Municipal autonomous educational institution
"Secondary school number 49"
Buryat heroic epic "Geser"
Completed:
Gumpylova Ayuna Vladimirovna,
class teacher 7 "d" grade
Ulan-Ude
2016
Content
Relevance
The logic of the myth
Feats of Geser
Excursion "Yurt uligershina" Museum of the History of Buryatia named after M.N. Khangalova
Bair Gomboev - uligershin
Bibliography
Application
Screenplay for the film “Folklore of Buryatia. Geser "
Geser (performance script)
Relevance
Heroic epic "Geser" is a unique monument of the spiritual culture of the Buryat people. This epic is considered their own not only by the Buryats, but also by many other peoples of Central Asia. The epic is widespread among the Tibetans, Mongols, Tuvinians, Altai, Kalmyks, North Tibetan Uighurs.
Geser became a symbol of the Central Asian community different cultures and traditions. The epic legend about Geser has been preserved in the living people's memory up to our time. If the Iliad and Odyssey, recorded thousands of years ago, have ceased to be performed by storytellers, passed from mouth to mouth, then "Geser" has come down to us in the literary and folklore traditions.
In Buryat folklore, as in the folklore of other peoples of the world, there are such genres as fairy tales, legends and traditions. But the heroic epic occupies a special place. The heroic legends of the Buryats calluligers.
This is the highest achievement of the oral folk art of the Buryat people. Uligers are an integral part of the epic heritage of the peoples of Siberia. Uligers are somewhat akin to Russian epics.
Uligers were performed only before some important events: a big hunt, a long hike, in the name of healing the sick. It was believed that the performance of heroic poems contributes to the enlightenment of the blind. There were also bans on the performance of uligers: it was impossible to perform them during the day, in the presence of strangers, for the sake of idle curiosity.
In the Buryat heroic epic, as in Russian epics, the main characters were heroes who defend their land, going on a journey. They combine fiction with elements of the real life of the Buryat people: their main occupations (cattle breeding, hunting), everyday life, and traditions.
In these wonderful works of oral folklore, the features of the national character, the traditions of the Buryats are clearly expressed, their best qualities are praised: loyalty to duty, love for their native land, fearlessness and courage in struggle. The heroic ideals of the people are embodied in the images of epic heroes - the ideals of courage and valor, nobility and self-sacrifice, love for their native land. These qualities were brought up by the entire course of historical development and by that age-old struggle that the people had to wage, defending their clan, their tribe from enemies.
The heroic epic of the Buryats was created by the people. Its creators and performers were people from the common people.
Application
Text of the film “Folklore of Buryatia. Geser "
FolkloreBuryats - oral folk art, began to take shape back in the prechingis Khan times, it was a form of knowledge of life, artistic perception of the world around. Buryat folklore consists of myths,uligers, shamanic invocations, legends, cult hymns, fairy tales, proverbs, sayings, riddles. Myths about the origin of the universe and lifeon the ground.
Uligers are the pinnacle of Buryat folk poetry, they are epic legends about the bygone times.
The volume of uligers ranged from 5 and more than 20 thousand verses, in which mythology was closely intertwined with history. Uligers were performed by singers - uligershins, who could recite them by heart, playing along with themselves the khuur - an ancient plucked musical instrument. Uligershins - storytellers not only performed legends known to them, but also supplemented them, introduced something new, depicting the exploits of god-like heroes, heroic scenes of battles.
The central epic monument of the Buryats is the epic "Geser", which in terms of volume, epicity and historical significance is on a par with such monuments of folk thought - the Kalmyk folk epic "Dzhangar", the Kyrgyz "Manas" and others. There are many variants of the epic, it is widely known in Mongolia and China. The most archaic, primordial are the Western Buryat versions of Geser; in Mongolia and Transbaikalia, the epic was not always successfully influenced by Buddhism.
At present, the manuscript fund of the Buryat Research Institute contains about two hundred records of the national epic collected in various parts of Buryatia.
And now you will see our excursion to the Khangalov Museum "Yurt Uligershin".
Geser (Performance script)
It was in ancient times. The eastern and western khans-celestials, Altai-Ulaan and Khan-Khurmas quarreled. He killed the rival Khurmas, threw him to the ground, and a great evil came from this on the ground ...
The gods caught themselves, sent the son of Khurmas, Bukhe-Baligte, to the earth to correct his father's mistake. He was helped by a wise progenitor, grandmother Manzan-Gurme, who knows all the secrets of earth and sky.
On Earth, in a wretched yurt, Bukhe-Baligte was reborn into an earthly person, baby Nyurgai. From the first days he began to conquer evil spirits.
Before they could blink an eye, a boy grew up. He got himself three wives: the beautiful Tumen Zhargalan, Urmay Goohon, whose beauty is from the radiance of the stars, and the daughter of the sea khan AlmaMergen. Then Nyurgai took the form of a bator and began to be called Geser.
Parts of Atai Ulaan, scattered across the ground with a sword, turned into demons. Atai's head became the devil Arkhan Shudrer, who wanted to swallow the sun and moon. Geser defeated him in a difficult battle.
From the neck of Atai emerged the supreme devil GalNurman, who burns all living things. He was stronger than Geser. ZasaMergen, brother of the hero, helped him by throwing a sacred diamond stone that knows no mistake.
AtayUlaan's right hand turned into a huge monster Orgoli, similar to a mountain range. It became the master of the taiga, devouring rocks, trees, people. It also swallowed Geser, but he cut the monster's soul from within.
The celestial's left hand became Sharem-Minaat, a child-eating devil with a cast-iron whip. He wanted to rip the whole earth apart. His forces and Geser's were equal. Only a wool stick Manzan-Gurme defeated the evil monster.
Then Geser went to the demon Abarga-Sesen, who arose from the body of Atai. Geser transformed himself into two playing boys and wounded the demon in the eye.
But the death of the devil is hidden safely. Geser this time turned into the three-headed son of Abarga and went to Yenkhoba, one of the sisters that came from the legs of Atai. She guarded the death of the demon.
Geser had a hard time. After all, he got out the coveted chest, thirteen fabulous birds and the same number of magical wasps turned out to be awn. Only by destroying them could he cope with Abarga.
