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

tector (aru tos, meaning «pure spirit o f a protector ancestor»), whose will governed the welfare of the entire clan. People imagined these master spirits to be similar to themselves: able to travel on skis, sing songs, and play com­ petitive games. Mythic tales about master spirits confirm the religious and ethical norms of behavior of man during a hun t or on sacred mountain. These rules were connected primarily with honoring the master spirits o f a particular locale. They involved various injunctions to ward off people who might dis­ tu rb the spirit masters of nature or their riches. A distinct group o f mythic tales narrates contact between people and harm fu l spirits of the Middle or Lower worlds ( k'ermes, turgak, almys). The Altai is full of stories about instances where a horse suddenly halts in the middle of the road. This happens when the horse comes to a place where there are many evil spirits ( turgak , or turlak ) tha t supposedly «hobble» the horse. A person who finds himself in such a place can die (texts 84—87). In these stories the almys appear as shape-shifters with copper tee th and claws who live in family groups in mountains where there is much clay. They steal children, devour people, to rtu re horses, and drive people crazy (texts 88 , 90-96). Some kep -kuuchyndar are dedicated to explaining the origin and mea­ ning o f Altai sacral and cultural objects: the magic stone d ’ada, which helps control the weather; musical instruments; acquiring the gift o f playing the topshur, ikili, komus (jaw harp); the book with gnarled writing ( budak bichik), that had been chewed by a cow (text 66 ). Here «gnarled writing» probably alludes to the run ic letters th a t existed in the past among many peoples. The appearance of musical instruments — komus, topshur, ikili — is connected in folklore w ith master spirits and burkan, which love music very much. These beings prompted to people how to fashion these in stru ­ ments and taught them how to play them (texts 67—70). Toponymic legends represent another interesting layer of non-folktale prose. They provide an explanation for the origin of place names (texts 101— 116). A popular personage in toponymic legends is the mythic culture hero Sartakpai, a builder of bridges, roads, and irrigation canals (texts 101—104). This name is found in the folklore of other nations o f Inner Asia such as the Mongols, the Buryats, and the Tuvans. The volume contains 16 legends about the origin o f clans: Teles, Todosh, Mundus, Ochy, Karshit, Maiman, Kypchak, Mongol (texts 117—131). Folk un ­ derstanding o f Altai ethnogenesis is based on mythological and totemistic beliefs. The Altai connect the origin of the Almat Clan with a female almys 36 Заказ N l * 516