Kalmyk Cultural Heritage Project (SMALL GENRES OF FOLKLORE): Recent Episodes
Cambridge University
Proverbs
The ability to express one's thoughts and ideas through using proverbs has always been a highly valued skill among the Kalmyks. Kalmyk proverbs reflect the culture, values, history and unique experiences of the Mongolian groups, including the Kalmyks. Being based on culturally specific ideas about morality and truth, Kalmyk proverbs are recited for educational, judgemental, descriptive, as well as entertainment purposes. Since proverbs are a component of social communications, as society changes proverbs that no longer relate to modern living tend to get dropped. Given that Kalmykia has undergone rapid changes and modernisation in the past seventy years alone, it is important to identify and document proverbs, especially the older ones that are still in circulation but are in danger of becoming forgotten.
Riddles
In the past riddles are believed to have had more of a mythical and symbolic character, and were used in the explanation of a wide range of phenomenon from natural to social. With time riddles developed their main function for which they are known today – that of training and honing the mind. In riddles things are substituted or represented by other objects that are in some ways similar, and which are clues to guessing what the original thing may be. To test their interlocutors' wit, Kalmyks often used in their speech riddles in the form of parables, short tales, numerical puzzles, charades, and triads. Riddles have also served to pass knowledge and experience down the generations. Kalmyk riddles reflect the worldview of their bearers, for they (riddles) include elements of ancient rituals, archaic language, valuable observations of natural phenomenon and other rudiments from nomadic and hunter-gatherer's lifestyles. Unfortunately, this type of Kalmyk folklore has been gradually disappearing, and today riddles – numerical puzzles and triads in particular – are practiced only in schools.
Triads
Triads are unique philosophical riddles that question and enquire after a variety of topics, such as the meaning of life, moral values, feelings and many other themes. Triads usually use metaphors that reflect the nomadic worldview. The game is played as follows. The enquirer comes up with a word denoting a certain characterstic and asks his/her opponent to name three things/phenomena that share the same characteristics. Here are some examples:
Question: What are the three whites in the universe?
Answer: White teeth of a smiling person. White hair of the old. White bones of the dead.
Question: What are the three things that people lack?
Answer: Sleep for the wealthy. Fat for a running horse. Intelligence for the fool.
Question: What are the three sharps?
Answer: A hungry person has sharp teeth. A dying person has a sharp look. A ray of the sun between the clouds is sharp.
Question: What are the three that are in butter (i.e. good, prosperous)?
Answer: The hands of a master are in butter. The mouth of a cattle breeder is in butter. A smart person's decision is in butter.
The blacksmith's son has a wooden leg. What is that? (answer: a hammer). It does not fight with people, nor swears at them, but nevertheless does not let them into the house. What is that? (answer: a padlock). In the front it has two-toothed forks, and it walks wagging its tail. What is that? (answer: a cow).
Nikolai says that the Kalmyks are the second nation in the world, after India, in terms of the richness of their folklore.
Alexandr says the following: During Tsagan Sar people got up early in the morning and invited each other into their homes. We greeted each other by a special handshake during which the hands were supposed to be covered by the sleeves. Elderly men kissed each other on the cheek three times. In Siberia, in 1950, the Kalmyks who worked at the state farm No 77 were sent out to the nearby collective farms. Four families, including ours, were sent to the village of Lebyazhe in Pavlovskiy district, where they had a collective farm called Giant. Among us was a blind man. When the Kalmyks were deported to Siberia he was 17 and could still see. In Siberia he became blind. This man liked to come up with all sorts of riddles. For example: On the anvil there are four geese (i.e. four nipples of the udder). There are five geese on the shelf (i.e. fingers). The two sisters have the same height (i.e. scissors). Here is a proverb: Do not take off your boots without seeing the water (i.e. do not act hastily).
A knife’s blade is sharp, but the tip of a person’s tongue is sharper. Words could be sweet, but their meaning poisonous. The north pole is far from the south pole, and one’s mouth is far from his sacrum. Whose value is greater? Your mother who nurtured you with her milk or the girl who captured your heart? Your relatives will protect you, and your mother care for you.
Olga recounts provers: A thief does not like a bright night, a bad man does not like good people. The worst thing is self-indulgence. A bad person is good at saying beautiful words. Before your death repay all your debts. A large cloud disturbs the sky, a stupid offspring disturbs his/her mother. If you rear cattle, you will be fed. If you do not bring up a child properly, your head will be in blood.
It is better when temples give less arshan (elixir) and more teachings to people. Do not grab the leopard by its tail, but if you have grabbed it - do not let it go. The gambler does not have peace, and a drunk person does not have a clear mind. Meet people while your father is still alive, and travel wide while your horse is strong. What you have learned, cannot be strangled away with a rope. If the tree has many branches, it is easier to climb on it, if a person has many brothers, it is easier for him in life. Every person has someone who is senior than they are in the way that every coat has a color on top. A person can be judged from his/her childhood, and a stallion can be judged from when it is a foal. If you look closely, even a strong stallion will seem like a feeble foal. A drunk person has a loose mouth. When a big cloud appears, there is not peace in the sky, and when people gossip around there is no peace in the nomadic camp. If you break your arm, hide it underneath your sleeve; if you injure your head, hide it under your hat (i.e. do not hang your dirty clothes in public).
Erdni talks about Kalmyk literature, the poets Egor Budzhalov and David Kugultinov, a dictionary of Kalmyk writers and poets, and the journal ‘Teegin Gerl’.
