Although this is a usual motif in folk tales, here it is not elaborated and remained incomplete. On the motif in Mongolian tales, cf. Taube pp. 438^139. 67 2 On the role of the fox in the folk tales and in the mythology: Birtalan. Agnes: A Survey of the Fox in Mongolian Folklore and Folk Belief, in: Der Fuchs in Kultur. Religion und Folklore Zentral- und Ostasiens. I. Ed. Hartmut Walravens. Wiesbaden, Harrassowitz Verlag 2001. pp. 35-58 67 1 The appearance of fox that gives advice is a frequent motif in the Kalmyk tales. Cf. the above note. 67 4 There is a motif-corruption here, the boy rode a calf initially and not a horse. 67 5 Hyperbolic formula for emphasising the strength of the main hero. 6 7" On this motif cf. Taube p. 438 6 7' Usual formula in Kalmyk and other Mongolian folk tales. 67 8 Bálint uluba, cf. the note in the 4'" tale. 100