Atai-Ulaan's back turned into a black Loyr Lobsogoldoy. With cunning he planned to destroy the hero: he became a good old man and when Geser prayed, he bewitched him into a donkey. The Enkhoboy sisters helped Lobsogoldoy.
Honin Hoto drove the devil donkey and the beautiful UrmayGoohon to the barren country. They suffered twenty bodies in captivity at Lobsogoldoi, guarded by an impenetrable thicket, a fiery ditch, a poisoned sea and winged bator.
Geser was defeated by sorcery, and only AlmaMergen was able to save him with the help of her magic spells. The insidiousness of Lobsogoldoi was punished, he himself was buried under the rocks, and the Enkhoboi sisters were drowned.
The earth was cleared of the demons generated by the body of AtayUlaan. But his three sons, who were also thrown to the ground, went to war against Geser to take away UrmayGoohon. Their scout was the fierce bird Deeben.
All the light forces were needed so that Geser could defeat enemies, save his people, and restore peace to the earth. A great time has returned! Let the eyes and hands forget about the reddened arrows and bows.
Ayurova Larisa Dorzhievna teacher of the Buryat language MBOU "SOSOSH # 2" [email protected] Relevance
MBOU "SOSOSH # 2" [email protected] Relevance
Relevance
Heroic epic "Geser" is a unique monument of the spiritual culture of the Buryat people. This epic is considered their own not only by the Buryats, but also by many other peoples of Central Asia. The epic is widespread among the Tibetans, Mongols, Tuvinians, Altai, Kalmyks, North Tibetan Uighurs.
Geser has become a symbol of the Central Asian community of different cultures and traditions. The epic legend about Geser has been preserved in the living people's memory up to our time. If the Iliad and Odyssey, recorded thousands of years ago, have ceased to be performed by storytellers, passed from mouth to mouth, then "Geser" has come down to us in the literary and folklore traditions. 
uligers.
In Buryat folklore, as in the folklore of other peoples of the world, there are such genres as fairy tales, legends and traditions. But the heroic epic occupies a special place. The heroic legends of the Buryats call uligers.
This is the highest achievement of oral folk art of the Buryat people. Uligers are an integral part of the epic heritage of the peoples of Siberia. Uligers are somewhat akin to Russian epics.
Uligers were performed only before some important events: a big hunt, a long hike, in the name of healing the sick. It was believed that the performance of heroic poems contributes to the enlightenment of the blind. There were also bans on the performance of uligers: it was impossible to perform them during the day, in the presence of strangers, for the sake of idle curiosity.
In the Buryat heroic epic, as in Russian epics, the main characters were heroes who defend their land, going on a journey. They combine fiction with elements of the real life of the Buryat people: their main occupations (cattle breeding, hunting), everyday life, and traditions.
In these wonderful works of oral folklore, the features of the national character, the traditions of the Buryats are clearly expressed, their best qualities are praised: loyalty to duty, love for their native land, fearlessness and courage in struggle. The heroic ideals of the people are embodied in the images of epic heroes - the ideals of courage and valor, nobility and self-sacrifice, love for their native land. These qualities were brought up by the entire course of historical development and by that age-old struggle that the people had to wage, defending their clan, their tribe from enemies.
The heroic epic of the Buryats was created by the people. Its creators and performers were people from the common people. 
street tops.
The perpetrators of the uligers were called street tops. Uligershins were very respected and respected people. Usually they were put on a white felt, in the most honorable place, a panty liner was placed under the elbow of the street top, and a cup of water was placed next to it. Nothing should have interrupted the performance of the epic. This would mean interrupting the hero's deeds. The storyteller seemed to be reincarnated as a hero. The storyteller had to have an impeccable memory so that, without gaps and distortions, as required by tradition, he could convey huge epics, consisting of thousands of verses. Uliger could not be reduced, altered in his own way. Evaluation of his performance was given by listeners who knew well the content of the uligers. The singer had to have a sonorous beautiful voice, ear for music, good command of the word, and most importantly - be able to be inspired. The storyteller seemed to be reincarnated as a hero, selflessly giving himself up to singing; with his voice, special intonations, gestures or playing the khura he conveyed the peculiarities of the events taking place in the epic. Such a state of inspiration came to the Uligers only in front of the audience, the Uligers were performed in melodic recitative or sang. The performance of the uliger was accompanied by facial expressions and gestures. And listeners perceived the uliger as a story about actual events. The most famous performers of the uligers are Petrov, Toroev, Imegenov.
The logic of the myth
"Geser" is a mythological work. The space in which the hero acts is subject to special laws - the laws of myth. In this world, there is no division into the fantastic and the real, natural phenomena and the laws of society. The whole world is animated and endowed with human qualities: monsters take the form of people, the sky, mountain, river, fish, grass behave like people. This also applies to the inhabitants of heaven.
The concept of the world in the Buryat epic "Geser" was three-dimensional: in the upper, heavenly world lived the inhabitants of heaven - tengrii, immortal gods who ruled over different elements, personifying opposing principles - good and evil, light and darkness, so they are divided into good and evil. The gods outwardly look like people, have their families, herds, do housework, make friends and quarrel, fight among themselves, striving to achieve absolute power, as a result of which Atai Ulan, the head of the evil eastern gods, was defeated, chopped to pieces and thrown to the ground ...
In the average, earthly world, ordinary mortal people live, hunt, raise livestock, and they have nothing to do with the inhabitants of heaven. According to the epic legend, the culprits of all the troubles that befell people are precisely the gods-inhabitants of heaven: from the pieces of Atai-Ulan's body, thrown to the ground, monsters - mangadhai are born, and evil comes to earth.
The lower, underworld is ruled by the evil Erlik. Albin devils live here. 
Feats of Geser
In immemorial times, it happened that unprecedented diseases, hunger and pestilence began to spread on the earth, wars broke out, misfortunes and troubles began to come to people.
The celestials, seeing this, decided to send to the earth Bukhe Beligte, the middle son of Khan Khurmusta, the great-grandson of the divine Manzan Gurme. Bukhe Beligte should have been born on earth as a person, and not come to people in the guise of a celestial. 
The future hero was born into the family of a seventy-year-old man and his sixty-year-old wife, who was in fact the daughter of the sun, and received the name Zurgai.
