Бурятские волшебные сказки - 1993

Genetically based on the heroic epos, bogatyr tales reveal their origin through the coincidence of the characters’ names and numerous peculia­ rities characteristic of uligers. In many cases the Buryat tales’ subjects are similar to those of the tales of the neighbouring peoples------ the Kalmyks and the Mongols — with whom the Buryats maintained close contacts. The affinity of the fairy tales of these kindred nations is revealed in the tales’ subjects, the personages’ characteristics, the presence of the same magic things and the usage of similar stylistic means. One of the favourite characters of the Mongolian fairytales is the horse Besides many other fine qualities the horse is endowed with the ability to understand man’s language. All the details of the horse’s stature are desc­ ribed by the story-tellers with great vividness and impressiveness. There are within the Buryat tales motives and subjects tha t go back to the tales of the ancient —Mongolian written literature: A Magic Dead Man, Ardzhy Burdzhy Khan, The Sea of Parables and A Mongolian Collection of Stories from "Panchatantra". The first two exerted the greatest influence upon the Buryat tales. In oral presentation the fairy tales of these collections acquired a new colouring and sounding, they often lost their religious sense and became more vital, optimistic, democratic and life-asserting. The second volume of "The Folklore Monuments of the Peoples of Siberia and the Far East" opens with the tales of animals. Hunting as the main occupation of ancient men and their closeness to nature resulted in the appearance of both real and fantastic stories of animals and birds, the masters of the taiga and the mountains, and their totems. Creative ima­ gination of our far-away ancestors, hunters and trappers, was the basis for such stories. In the process of evolution these simplest tales became real works of verbal art with their own original composition and stylistic pe­ culiarities. Gradually losing their mythological meaning many ancient subjects, notions and characters acquired a nev sense. Thus the character of the bear originally reflected the ideas of totemism and the hunting cult. Like many other animals the bear was a helper and protector of the man. Later, how­ ever, with the dying away of the animal cult there appeared an ironic attitude towards such animals. The bear who had once been respected and revered, later began to play the role that did not correspond to his former grandeur and his place in the animal hierarchy. In the tales of the later period the bear and the wolf are often cheated by other animals, especially the cunning and crafty fox. The bear and the wolf are comic personages of allegoric tales. Besides the bear, the wolf and the fox —the most popular personages of the tales 3 there act many other wild and domestic animals and berds, some of them often playing a more active part than the people.