Фольклор юкагиров. - 2005. (Т. 25.)

run swiftly. Besides that, he is obligated to start a family and sire children to continue his clan’s existence. Particularly noteworthy among heroic tales is the cycle of tales about Eldivey. The existing variants recounting the struggle of Eldivey with foreign invaders probably represent fragments of what was once a unified whole. The most interesting and complete variant, which stands out for the complexity of its story line, is the one published here in this volume from a recording made by A.N. Laptev from the story­ teller N.T. Trifonov (text 1). Folktales represent a product of Yukaghir creativity predating epic tales. They are characterized by simple architectonics, a limited use of artistic- expressive techniques, and the presence of archaic plot and story elements. This can be seen most clearly in the aetiological endings of many animal tales. The personages that appear in these tales are endowed with basic human qualities: cunning, greed, deceit, intelligence, and stupidity. The sto­ ry lines convey in allegorical form various events typical of human society. Among Upper Kolyma animal tales the most common characters are the hare, fox, wolf, wolverine and bear; while the most popular among the Lower Kolyma Yukaghir are the Arctic fox, deer and wolf. Some folktales are based on story lines borrowed from Russian and Yakut folklore. Yukaghir fairy tales contain magical helpers, frequent unusual trans­ formations of the hero, and shape shifting. Mythic tales reflect traditional Yukaghir views regarding the structure of the universe; they tell about the return of human souls from the Lower World to the surface of the earth (text 34), about the layout of the Lower World itself and its denizens (text 39), or about guardian spirits of dogs (text 37). «Stories about ancient people» can be classified, according to their con­ tent and purpose, as belonging to the genre of simple prose, although their story lines frequently contain elements common to fairytales and mythic tales. Yukaghir traditional stories ( predanija, in Russian) tell about an­ cient beliefs and about events that led to the creation of this or that clan. In contrast to them, the contents of many legends ( legendy, in Russian) are cosmogonic in nature. For example, the myth published here entitled «Alay fires» (text 57) explains the origin of the aurora borealis as resul­ ting from the heavenly reflections of campfires that consumed the fleeing Alay people in ages past. Myths generally convey traditional Yukaghir views of the natural world. In the myth «Grandfather Fire Meru» (text 58) hu­ mans are punished by the fire spirit for being disrespectful toward the hearth. Failure to observe age-old norms of behavior or showing disrespect toward the instructive experience of one's ancestors leads to inevitable and