He was an ugly child: snotty and mangy, but already in early childhood, the magical abilities of this extraordinary baby were manifested. His earthly relatives began to guess about the great destiny of the future hero. 
Even at the time when Zurgai was lying in the cradle, an evil shaman was sent to him, who was supposed to destroy the hero. The baby easily copes with the shaman. Soon, Zurgai himself makes a bow for himself and makes a horse from the bark, on which he sets off to fight the evil demons of the albins. He brings the brides to the house: first the khan's daughter, and after a while another girl, the daughter of a rich man, wins in the competition. Thanks to these girls, Abai Geser appeared to people in his true guise of a hero - the liberator of the earth from evil demons. It happened like this. The girls who lived in his house decide to find out where Zurgai leaves them in the morning. Tracking him, they see him on the mountain in the guise of a celestial among the great wizards and magicians. The girls understand that this is not just Zurgai, but Abai Geser.
The Celestials send Geser a magic horse to help him, which will be his faithful assistant in dangerous battles and campaigns. Geser's first feat was a battle with the giant Lobsogolda-mangadhai. The evil spell of this giant's wife turns Geser into a donkey. But the celestials help him to regain the former appearance of Abai Geser. The battle with a powerful enemy lasted six months, and the inhabitants of heaven did not remain indifferent to this battle. Manzan Gurme helps Geser, and her sister Mayas Hara helps his opponent. At the end of a long and stubborn battle, Geser manages to defeat the Mangadhai.
Another feat of Geser was the battle with a monster with great magical power, Gal-Durme-khan.
The hero cannot defeat the villain in a fair fight, because Gal-Durme-khan can die an infinite number of times and be reborn again.
But exhausted by the battle, he promises not to do evil to people in the future and retires to the eastern end of the earth. 
In the battle with Kharaabal Mergen, Geser dies, slain by the formidable black forces that came from the east. These powers were summoned by the magic spells of Kharabal Mergen. Geser's prophetic horse informs the wives and sons of his master about his death and helps them find a magical remedy that brings Geser back to life. Geser accomplished many other feats. He cleared the world of monsters and made it more adapted for human existence. 
When Geser destroys all the enemies of mankind, his father commands him to return to heaven, but Geser refuses: he forever fell in love with the earth and its people.
Then his father was angry with him, and together with his heroes Geser was punished: they were turned into mute humanoid rocks. The Buryat people have a legend that to this day these names adorn the Sayan mountain range and remind people of their great patron who was born in heaven to punish lies on earth, to destroy the animal law of devouring the weak by the strong. 
Output: Geser was born on earth with a definite, clearly expressed mission: he is an exterminator of evil. He destroys monstrous Mangadhais who sow disease, evil, misfortune on the earth, devouring people and cattle. Having destroyed the Mangadkhais, treacherous khans and evil shamans, Geser establishes peace and prosperity on earth.
All his actions are aimed at protecting his native land, his tribe and family from alien enemies, from foreign invasions. We can talk about a kind of mythological role of the hero: regardless of the plot twists, regardless of the peculiarities of national epic traditions, he always resists chaos, demonic forces, always restores harmonious order in the world.
The poem praises fidelity to duty, stigmatizes treason and betrayal. "Geser" is a hymn of love for one's land.
The poem praises fidelity to duty, stigmatizes treason and betrayal. "Geser" is a hymn of love for one's land.
Geser was born on earth with a definite, clearly expressed mission: he is an exterminator of evil. He destroys monstrous Mangadhais who sow disease, evil, misfortune on the earth, devouring people and cattle. Having destroyed the Mangadkhais, treacherous khans and evil shamans, Geser establishes peace and prosperity on earth.
All his actions are aimed at protecting his native land, his tribe and family from alien enemies, from foreign invasions. We can talk about a kind of mythological role of the hero: regardless of the plot twists, regardless of the peculiarities of national epic traditions, he always resists chaos, demonic forces, always restores harmonious order in the world.
Heroic-epic legends - uligers (ulgar) are the main ones in the system of genres of oral and poetic creativity of the Buryats. In their form, these are large poetic epics, the average volume of which is from 2 to 5 thousand, and larger ones - from 9 to 20 thousand or more poems.
As a rule, numerous variants of the main monument of the heroic and epic creativity of the Buryats - the epic "Abai Geser", are distinguished by their large size. One of its versions is "Abai Geser Bogdo Khan", recorded in 1916 by the famous folklorist S.P. Baldaev from A.O. Uligershin Vasilyeva (Alfora), is more than 50 thousand verses. The uligers celebrate the exploits of ancient heroes in the fight against the many-headed, multi-horned monsters-Mangadhai and alien khans-invaders for the freedom and prosperity of the tribal collective. Protection of the home, the people (zones), subjects (zone albat), their property - cattle and herds - from enemy encroachments, the fight for the betrothed, is the leading theme of most heroic-epic works. Uligers represent the pinnacle of the people's oral poetry. The artistic traditions in the epic creativity of the Buryats are particularly developed. The richness of the content, the pictorial brilliance of the word, its ancient strength and power, the harmony of the narrative have always captivated and charmed people, attracted the attention of scholars and collectors of folklore to the uligers.
For many centuries, at the time of the productivity of the epic tradition, when folklore possessed a monopoly in spiritual and poetic life, the Buryat people created hundreds of uligers. (Nowadays there are over 900 uligers, fairy tales, legends and legends in the collections of the KHVRK IMBiT SB RAS fund).
Their names, corresponding to the names of the heroes, are of great variety. Comparative analysis shows that each tribal and territorial community had its own set of names of popular epic heroes. So, in Western Buryatia, among the Ekhirits, Bulagats and Khongodors, uligers were widespread: "Abai Geser Khubun" or "Abai Geser Bogdo Khan", "Alamzhi Mergen", "Altan Shagai Mergen", "Kharasgai Mergen", "Osodor Mergen" , "Erensei", etc., and in the eastern, in Transbaikalia, among the Khorintsi: "Geserey Tuuzha", "Lodoy Mergen", "Zhibzhenei Mergen", "Abadai Mergen", "Menielte Mergen" and others. The most common and beloved of of all subdivisions of the Buryat ethnos there was an epic about the mighty hero Abai Geser.
