Фольклор удэгейцев: Ниманку, тэлунгу, ехэ. - 1998. (Т. 18.)

The etymology of the words belie and yegdyga is obscure. In the folklore of other Manchu-Tungusic peoples the analogous personages are called puji(n) and merge (n). One of the most important personages of the Udehe folklore is Kanda, an old man. He is the forefather, sometimes the main hero’s father- in-law or simply an old man. Belie and yegdyga are usually endowed with shaman abilities. Besides that, the yegdyga is extremely strong and the belie is a fine needle-woman. The best characteristics of the belie and yegdyga are not much spoken about, they are hidden in the depths of the text. It is only gradually that the fine characters of the beautiful belie and the courageous yegdyga are revealed to the listener. The ritual folklore is presented in the volume by only one piece of shamanism (N 62) as the practice of shamanism is disappearing now among the Udehe. Not very numerous are also the riddles (N 47), taboos and omens (N 51). Taboos (the Udehe "sondo") are widely spread among all the Manchu-Tungusic peoples. They are concise and more detailed formulas of behaviour. Thus 1. The bear’s eyes should not be eaten. When a bear is killed his eyes should be placed into a split tree (N 51.2). 2. One should not laugh at a physically handicapped or suffering man. It is forbidden (N 51.12). In the past there existed a great number of taboos that ruled the tribal society’s life. Sondo (taboos) have a definite structure — "it is forbidden to do this or that". Sometimes this "minimal" sondo is followed by an explanation of what penalty is awaiting the transgressor. If one has eaten the animal’s tail which he should not have eaten, he will always hear some rustle while walking about the taiga and will be filled with constant fear (N 51.8). At present such taboos have almost disappeared in everyday life and only some very old men remember some sondos. Very few sondos are observed now, those connected with hunting. The Udehe, as well as all the representatives of the southern Manchu- Tungusic peoples, had no specific dances. Besides the songs inserted into the nimanku, the Udehe have several types of songs: traditional lyrical songs (N 67, 69), the so-called "personal" songs (N 61, 65), dedication songs and improvisation songs (N 72). Lyrical and "personal" songs are very much alike — they are always biographical, composed by the narrator; other people have no right to sing them. "Personal" songs usually speak of a man’s life or the hardest periods of his life (N61) . The second part of the volume contains the Ude (Udehe) folklore collected at the beginning of the 20th century by the Far East explorer and author V.K. Arseniev (1872—1930). Vladimir Klavdievich Arseniev came to the Far East in 1900 as a military topographer. Later he was promoted to the rank of a lieutenant-colonel of the tsar’s army. He lived in Khabarovsk and Vladivostok. Arseniev wrote some superb books of his travels: "Dersu Uzala", "Through taiga", "Through the thickets of the Ussuriisk region". Throughout his life Arseniev studied and described the nature of the Far East. He was also interested in ethnography. Arseniev’s archives contain a lot of travel diaries full of ethnographical,