Несказочная проза алтайцев. - 2011. (Т. 30)

method of presenting the data affords the most objective way of showing reliable versions o f the texts th a t give a picture of the everyday context of each genre and their evolution through time. The volume’s introductory article describes the history of collecting and studying Altai non-folktale prose. It also presents a thematic classification of the texts and characterizes them according to their story lines. The texto- logical article comments upon linguistic dialectal features and principles of text translation. Commentaries on the Russian translation and annotations o f the original texts reveal the meaning beh ind obscure words and phrases in the texts. Glossaries explain the words left un translated in the texts and reveal the meaning of the names of personages. A glossary of toponyms lists all place names mentioned in the texts and pinpoints their location. The volume also lists the names of text collectors, performers, and Russian trans­ lators, as well as o f the geographic locations where th e original texts were recorded. The Altai Kep-kuuchyndar in the volume are subdivided thematically: the origin of ea rth and humans (texts 1 — 10 ), th e stars, the moon and the sun (texts 11—22), the flood (texts 23_ 32), the last age (texts 33—35), animals (36—64), cultural objects (texts 65—70), master spirits o f the moun­ tains or rivers (71—83), spirits of the Underworld (84—100), the origin of toponyms (101—116), Altai clans (117—132), shamans (133—142), historical events (143—156). The five published texts about the creation of the world and its people (1—4) represent a story line about two primordial birds who obtain fire from the bottom o f the ocean; these texts show some adm ixture of elements bor­ rowed from Christian and Buddhist legends. Ulgen and Erlik play the role of demiurges in the first two texts, while in the remaining texts (3— 6 , 9) Erlik works together w ith the Yuch-Kurbus- tany ( Burkany ). In the basis of the text «How earth-moss formed» (text 3), lies both the motif of obtaining earth from the bottom of the ocean and the Buddhist legend about competition between four deities who are brothers, the Yucb-Kurbustany (literally, the «Three Kurbustany»). The brothers ar­ gue about who will be able to grow a flower first and, consequently, who is destined to become the supreme god. In tex t 10, the same plot line, bor­ rowed from the Buddhist legend about competition between gods for pri­ macy during the creation, is combined with the Biblical story about Noah’s ark (text 3). The plot lines of Altai cosmogonic stories about heavenly bodies, about the Ursa Major constellation (D’eti-Kaan), Orion ( Uch Myigak), the Polar