If at the beginning of the XX century. the living functioning of the epic was observed almost throughout the entire territory of settlement of the Buryats (Cisbaikalia and Transbaikalia), it was partially preserved in some regions as early as the 50s, then in our time, with the disappearance of traditional living conditions and everyday life of the people, with the death of talented uligershins, oral the existence of uligers gradually faded away. And now in the Buryat uluses there are no true experts in the epic.
Researchers of folklore, familiar with the Buryat heroic epic, have always noted its archaism, good preservation of the mythological basis. (Ulanov. 1963; Sharakshinova. 1987; Khomonov. 1976).
Academician B. Ya. Vladimirtsov, calling the Buryat uligers "real epics", explained their "amazing primitiveness" by the centuries-old development and formation of hunters-trappers in the harsh environment (Vladimirtsov. 1923. S. 14-16), which contributed to the preservation of numerous elements of ancient mythology, animistic and totemistic ideas, genetically going into the depths of primitive communal life.
The performance of uligers was originally in the old days a responsible business and served not only to entertain the listeners during leisure hours. It had industrial and ritual significance and was an integral part of the household structure of the ancient collective. Ts. Zhamtsarano, who began his collecting activity in 1903 among the Western Buryats (the valley of the Kuda River and the upper reaches of the Lena River), wrote that “Uliger sing (say) to achieve various benefits, for example, to heal the sick, to enlighten the blind , for the sake of success in fishing, hunting, round-ups, fishing, etc .; uliger contributes to success in hiking " (Zhamtsarano. 1918.S. 17).
There was a deep belief in the "magical" power of the oral-poetic word, in its effective meaning. Listening to the uligers was part of the ritual of pre-hunting preparations, as it was "a kind of powerful magic, a spell to attract animals." (Zhamtsarano. 1918, p. 33) and was also distributed among the hunters of Transbaikalia - the Khori-Buryats, among the Tungus in the upper reaches of the Onon. According to G.D. Sanzheev, who in 1928 recorded a number of large uligers on the left bank of the river, Buryats, having arrived at the hunting site, “performed some rituals aimed at pleasing the spirits of animals and forests, on which this or that outcome of the hunt depends. Then in the evening, before going to bed, the singer spread out his white felt in the hut (not stained with horse sweat), they put lighted juniper branches, a cup of wine or milk on it, stuck an arrow into it, etc. the hunting ceremony, according to the Buryats, could not be successful " (Sanzheev. 1936.S. IX-X).
The presence of the best performers in the round-ups was considered mandatory. They were distributed among the fires, and then generously presented by all the participants in the raid. (Zhamtsarano. 1918.S. 33). M.N. Khangalov: in years when serious illnesses are raging, it is especially useful to tell the uliger about the hero Abai Geser Bogdo Khan, since the impure forces are afraid of him. Hearing "Geser" before a long journey foreshadowed prosperity and success in business (Khangalov. 1959.T.P.S. 320). Uligers listened on the long winter nights, in the months when the Pleiades were visible. It was forbidden to tell them in the summer, in the spring.
The aspect of sacredness has always accompanied the performing practice. At the time of the epic performance, the invisible presence of its heroes was assumed, who, supposedly, could reward the uligershin for the complete and correct transmission of events in the legend. The heroes of the Uligers, according to beliefs, were not ordinary mortals, but tengri deities. At the beginning of the XX century. there was still a belief that uligers are created on the basis of actual events that have ever happened on earth, underground or in the sky, and that "the heroes are alive and now" and the rhapsode is responsible to them for the inaccurate transmission of the epic (Zhamtsarano. 1918.S. 18). The latter, undoubtedly, contributed to the stability of the tradition, thanks to which the ancient uligers were able to survive to this day.
There was also a legend among the people about the high heavenly origin of the Uligers. These observations gave the basis for Ts. Zhamtsarano to define the Buryat epos as something "sacred and majestic". Academician A.P. , who was familiar with the folklore of the Turkic-speaking peoples of Siberia and the Mongols, also noted that the performance of the epic was surrounded by a peculiar, almost cult atmosphere of the supernatural.
The performance of the uligers was sometimes accompanied by a game of hure - an ancient bowed musical instrument. The voice of the singing narrator-uligershin and sounds hura, merging, they created a single harmonious whole. The chant was in keeping with the local song tradition. The narrator perceived him together with the uligers from his predecessors, teachers. Among the western Buryats, this was observed more often on the left bank of the Angara, in Alari and Unga, less often - near the Bulagats of the Ida and Osa river valleys. The archaic ekhirit-bulagat uligers, recorded by Ts. Zhamtsarano among the Buryats of the Kudin Valley in Verkholenia, were performed without musical accompaniment. The emergence hura testified to the breaking of ancient performing traditions, the gradual dominance of the aesthetic function of the uligers. In the reproduction of the heroic legends of the epic, there were several main performing styles that corresponded to the local epic tradition. So, according to Ts. Zhamtsarano, ekhirit-Bulagat storytellers sang uligers from beginning to end "loudly and protractedly." The performance was distinguished by epic breadth, calmness, and unhurriedness. Along with it, there was a chanting recitative, as well as a simple narration characteristic of "voiceless" storytellers. The third style was common among the Trans-Baikal Khori-Buryats: a prosaic story, interspersed with vocal monologues of the characters and a choral second of their leitmotifs. A choral part called tuureelge, sometimes accompanied by a game of hure or yataga.
The lively participation of the collective in the reproduction of the epic is a phenomenon characteristic of the street tradition of the Buryats, emphasizing its national originality. Among the ekhirit-bulagats, according to Ts. Zhamtsarano, it was expressed in the fact that “those present sing along, echo the rhapsode in the right places, that is, when they meet (uttalga), at stops (seiyi daralga) and when the heroes are seeing off (ude-shilge) "(Zhamtsarano. 1918.S. 25).
Thus, the uliger himself sang solo, and the chorus performed songs that were thematically independent from the content of the uligers, consisting of four to eight lines. V ugtalga(literally: "meeting", implying a meeting with the heroes of the uligers) - the inviting song addressed to the narrator expressed a desire to listen to the uliger; v seg daralga(literally: "brace, a bundle connecting the ends") listeners expressed their feelings for the fate of the hero-hero, wished him good luck in achieving his goal. Songs seg daralga were performed when the uligershin paused to catch his breath, wet his throat, and performed a specific plot-compositional role of ligaments-clamps between episodes, since according to the ancient belief, the epic poetry should not be interrupted for the actions of the heroes to be successful.
