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.

ETHNOGRAPHICA CALMYCICA

kerdeg)*

m of the well and scoops water from the well with that bucket. Another person takes the water that has been scooped and pours it into the trough. Thereafter when the trough is full, the person who divides (Bálint xöi tasalfi, Kalm. xön taslj) the sheep [herd into smaller groups] is called: "Bring the sheep!" (Bálint xöi täbi, Kalm. xö law j [150] The person who stands far from the well, divides the sheep [herd] by ten according to the amount of water in the trough and lets them run [to the trough]. After the three persons have watered the sheep, they drive the [herd] back home again and spend the early afternoon there. After spending the noon [at home] three boys or three girls mix some water with boz"

3

3 and pour this drink called cidm (Bálint cidem) ' into a vessel. Taking it with them, they drive the sheep (Bálint xäriülfi, Kalm. xärülx) to graze until the evening when the sun sets. As soon as the sun starts to set, they drive the sheep quickly"'

5 back home also grazing [on the way home]. By the time the sun is setting they arrive home and the sheep are kept there [overnight]. When they have tied up the livestock," '

1' the sheep are left to rest in the corral (Bálint xöiyän xotondän orülfi, Kalm. xöyän xotndän örülj). Further, [the sheep] are watched (Bálint manüldik

, Kalm. manüldg) at night in order [to protect them] from wolves and thieves. In spring the sheep are milked (Bálint xöi säxulärän

, Kalm. xö säxlär n j and then joined with the lambs (Bálint xuryundun 7 nelldüläd, Kalm. xurydig n

' riildüläd) at noon and are pastured until evening. In the evening [the herd] is driven home and the lambs are separated from their mothers (Bálint ekenäsüni yilyafi abäd

, Kalm. eknäs n'yilyj awäd) and tied to the 1 137 1 1 lamb-rope; or just set free in a corral (Bálint sitem Kalm. slim). These [sic!] are called sterile [sheep] (Bálint suburxa, Kalm. suwrxa), the sheep having a lamb [sic!] are called suwä (Bálint süve xöid) "infertile sheep"."''

1 [151] Our Kalmyks get up early, untie the cattle from the rope (Bálint kerägäsün'i tailäd, Kalm. kerégés n' läläd)'

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0 and drive them to the pasture. But the calves are left at the yurt and they are watched by children until the cows"

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1 come back. The cattle graze from morning until noon and then come back by themselves at noon. If they do not come by themselves, someone from the yurt goes"

42 and drives them home. Then, when the cows come back, the calves are taken and tied to the rope (Bálint zeläsii uyufi, Kalm. zélés uyf). When the cows come near the calves on the rope, a girl from the family lets the calf to go the cow. Then, after the calf [has sucked] and the milk is let down,"

4' the head of the family or a girl milks [the cow]. For milking both flaps of the gown are turned up, both 113

2 Bálint kerdek, Kalm.D. kerdeg "Treppenansatz, Balkon" (R. 226), kerddg "stupen'ka" (Mun. 295). Cf. a motif-element in the 15"

1 tale: the stair of the well is a significant place where the horse of the future hero was born and where the hero catches the horse while it goes to drink. 113

3 Bálint bo:a, Kalm. bo: a drink prepared from boiled milk product, such as eigen "kumis" or cagä "the residue left after the distillation of kumis". Cf. Tartsák. András: White food (cagän ide). In: Material Culture (DVD). 113

4 Bálint cidem, Kalm. cidm, cidm "Gemisch von Wasser und bo: (als Trunk), s. cidm

" (R. 428, 443), cidmg (Mun. 648). 113

5 Bálint delskülji, read delsülj (causative) from Kalm. dels- "jehat' bystro, beJaf

, idtl bystro" (Mun 198). 113

6 Bálint malän kereksen caklu, here the use of expression mal "livestock" refers to the general evening activity with the livestock and not only with the sheep. 113

7 Bálint köngnö, Kalm. kögn (Ramstedt), kongná (Munijev) "I. ein Strick zum festbinden der Kälber id. Lämmer" (R. 336), "petlja. privjaz s petlej dlja molodnjaka Aivotnyh" (Mun. 317), cf. Khal xögn "id". The diverse phonetic structure of this lexeme in various sources shows dialectal differences 113

8 Bálint ergenä sitem, cf. Kalm. ergn "okrestnost' " (Mun. 702); Bálint sitem, Kalm.D. sitm "geflochtener Zaun, Flechtwerk. Zaum für de Schafe, Schafstätte" (R. 361) "

3'' Bálint Nädki suburxa xöidigi xurgudtaigin 'i süwe xöid geji nerädedek. This sentence is probably incomplete. Both lexemes mentioned in the sentence designate barrenness of the livestock. Cf Meserve, Ruth, The Expanded Role of Mongolian Domestic Livestock Classification. In: AOH 53/1-2 (2000) pp. 23—45; Birtalan, Agnes: Terminology connected to the age, gender, special features and behaviour of the livestock In: Material Culture. (DVD). Khal. suwai is "a female that did not produce young for a year", Kalm. suwrxa "jalovyj" (Mun. 459), suwrxä Kalm.Ö. "steril od. jeder zweite Jahr trächtig", Kalm.D sowrxä, suwä (R. 339), Ö. T. suwä, suwä "gelt, steril, ohne Junge (Kuh, Stute, Kamelkuh, Henne) (R. 338). Cf. also Khal. xusran "barren (grown harren) female", xar suwai "sterile female". 114

0 Bálint kerägäsü, read Kalm kerégés. "

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I Bálint eke "mother". In all his texts Bálint refers to the cow with the general word for the horned cattle iikiir (Kalm. ükr) that means mostly "cow" indeed 114

2 Bálint nayäsun 7 read nägäs n

' lit "from here". 114

3 Bálint ibelkülän 'i, cf. Kalm. iwlxe "die Kuh (Ziege) zum zweiten Mal melken, nachdem das Kalb (Zicklein) schon gesogen hat" (R. 212), iwlx "I

. davat' moloko, doitsja (napr. o korove posle podpuski teljonka), 2. projavlenije moloka (u korovy)" (Mun. 262). 155