Тувинские народные сказки. - 1994. [Т. 8.]

his enemy (a serpent or a monster) is an archaic tale of "A strong man Yigylak-Kara, a bear’s son" (text N 2, one of 9 versions). In most of the tales hero-hunters are engaged in solving some difficult problem; see tale N 7 "The Seven Brothers". There are 13 versions of this tale. Or tale N 5 "Brothers Ak-Sagysh and Kara-Sagysh" (8 versions). Standing apart are the fairy tales of the persecuted innocents - orphans, stepsons and young bogatyrs. One of them is tale N 6 "One inch". Compared in the volume are 13 versions of this tale. The Manuscript fund of the Tuvinian Institute of Language and Literature has 102 versions of the tale of an orphan-lad Oskus-ooL Text 4, included into the volume, is one of the best versions. The largest part of Tuvinian tales are everyday life tales, called by the people "simple tales". Included into the volume are 7 such tales (texts 9-15). Their realism is quite peculiar. Personages of these tales are taken from everyday life; a farm-labourer, a herdsman, a khan, a lama). The contents of these tales often disagrees with reality and the illogical actions of the personages create a comical effect due to which these tales resemble anecdotes. One of the motifs of such tales are those depicting cunning people and crafty thieves. Close to them are the tales of fools and rogues (N 11) Animal tales are very numerous in the Tuvinian folklore. They describe the animal habits, their walking and running, the colour of their coat, etc (N 16-23). The most popular personages of animal tales are a kid, a hare and a wolf. Besides these main types the volume incorporates cumulative tales (also known as Zahl- m'irchen, ie. going round one place). These are tales 24-26. The subject of "A forest white hare" (N 26) is connected with the calendar ritual, which is characteristic of cumulative tales of many peoples. The volume also includes tales resembling cock-and-bull stories; "A riddle tale" (N 28), "Old woman Toppene" (N 27). A 70-year-old narrator Khertek Orzhunmaa called them "playing tales". Some of the tale-subjects came to Tuva from India and the Tibet and the Tibet across Mongolia. Such are the subjects from "The Magic Dead Man", "Birbaliana", "Panchatantra" and others, testifying to the close ties with the folklore traditions of other peoples. Tuvinian tales are sometimes performed as songs but without an accompaniment; however, instrumental accompaniment is rare and modern collectors of folklore registered it in only three cases. The singing manner of tale performance does not only demonstrate the vocal mastery of the narrator, but also influences the poetic pattern of the tale. Attached to the volume are phonorecords of tales 5 and 28 that illustrate the musical peculiarities of Tuvinian tales. The music section of the volume analyses the tunes and notations of the tales. The disc attached enables one to hear the performance of the most talented tale-tellers Byshtak-ool, Saryg-Shyyr and Saaya Sambuu. In the tale "A Forest hare" the main personage tries to imitate the shaman; the narrator (Saaya Sambuu) passes from one mode of performance to another - a very rare case. There are 5 groups of personages in Tuvinian tales: heroes, their relatives, antipodes, their relatives and friends, neutral personages. In the tales of the volume we see them all. Besides the hero himself the main personages include the Golden Princess, the mother and sister of the hero, a white-bearded old man, an old herdsman, an poor woman, a kind khan and some animals: the bogatyr’s horse, the Garuda-bird, a black raven, a golden eagle, a divine horse-headed hawk, a golden fish, a snake and many other gratefull animals whom the hero had managed to help. The hero’s antipodes are various demons and monsters, evil khans and other enemies helped by their servants and informers. Entertaining function of the tale predetermines its poetics. Ample ornamentation, rivid and detailed descriptions are characteristic of Tuvinian and other oriental tales and should not be mistaken for the literary arrangement of the original. Colour symbolism is of great importance in Tuvinian tales as it reflects the perception of the world. Tuvinian tale-tellers tend to discribe things through natural phenomena (a "sunny- moony-radiant Golden Princess", a "starry many-coloured horse", etc.)