Seg Daralga belongs to the category of "permanent places" and in uligers.
Udeshelge(literally: "farewell") sang at the end of the uliguera. Its content was addressed to the heroes of the epic, who, according to ancient ideas, who were invisibly present during the chanting of their past exploits, were to return to heaven. In it, the listeners expressed satisfaction from the performance, and the narrator expressed the desire that the heroic deeds and the uliger himself were considered complete, and what remained unsaid would be drunk tomorrow. These songs had their own melody, different from the street recitative.
The creators, keepers and performers of the heroic epic were storytellers-uligers. They enjoyed universal respect and love of the people, as evidenced by the proverb: "Uligershin is supposed to sit on an olbok mattress, and a singer on a dobun hill." They were people especially gifted artistically and musically, possessing an impeccable memory, so that without gaps and distortions, as required by tradition, to reproduce huge epics, consisting of thousands of verses: the uliguer could not be shortened, altered in their own way. The talented storyteller was an actor, musician and poet all rolled into one. That is why among a good rhapsode, according to Ts. Zhamtsarano, "the listeners cry in strong tragic places and express the most lively joy when the truth suddenly triumphs" (Zhamtsarano. 1918.S. 14-15).
In terms of creativity and manner of performance, Buryat uligers are conventionally divided into "canons" who sacredly honor the previous tradition and strive to observe accuracy in reproducing the learned text, and "improvisers", whose performance skills can be traced to a personal origin, individual taste and character. The first, according to the general opinion of Buryat folklorists, was Pyokhon Petrov (1866-1943), who lived on the (Uyga island) in the Alarsky (now Nukutsky) district of the Irkutsk region. He knew well not only the uligers, but also shamanic poetry, fairy tales, ancient customs and customs of the Buryats, the tradition of performing uligers, and believed that the heroes of the uligers continue to exist in the sky in the form of stars. From him in 1940-1941. I.N. Madason recorded one of the best Ungin versions of the epic "Abai Geser" (12,535 verses) (Abai Geser. 1960). He did not sing Uligery (there was no voice), but recited like ordinary poetry. Possessing a phenomenal memory, he reproduced the uliger "without hesitation and without stopping for a minute." (Baldaev. 1961.S. 37).
The second type of performers includes another Unginian storyteller P.M. Tushemilov (1877-1955), who demonstrated in his performing practice a freer, relaxed style, a strong improvisational beginning, an aspiration for poetic innovations, for variation in the transmission of the traditional "text", due to which the uligers in his performance to some extent lost their traditional features and clarity of composition (Ulanov. 1968.S. 19).
P.M. Tushemilov came from a dynasty of storytellers well-known in the Angara region, had an extraordinary talent as a singer-improviser and was famous not only as a good uligershin, an expert in oral folk art, but also as a doctor and clairvoyant. Close to P.M. Tushemilov was a popular storyteller and singer A.O. Vasiliev (Alfor) (1887-1945), famous throughout the Angara region for the beauty of his mighty bass and storytelling skills. Uligers, like P. Tushemilov, sang, accompanied on the khura; I traveled through the uluses, looking for rivals in competitions of singers-improvisers.
From him was recorded the largest version of "Geser" (more than 50 thousand verses), distinguished by the originality and completeness of the plot development of the mythological (heavenly) prologue of Geseriad.
At the time of the productivity of the epic tradition, uligers knew, if not all, then many. In almost every ulus one could meet gifted storytellers, whose names are still kept in the memory of old people. There were also women among them. SP. Baldaev, who has been collecting works of oral folk art for more than sixty years, mentions four hundred uligershins. The history of Buryat folklore studies included the names of the best, those from whom it was fortunate to record, starting from the end of the 19th century. until the 50s of the XX century, samples of uligers. it
P.P. Petrov, P.D. Dmitriev, P.M. Tushemilov, B. Zhatukhaev, P.S. Stepanov, N. Irincheeva, B. Zurbanov, M.G. Shobokleev, O. Khaintaev, S. Shanarsheev, Kh.N. Terentyev, I.I. Dagdanov, N. Tuzhinov, A. Gelenkenov and others who lived in the Angara region; M. Imegenov, E. Shalbykov, L. Bardakhanov, B. Burlaev, B. Barnakov, N. Gulkhanov, A. Batlaev, P.P. Baldaev, A. Toroev and many others who lived in the valleys of the rivers Kuda, Osa, Ida. Their repertoire, as a rule, consisted of ten or more large poetic heroic legends, not counting the small ones with a fabulous character. Almost all of them were gesershin - excellent connoisseurs of the famous epic "Abai Geser".
In Transbaikalia, the names of Bazar Galdanov (Khara-Shibir), Amprun Chingaev (Onon), Galsan Tykeev (Aga), Garmazhap Baldanov (Selenga), Da-shibylov and many others are known, from whom the uligers Ts. Zhamtsarano, P. Baldanzhapov, N . Poppé et al.
A special place in this galaxy of names is occupied by Manshud Imegenov (1849-1908), hereditary uligershin from the Kukunut ulus of the Kudin valley. In 1906, Ts. Zhamtsarano wrote down from him the most archaic and original of all the known national versions and variants of the Geseriad - the epic "Abai Geser-Khubun", as well as a separate cycle about the hero's sons, which has no analogues: Oshor Bogdo and Khurin Altai (first published in 1930). Undoubtedly, he was an outstanding performer, a mature master who managed to reproduce without listeners, especially for recording, the traditional Ekhirit-Bulagat epic poetry, preserving the pristine freshness, beauty, power and charm of the ancient monument. For seven days and nights, he sang 22074 verses to the collector, without abbreviating the "framing" inviting and farewell, inserted songs traditionally performed by the audience. Scientists unanimously recognize the high artistic merits of this version, it was he who formed the basis for the last academic edition of the epic (Abai Geser ... 1995, pp. 8-418).
