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
(burgas ) sticks ( sawä ) each and sitting around the wool heap they keep beating at it. The blows send pieces of wool flying "to be aired" and loosened. Those who pass by say the following well-wishing sentence: "May the wool-loosening stick wear off at its end, may your intention be realized." to which the wool-workers reply: "May your road be straight." Another greeting formula is: „May the end of the woolloosening stick wear thin, may the good and bad separate." (Sawäni ni üjür salbarc bai! Sain mü xoyor ni yalgarc bai!). A shorter formula of greeting is: "The wool-loosening stick is tough - the wool of long fibres is silk." (Sawä ni sandas, ungas ni myandas!) 3. Felt is usually pulled by a horse or sometimes by a tractor. The working tools include: mother felt (ex esgT), axis (gol ), ballast (but), binding string (baglax des), towing rope (cirex sur), flask or pail (bortogo, xuwin). The mother felt is a large piece of felt from the previous year or earlier onto which the loosened wool is laid. The first layer of wool is the finest, it is to be the right side of the felt so the most experienced old felt-makers lay it down, and they sprinkle water over it. Then the rest of the workers lay a finger-thick layer of poorer or darker wool crosswise over the first layer and sprinkle it with water again. When the wool is laid out, the mother felt with the spread wool is rolled up tightly around the axis placed at one end. The edges of the rolled up mother felt are fastened with pieces of sheepskin and the whole roll is tied tightly round with a plaited rope. The ballasts are fastened to the two ends of the pole. When the felt is pulled by horses (usually two castrated horses), they are trained for a few days beforehand. A clean flat stretch of land some 300-350 m in length is chosen and the roll is pulled some 15 times to and fro. Milk is sprinkled over the horses and the wool: Te.MOH xoHUHbi noocbie Tee syjaan syjican Xypean XOHUHM Hoocue Xypyy jy3aan 3yacaH 3ceuü uoMaueaa MHjiaax! EyxbiH Maenaa uim Xamyy öonoopoü! Eyypbin xy3yy mm Xemyy u őojioopoü! - RAW epeoHo. M OH flcnaac xamyy Uacuaac ifaeaan öojioopoü! - F3)K X3J1H3. The wool of two-year-old lambs, Laid out a span thick, The wool of a one-year-old lamb, Laid out a finger thick, Felt, I'm consecrating you! Be hard like The bull's forehead! Be enduring like The camel's neck! - so they say. Also: Be harder than bone. Whiter than snow! - they add. The axis is fastened to the rear part of side-board of the saddle (xawtas) and fumigated with juniper (arc\ incense offering), and the horses are made to pull the roll of wool at first at the walk (alxax) and later at a slow trot (sogsix) (cf, Gaits of horses). This process is called xüjrülex. Then the felt is removed from the mother felt and rolled up again with the wrong side outside and hauled again. The outcome is the son felt (xu). In the next phase the felt is pulled again 15 times to and fro by the horses in a gallop (xatirax) (the process is called coxilülalt). The ready felt is cleaned of the remaining impurity, straightened and levelled out to dry. In the meantime, another lot of wool is laid out on the mother felt. A community can produce 4-5 pieces of felt a day. According to a Mongolian saying, no lama, drunken person or dog are allowed to the place of felt making, as they could spoil the quality of the felt. Anyone arriving at the place where felt makers are at work greets them with these words: "Harder than bone, Be it whiter than snow." 165
