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

well. When a widow's son withstands (his mother's wishes) to become a manj (Lamaic novice),

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4 she encourages him the following way: "Why don't you want to become a manp. People shall seat you - as a priest [sic!] - on the litre (the main place of the yurt opposite to the door),

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5 and you shall eat the best part of meat and the cream of the milk. And for that you pay only with some (muttered) bobor-bobor

m

' words." - I shall turn my child into a Buddhist novice. - Mother, I will not become a Buddhist novice. - Why will you not become a Buddhist novice? The man who becomes a Buddhist novice sits at the people's highest place and eats the best part of good food. ON THE CONTEXT OF BÁLINT'S RECORDS Below, only the parallel-motifs from longer blessings are provided to Bálint's texts. The motifs of the first text, devoted to consuming mutton, appear in contemporary Kalmyk blessings performed over meat (served on feasts) and also recited as spells by other Mongolian ethnic groups (such as the Khalkhas) during the castration of rams.

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7 Fragment of Maxn yöräl Idsn maxn

' madnd Arsan boltxa! Jorel mjasu S"jedennoje nami mjaso Pust' stanet arSanom.

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8 Fragment of Xilrmd irsn maxna xotin yöräl Awe irsn xotn

' Mand arsan bolj. Ut nasta, bat kisgtä bäj, Malin ijlin

' tűm kiiej, Jorel mjasu privezjonnomu na svad'bu Pust' privezjonnaja vami piSőa Stanet nam arsanom, Pust' vsje ljudi Zivut dolgo i sőastlivo, Pust' budet u skota mnogo pastbisc

2

8" rarysn malin siimsn

' Sükbodin ornd törj, Maxn

' madnd arsan boltxa! Pust' dusi zivotnyh Dostignut raja Sukhavati, A ih mjaso Stanet nam arSanom.

2'"

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4 Bálint, Kalm manj "novice", in details cf. Birtalan - Rákos: Kalmükök, pp 44^46. 28

5 Bálint türe. Kalm türü (?) "in front, ahead, fore", cf. Kalm. xömr " der hintere Teil in der Jurte, der Ehrenplatz (hinter der Feuerstelle)" (R. 194), "perednij ugol, krasnyj ugol (poójotnoje mesto dlja gostja" (Mun. 603), "baran" (Monran 182). 28

6 Bálint bobor-bobor is an onomatopoeic word; in dietionaries deest, cf. Kalm. böwa-böwa "baju-baj" (Mun 105), büwä "1. kolybel", 2. ubajukivanije" (Mun. 231) Among the riddles (Nr. 23.) appear the a similar phrase: "[His] mouth said dobor, dobor. He ate the food of others with trickery and left. What is it? (a Buddhist monk of gelng rank)." In the riddle: dobor dobor egged In the chapter Riddles, a detailed reference is given on the possible explanation of this ideophonic expression, imitating the Tibetan recitation of the monks. 28

7 Texts and further sources, literature, cf. Birtalan. Agnes: Hagyományos mongol műveltség (szöveggyűjtemény). Budapest, ELTE Bölcsészettudományi Kar, Belső-ázsiai Tanszék 1996. [Traditional Mongolian Culture (Text Book)], passim 28

8 Bordianova: Obrjadovaja poezija. p 354. 28

9 Suggestion for a different translation "let its herd (lit. companions) reach ten thousand". 29

0 Bordianova: Obrjadovaja poezija. p. 355. 53