Buryat storytellers were not professional performers. Usually they were simple rural workers - cattle breeders, farmers, hunters. Epic legends were perceived from childhood, mainly in the family, less often - from fellow countrymen. Over time, the repertoire was replenished. The creativity of each uligershin developed within the inherited regional tradition and had its own individual style and originality. Talented folk storytellers retained in their memory the entire local street repertoire, creatively developing and enriching it.
According to its stadial and typological characteristics, the Buryat heroic epic is classified into three groups: ekhirit-bulagat, Ungin and Khorin. The first two include uligers that existed among the Western Buryats: in the Kudinskaya valley, the Upper Lena (Ekhirit-Bulagatsky, Kachugsky, Bayandayevsky), along the Ida, Osa, Obusa (Bokhansky, Osinsky) river valleys, in the Angara region (Alarsky, Nukutsky), districts Irkutsk oblast, and in the third - the uligers of the eastern Buryats living in Transbaikalia (Buryatia, Chita oblast). In all three groups, there is a similarity in plot structures, motives and images, since they are united by a common mythological fund and a single common Buryat epic tradition.
The Ekhirit-Bulagat epos is considered the most archaic, since features of the hunting way of life of the creators of uligers prevail in it; elements of totemism, animism, various cults, motives of twinning with animal characters; shape-shifting (metaphorism), fairy-tale motives. In his plots, two central themes were developed: matchmaking and the marriage of the hero; Fight against Mangadhai monsters and alien enemies.
An example of an uliger embodying the first theme is "Aydurai Mergen" (1868 poems), written down by Ts. Zhamtsarano in 1908 from B. Burlaev in the Verkhnelensky district. Its plot structure consists of the following links: 1) 15-year-old Aidurai Mergen is killed while hunting by a woman with zoomorphic features; 2) The horse advises the hero's sister, maiden Agui Nogon, to bring the resurrection maiden - the daughter of Ezhi Munhu Khan; 3) Agui Nogon, dressed in men's clothes, covering his brother's body in a mountain cave, sets off on a long journey; 4) Overcomes various obstacles: cold, heat; turns into a bird, then an animal; fraternizes, rescuing them from death, with ants, frogs, a huge bird, a dog; 5) The deadly tests, arranged for the "groom" by the bride's father, thanks to the help of his brothers-in-law and his horse, pass safely; 6) Returns home with a "wife" - a resurrection virgin, while she hides herself; 7) Khan's daughter revives Aydurai Mergen; 8) The heroine returns home when twins are born to her brother. A brother gives his sister in marriage to an alien.
This type of uligers is very popular in the Ekhirit-Bulagat epic. The plot development of the theme of heroic matchmaking is distinguished in them by a great variety and at the same time by the stability of the main motives: the death of the hero, the campaign for the resurrection virgin, overcoming obstacles; the fight for the bride; reviving the hero. This is the simplest, one-piece plot construction. The main character performing feats is the heroic maiden - the hero's sister, and not the hero, whose name the work is named after. This plot-narrative type: "a sister gets her brother a betrothed-resurrector" is considered the earliest in the system of heroic-epic creativity of the Buryats. It is realized in uligers: "Aydurai Mergen", "Erzhen Mergen khubun", "Yagur Mergen khubun", "Altan Segse khubun" and others. The theme of fighting monsters and foreign enemies is usually absent in them or has the character of a late introduction. The main idea expressed in them is the struggle for the founding of a monogamous family, the establishment of an exogamous marriage, characteristic of the heyday of the clan society, which affirms the primacy of men in the family and clan.
The theme of the fight against monsters-Mangadhai and foreign enemies gets its development in the Ekhirit-Bulagat epic with the activation of the actions of the male hero and the weakening of the role of the sister ("Alamzhi Mergen", "Buhu Khara Khubun", "Gunhabai Mergen", "Erensei", etc. .). The number of uligers is increasing, where the hero gets himself a wife. With the development of the street genre, with the gradual advancement of the hero-warrior, the protector of the family and clan, the topic of matchmaking loses its leading role and becomes one of the elements of the hero's epic biography. The plot structure of the narrative becomes more complicated, multi-component uligers appear. An example of a typologically mature epic is the Ekhirit-Bulagat version of the Abai Geser-Khubun epic (entry by Ts. Zhamtsarano from M. Imegenov), where the process of biographical and genealogical cyclization is traced (the legend about Geser and his sons Oshor Bogdo and Khurin Altai). But on the whole, the features of the "hunting" epos, conditioned by its closeness to mythological sources, dominate the epos of the Ekhirit-Bulagats. The role of mythical zoomorphic, zoo-anthropomorphic characters is still significant in it - helpers, patrons, opponents of the hero. The motives of the "difficult" orders of the bride's father are stable; fraternization with animals; helping them in wedding trials; supernatural abilities of the hero (magic and werewolf). Opponents, enemies of the hero are mostly mangadhai monsters, having an incredible number (13, 33, 67, 77, 95, 108, 300, 500, 600, 1008) heads (sometimes horns). They ravage the property of the hero, kidnap his wives. Bogatyr goes on a campaign
alone, he has no warriors, bators. His struggle with the enemy is portrayed in the form of heroic single combat.
In addition to two main themes, the Ekhirit-Bulagat epic also traces the relationship between brother and sister, uncle and nephew, husband and wife, reflecting conflicts between members of the patriarchal family and clan. For example, in the street "Alamzhi Mergen" two plot-narrative types are realized: "A sister gets her husband's betrothed-resurrector" and "Uncles are killing a nephew in order to take possession of his property", referring to different cultural layers. Depending on the evolutionary development, the attitude of a sister to a brother in uligers can be both positive and negative, hostile. So in "Kharasgay Mergen" and "Shonkhoi Mergen" sisters, in order to get married, kill brothers, but later they are severely punished for this, like the traitorous Untan Durai, the wife of Erensei ("Erensei"), who, having betrayed her husband, goes to his enemy is the mangadhai. The son who escaped death kills not only the Mangadhai, but also his mother. Geser subjects his wife Gagurai Nogon to a painful execution for treason. In these uligers, the struggle against the remnants of the maternal clan is clearly manifested, the essence of patriarchy, which puts the power of a man above the blood ties that once closely bound the members of the maternal clan.
