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
That [Bogd] is here. [79] We are scared and don't go close to [that Bogd], - They said and thereafter that young man left. These two [heroes] went towards the yellow demon [khan], the Brimen's [place]. They went for a long while and arrived at the place of the yellow demon [khan] Birmen and dismounted. They both entered the yurt and sat down. The yellow demon [khan] Birmen said: - You dogs of miserable fate from where to where are you going? - Thereupon the eight-year-old [hero] said: - Do not ask anything from anybody! You are a dog, [you] mischief. 71 9 - And he struck him into the ground seven spans [deep]. Above [him] he stamped some mud. That yellow demon [khan] Birmen had a son. [They] became [sworn] brothers with that boy. Thereafter they made a feast and the two elder brothers told their little younger [sworn] brother: - Stay here, we will go away and later we'll come back. - They went for long and once a huge thing neared flying from the direction of the setting sun. A bird arrived at them and fluttered above them. 72 0 That bird was the Khan Gardi. 72 1 Thereafter our two boys asked the Khan Gardi: - From where to where are you going? - Thereupon the Khan Gardi said: - Here, in the direction of the setting Sun lives a khan called Badm Tsetsg. 72 2 A yellow monster 7" ' is going to get that khan's daughter by force. That khan's daughter said "The seven-year-old hero called Bogd, son of the seven thousand and seven hundred-year-old Dösh Khar uncle [80] is in the direction of the rising sun, bring him here." So 1 came to take him. - Thereafter the seven-year-old Bogd said: - When will that maiden be given? - Thereupon that Khan Gardi said: - Now, after twenty-two days she will be given. - Thereafter that boy asked: - How far is that place from here? - Thereupon the Khan Gardi said: - Well, starting from here, a man can reach that place in one year. - Thereupon the Khan Gardi asked: - Where is the yurt of the seven-year-old Bogd? - Thereupon the boy said: - I am the seven-year-old Bogd. - Then the boy said to the Khan Gardi: - Come behind us, we will go ahead. - Thereafter the seven-year-old Bogd put the nine-year-old Bogd and his horse into his side bag and galloped away. After galloping he arrived two days before the marrying of the girl. He arrived and dismounted his horse at the khan's place. The khan and the queen were bound to a cart. 72 4 Both [boys] entered and sat down in the yurt where the girl was. A huge yellow monster was going around 72 5 the girl, mocking [her]. Thereafter the yellow monster said: - What did the astrologer say? Who will make [the girl] bow? 72 6 - Thereupon the seven-year-old Bogd said: somebody. For the Turkic and Hungarian connections of this expression cf. Ligeti, Lajos: Nyelvet fogni. In: Magyar Nyelv XXXII. (1936) pp. 45M6 [To capture somebody for investigation]. 71 9 Bálint Künäsü iigü surulügä bäiji. noxä gedek elmer' The precise meaning of this sentence needs further research. 71 1 Bálint keisäd odba, cf. Kalm D. kis- "umfallen, stürzen, zur Erde fallen, Kalm.Tw. mit dem Winde Iiiegen, klsc od- austürmen, anfallen" (R. 234). Despite the majority of the listed equivalents suggested in the dictionary the word here has merely the meaning of the Tw. Dialect "fly, flutter" The context also implies that the Garuda rather floated above the heroes not falling down. 72 1 Skr. Garuda, Mong. Tarudi, Tardi, Qanyarid, the mythical bird, that overcomes harm and evil, figures frequently in Mongolian folk tales as supporter (adviser or mount) of the hero and as a messenger as well. For the mythical role of the bird, cf. Birtalan: Die Mythologie, p. 987. 7 2 Bálint BadmaCecek, Kalm. Badm Cecg "Lotus flower". 72 3 Bálint mangas, Kalm. mangys. müs, Mong. mangyus, Khal. mangas. Bur. mangadxai "monster" that appears in a great variety of forms, usually with 15, 25, 95, etc. heads Cf. Birtalan: Die Mythologie, pp. 1009-1010. 72 4 Bálint Xän xatun xoyvrägi tergenlä küläd orkokson bäidak. Tergenlä read tergendä (?) "to the cart" as a fix point in the steppe (Gorjajcva's explanation), cf. also Thirteenth tale. 72 5 Bálint kükiinä ende tenden i yarci, lit. "went on the girl's this and that side". 72 6 Cf. the chapter on Kalmyk wedding. 107