Khongor writes poems from childhood. In this video he reads 8 of his poems, including (1) a poem dedicated to his parents, (2) a poem about a cat named Marquess, (3) a poem to his son Anatoliy, (4) a poem to his youngest daughter on her wedding day, (5) a poem to his in-laws, (6) a poem about a gift to his in-laws, (7) a poem about exile, and (8) a poem about the village of Abganer-Gakhankin.
The Kalmyks love their homeland. I suffered greatly remembering the time when we were deported to Siberia. I even cried, I was six years old then. All that I remember from those years, I wrote down in this poem.
Aged 6, I saw the worst of suffering. This pain in the heart, Now it seems like a dream.
On a long winter night, My family wakes up. Having collected as much as was possible, Worrisome, they are getting prepared.
The harsh order has arrived, And everyone, young and old Not believing in what has happened, Are preparing for the journey.
This smoking machine is a train, It whistles, as if it is crying. For the Kalmyks with red tassels on their hats, The hard challenges have begun.
The red sun cannot be seen, Only the yellow bulb is on. Huddled together, the Kalmyks are sitting, And praying to a supreme Lama.
Without hot food, On a long-long road. Dear to my heart, the Kalmyks, Are dying on their way.
Once they reached their destination, They were scattered across collective farms. Our poor Kalmyks, Were freezing and distressed.
‘Gold does not mix with dust’, is the proverb my mother said. And this proverb, Turned out to be a happy one.
In 1955, As I remember it The impoverished, suffering Kalmyks, Finally returned to their homeland.
Nikolai says that in his childhood his brother and he told one another riddles every evening before bedtime. Two riddles: One step and it is there. Another step and it is here. What is it? (answer: a flea). Four friends are together, but they have two sons between them. Their driver is a wrinkled old woman. What is it? (answer: the Bactrian camel with two humps and wrinkled face).
One example of a Kalmyk triad: What (are the) three (kinds of people who) are stupid? The smallest stupid is the one who praises his horse, the middle stupid praises his wife, and the worst stupid praises himself.
A person with many relatives is like a tree with many branches. The snake has patterns on its skin, but people’s character is hidden inside them. A horse is tormented by a mountain, a person is tormented by his/her anger. Just as a fur coat has a collar, so each person has their seniors or superiors.
Four brothers share a single hat. What is this? (answer: a table). Ten brothers have shining backs. What is this? (finger nails). The one that has big eyes and protruding ears. What is this? (a hare). Who is a lonely warrior with glassy and fiery eyes? (a wolf). A black cow walks around the house. What is this? (one’s shadow).
Nikolai explains the meaning of two following sayings: (1) ‘(on the head of a bull) the horns which appear after the ears are stronger’ (i.e. young people, despite being born later, are smarter and stronger than older people) and (2) ‘although the ears are softer, they protect the head (of the bull) and the horns from flies’ (i.e. older people always protect young people).
Although in Oriental culture the crow is a symbol of wisdom (because it lives for 300 years and knows everything) and is imbued with positive characteristics, in the Kalmyk fairy tale about the crow and the eagle as it is retold in Pushkin’s novel The Captain’s Daughter, this bird is portrayed as a nasty being that lives on leftovers and corpses. According to Oleg, when the Kalmyks came to Russia in the 17th century, Kalmyk and Russian folkloric traditions co-influenced each other. In the case of the Kalmyk fairy tale about the two birds, the Russians understood the characteristics of the crow superficially. Under Russian influence, the Kalmyks later re-interpreted their fairy tale in a different way by ascribing negative characteristics to the crow. To understand the traditional Kalmyk idea of the crow, one has to look back in time. Before the Kalmyks came to Russia, they had lost big battles in their historical homeland. The young Kalmyk noblemen were adamant that they stayed and fought to the end. So that their people could survive, smart elders were trying to convince the people that it would be better to leave their homeland and survive. Therefore, it was better to live for “300 years on leftovers”, but to stay alive with a hope of later revival. When it was retold in Russia, the fairy tale about the crow developed layers informed by European understanding and worldviews. According to Oleg, European and Oriental worldviews are different from each other. The understanding of time and space is also different in the two respective traditions. European tradition is based on realism and values progress. In contrast, Oriental tradition is directed towards the inner self. Hence yoga and philosophy are highly developed in the Orient. Therefore, whilst Russian is a rich language, Kalmyk is better in terms of vocabulary describing inner feelings, emotions and shapes. Kalmyk folklore has been influenced by this mentality. Folklore is like a two-bladed sword. On the one hand, it praises the people who created it and on the other it gives away their secrets, including military ones. Chingis Khan, for example, exploited this in folklore. Before conquering people, he would send merchants to learn about the legends, stories and folklore of his adversaries in order to analyze them and learnt about their military techniques.
A riddle: A mouse fell into a well. It was not the mouse that suffered but the well. What is that? (Answer: a speckle of dust in one’s eye). A riddle: All the dogs of the nomadic camp barked together. What is that? (Answer: smoke coming out of the yurt pipe). A riddle: Half a bortsg (traditional biscuit) sits on the smoke pipe of the yurt. What is that? (Answer: the moon). A piece of old meat inside a wardrobe. What is that? (Answer: earwax)
A saying: Thousand camels stumble on the shit of one camel (it is said when one person does something bad, and as a result many suffer).