These are the main features of the archaic Ekhirit-Bulagat epic, representing the "lower layer", the "initial stage" of the heroic-epic creativity of the Buryats, but in terms of the richness of motives and images, it surpasses all other Buryat traditions. (Sanzheev. 1936. S. XXXV).
Such uligers were common mainly in Ekhirit-Bulagatsky, Bayandayevsky, Kachugsky, partly Bokhansky, Osinsky districts of Irkutsk region (Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous Okrug).
A different type of uligers existed in the Angara region: the valleys of the Ida and Osa rivers, the Alari and Unga steppes. Their recordings, made only on the left bank of the Angara since the 1880s, revealed a rich folklore tradition that flourished there in the past. This region can be called a reserved land of the Buryat epic: the total number of uligers collected there since the end of the 19th century. until the end of the 50s of the XX century. M.N. Khangalov, Ts. Zhamtsarano, G.D. Sanzheev, I.N. Madason, SP. Baldaev, A.I. Ulanov, N.O. Sharakshinova and others, is about a hundred texts, including twenty versions of the Geseriad, some of which have been published in recent years (Abai Geser. 1960; Burchin. 1990; Abai Geser ... 1995).
The heroic-epic legends that existed on the left bank of the Angara were singled out into a special group called the "Unginsky epos" by G.D. Sanzheev (Sanzheev. 1936. S. 58.), since he recorded in 1928 from storytellers N. Tuzhinov, A. Gelenkov and Sh. Savranov in the Uluses of Srednaya Kuyta and Bulut (the valley of the Unga river) five rather large uligers: "Altan Shagai", "Bulgan Tol-goy Khubun", "Five-year-old Tolay Mergen", "Late-born Ulandai Mergen", "Ere Toholay Mergen", from 1550 to 4314 verses and three small "Maid Ereg Dureg", "Maid Alag Bulag", "Old Woman Uzhaa "- from 150 to 518 verses (KHVRK IMBiT SB RAS, GD Sanzheev's collection, inv. No. 2224) differed from the Ekhirit-Bulagat uligers in their genre and typological features. The scientist believed that the Ungin epic "represents the completion of the entire Buryat epic, and the Bulagat epic is its lower layer, its initial stage" (Sanzheev. 1936.S. 25). Bearers of this epic tradition, along with the Bulagats, were also those who moved to this region in the 15th-17th centuries. from feudal Mongolia the Khongodors, Zungars, Ikinats and Ashebagats, whose epic repertoire, reflecting developed social relations, undoubtedly influenced the local, basically identical to the Ekhirit-Bulagat. The formation of the Ungin epos took place at a time when patriarchal-feudal relations began to take shape among the steppe Bulagats of the Angara region, who had already mastered cattle breeding (XIII-XVI centuries). (Ulanov. 1957 S. 112-114, 159-160; Ulanov. 1963.S. 204-205; Sharakshinova. 1968. S. 30-34) and the ideology of the domination of the paternal clan, the era of military democracy, found their natural reflection in it.
Epic breadth, monumentality, picturesque richness and variety of content, complexity of form are the hallmarks of the Ungin heroic epics. The thematic and genre range, plot and event coverage in it is much wider than in the Ekhirit-Bulagat and Khorin epics. For the most part, these are multi-part, multi-plot works, consisting of 2-3, 4-5 and 6 moves (parts), with the exception of the multicyclic (genealogical cyclization) heroic epic about Geser.
If the main content of the Ekhirit-Bulagat epic was the heroics of the struggle for the betrothed and the "military" theme was mainly associated with it, then in Ungin, the heroic pathos switches to the fight against predatory raids and hijackings, for the release and return to the homeland of captured households, subjects, captured property, and marriage, the founding of a family, which was a super task in the archaic tradition, fades into the background, becomes only an "initial situation", a necessary condition for the beginning of heroic activity (Sanzheev. 1936, p. 37). Thematically, the Ungin uligers are divided into four groups: 1) about heroic matchmaking, the fight against the Mangadhais, foreign khans and Bators; 2) about the hero's struggle with blood relatives (about intra-clan and family conflicts); 3) about the struggle of the heroic maidens with the monsters-Mangadhai (about the matchmaking of the Mangadhais); 4) about the revenge of the horse against the bat who killed the herd.
The combination, artistic realization of two themes in one work is a characteristic feature of the Ungin epic tradition, where the first part of the narrative is usually devoted to matchmaking, the marriage of a hero, and the second - to the fight against enemies. The connecting thread between both parts of the majority of uligers is the tie (theft, abduction of herds and herds, ruin of the hearth; withdrawal of households and subjects; sometimes - a challenge by the enemies of the hero to a duel), which finds its permission in the finale of the second part (the destruction of the enemy by the hero, the return of the kidnapped , restoring peace and tranquility). The plot structure of the Ungin uligers consists mainly of the following motives: leaving the house to inspect the herds and herds (sometimes the departure is not motivated by anything); detection of shortage, theft of herds and livestock. Option: the herds and herds have multiplied in countless numbers and the hero is saddened - to whom will the property be transferred? If the hero is a childless old man, then the sadness that there is no one to take revenge on the invaders, to return the stolen; asking for childless spouses from the patron deities of offspring; miraculous conception and the birth of a son; calling the child an old man; wonderful growth and maturity of a young hero, children's exploits; the acquisition of a heroic status by a young hero (asking the heavenly patrons for a horse, weapons and clothing; taming, circling a heavenly horse; boasting of a rider and a horse with heroic strength); the hero's decision to find his betrothed, to marry; determining her name and location; fees for the hike and the heroic trip; heroic riding.
Overcoming obstacles: endless sea, impenetrable dense thicket; fiery lava; ascent to the highest mountain peak, where "living" water is located (literally: "black", that is, clean, transparent, life-giving water of eternity - moonheen hara woohan) and a healing tree (plant); revitalization of people and animals perished on the mountainside with this water; crossing over the edge of heaven and earth (the edges where heaven and earth meet); ascent to heaven; descent into the ground.
