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
by the daughters of the Khalmik is put in the bucket and churned. They put water to that mare's milk and churn again. This churned mare's milk drink the old men, women and the young people. The man having large horse herds sends the mare's milk into the convent and the priests drink it instead of spirit (brandy). [Grammar 211] If cow milk is added to the churned mare's milk, it is called biserek, and the spirit distilled form biserek is called arza. Will the arza be again mixed with cow milk and be again distilled, (the new spirit is called khorza). At the season of the spring the young people herd the horse herd, which they water daily three times; [Manuscript 161] by night fearing for thieves and wolves they guard it. In the winter after being the hay out, the old men and young people drive their horse herd looking after places where the grass was in the spring left unmown; and it often happens that for the intensive coldness of winter and snowstorm being not able to find their home they perish together with their herd buried under the snow-drift. If the Khalmik have in winter no water, they melt snow and preparing therewith their food eat it (prop, drink). In winter they do also not water the cattle, but these when dry [...] themselves their thirst with snow. EWE-MILK. (Manuscript xöinä üsün, Grammar Khöinäi (khoini) iisiin, Kalm. xönä üsn)"'" [Manuscript 159; Grammar 212] In the spring the daughters or sons of the Khalmyk used to herd the sheep. For that purpose (pr. in order to tend) they rise at dawn and driving their sheep to good gassy places tend them from moving till midday. At midday they drive their sheep home and let them lie. They then go themselves home and drink their liquid food which done. Three men drive the sheep to the well to water them. One of those three men dips water from the well, the other one puts the water dipped out into a trough, the third of them stopping the sheep (somewhat) far from the well and dividing the by ten drives them. After having these three men watered the sheep drive them home. Bind them two by two together and three or four girls sitting behind the sheep milk them. They put the drawn milk into a large kettle and adding to it rennet boil it from morning till evening. When that boiled milk thickens become ezegä (curdle). The watery part (prop, water) remaining under the curdle in the kettle is called whey (the yellow water of ezegä). [Grammar 213] In the spring the Khalmiks used to mow grass for their cattle and heap it up at the wintering place and in winter give it to the cattle. As the Khalmiks live on a ground which is mere sand without water and wood. If they also would in the winter build some shelter for their cattle cannot for having no materials (shelter making wood) and therefore they keep them (let lie) at night amidst the tents. If the gathered hay is out, the householder early rises, drives the sheep looking for places, where the grass was in the spring left unmown and it happens some times that while driving his sheep loses the way and aring [sic!] without food (khoto kholo) perishes frozen by the strong cold of winter and snow storm. ABOUT HOW THE KALMYKS SHEAR THE SHEEP (Bálint Man'i xal 'imiyüd yayaji xöiyän xäiciledek (kiryadik) tuski, Kalm. Manä xal'myüd yäj xögän xäcldg (kirydg) tusk)" 5 1 [162] The time when our Kalmyks shear (Bálint xöiyän xäiciledek, Kalm. xöyän xäcldg) the sheep is the middle month of summer and the first month of autumn. The sheep wool (Bálint noso, Kalm. nös) 115 0 Grammar pp. 212-213. 115 1 Manuscript pp. 162-164. For the contemporary pasturing of the five kinds of livestock also among the Oirats, cf. Halász, Ádám: Schur (nös, nölür xyargax ) and Birtalan, Ágnes: Felt making (esgi xix, esgi tatax). In: Material Culture. (DVD). This chapter contains not only the shearing of sheep, but also the preparing of felt which is a well documented part of the life of any nomadic Mongolian ethnic group. All the sources from the earliest up to the contemporary at my disposal offer at least a short description of the unique way how the Kalmyks make felt. Cf. Pallas I. pp. 141-142; Ernjänä pp. 35-39; ErendZenov. Konstantin: Zolotoj rodnik. O kalmyckom narodnom tvorcestve. remeslah i byte. Elista, Kalmyckoje kniZnoje izdatel'stvo 1990. pp. 30-33; Erdnijev. pp. 134-135. 158