Meetings and adventures along the way: punishment of Bators who boasted of their supposed superiority over the hero; rendering assistance to animals (roe deer, birds) and fraternizing with them, and fraternizing with him; fraternization with the heroes defeated in battle; the death of the hero on the way to his betrothed (from exhaustion, from the arrow of an opponent in matchmaking); the hero is thrown into a well-dungeon (evil insidious uncles, brother-in-law, elder brothers); turning the hero into stone; the revival of the hero (horse; heavenly cuckoo maidens), the bride-to-be resurrector, three foreign healers (Tibetans); revival by the hero himself of the bators killed by him; the horse gets the betrothed resurrector to the deceased hero; substitution of the bride (marriage to an imaginary betrothed); the fight for the bride (competition with rivals in shooting, horse racing, wrestling); marriage and homecoming; abduction of the wife on the way to the house; the hero's dwelling ravaged by the enemy; households in captivity of the enemy (mangadhaevs or foreign heroes, khans); marching on the enemy; the birth of a son (or twin sons); the struggle and victory of the hero over opponents (mangadhai and foreign heroes). Destruction of the Black Woman Monster - the ancestor of the Mangadhais; the hero's young son is asking his mother where his father is; goes on a hike after him; helping the hero of brothers, heavenly patrons; sons; search and destruction of the soul of the enemy; the pursuit of the soul (the chain of transformations of the pursued and pursuer into birds, fish, grain, plants and people); the destruction of the unborn baby (one or two), who fell out of the womb of the enemy's wife.
The richness and variety of plots and motifs, the complexity of the composition are distinguished, as a rule, in the first part of the Ungin epics, dedicated to the theme of heroic matchmaking and the marriage of the hero. The evolutionary development of uligers at a new stage occurs due to the growth of their plot structure, a qualitatively different interpretation, rethinking, or replacement of traditional key motives: obstacles on the way, road meetings, twinning, the death of a hero, marriage trials and the introduction of new motives and episodes (sometimes plots) , mainly from a fairy tale, as a result of which the epic narrative changes its tone, acquiring the character of entertaining, playing on the miraculous, which, however, does not change the genre specificity of the works. The main theme in uligers is still heroism, not fairy-tale fantasy.
In contrast to the archaic tradition, the fight for the betrothed in the Ungin epic is waged by the hero himself. The plot type "Sister gets her brother to resurrect her husband" is extremely rare (only in two uligers: "Khan Segse Mergen", "Bogdoni Hubshe Mergen and Sister Boylon Gohon") and functions in uligers related to the fight of blood relatives.
The motivation for going to fetch the bride is also being rethought. The marriage is justified by the need to have an heir to the property, an avenger and a successor of the case in the event of his death. The hero learns the name and location of the distant bride either from his mother, daughter-in-law (brother's wife), or from the yellow book of fate-zayan (zayanay shara nomo; pudar). Usually this is the daughter of a khan or celestial, who has the ability to "resurrect the dead, enrich the impoverished", as well as the art of reincarnation (werewolf). Along with the mythological in the Unginian epic, quite realistic features are idealized in the images of women: beauty, wisdom, devotion to her husband, art in sewing, expressed by the typical formula: “I sewed ten [clothes] with collars from silk the size of a palm; twenty [garments] with collars. "
In most uligers, the hero gets his betrothed in competition with other suitors, proving his superiority in wrestling, archery, and horse racing. Sometimes the future father-in-law gives the groom a disastrous task. So, the hero of the eponymous uliger Huhosei Mergen, having won three competitions, is forced to go on a campaign for yellow bile by the order of the khan (ballshulehen) monsters Gal Dulme Khan (literally: Khan of Fire and Pyla-Heat).
On the way, he meets the alien hero Huherdei Mergen, who was killed in the fight against this monster. It lies under a pine tree, where the bones of other bators turn white. The hero turns into a hawk and forces the ravens flying by to pour out "living" water from their beak onto Khuherdei Mergen. The hero comes to life, and with him all the dead bators and warriors. The pine becomes evergreen. Those who have come to life thank Huhosei Mergen and wish him to defeat Gal Dulme Khan, which they could not cope with.
The hero fraternizes with Khuherdei Mergen and, at the head of 33 bators and 300 warriors, goes to the monster. Before the battle, turning into a fly, he looks out for the situation in the camp of the enemy, and then with the squad and the army defeats the bators and soldiers of Gal Dulme Khan and enters into battle with him. The monster burns on him with fiery heat and flames. Huhosei Mergen defeats the enemy with the help of the heavenly deities - the head of the western (right-handed) celestials Esege Malan Tengri and his patron creators, who strike the monster with lightning, lets stone hail and bloody rain.
Having obtained the healing bile of Gal Dulme Khan, the hero marries a princess.
The hero of the eponymous uliger, Arnay Gerdey Mergen, overcomes the endless sea in pursuit of his betrothed. He revives a horse that has died of fatigue with "living" water brought from an impregnable mountain peak by a twin bird. He manages to slip through the edges of heaven and earth, diverging for a moment, to the other side, where the bride lives. The future father-in-law subjects him to tests: sends him to a cold and then hot barn; proposes to pierce with one shot a three-layer felt, a black stone the size of a bull, seventy sledges of firewood and hit the hole of the golden disc. On the way to the house, his wife is kidnapped by a mangadhai. The hero descends underground after her, turning into a huge snake Abarga, defeats the monster with the help of his twin hero. Then, protecting his wife, he ascends to heaven, turning into a hawk. Thanks to dexterity and quickness, it withstands a duel with a celestial, striving to strike him with thunder and lightning. The discouraged celestial man gives his daughter in marriage to the hero.
The hero of another uliger, Ere Toholay Bator, in the fight for his betrothed, first destroys with a bow from a bow all the army of his rival - the son of the 105-head Biting Yellow Mangadhai (Zuudag Shara Mangadhai) - Erhe Boyrek Khubun, and then wins himself in single combat.
Similar plots on the themes of matchmaking, the marriage of a hero, where the struggle for the betrothed continues to be interpreted as a heroic, military feat, and the traditional motives for overcoming obstacles, twinning, marriage trials take on more realistic outlines, are characteristic of the Ungin tradition.
Compared with the previous one, there is an increase in the circle of heroic deeds in them, the expansion of the spatial boundaries of the hero's locus. The action sometimes takes place not only on earth, underground, in the sky, but also outside the earth and sky.
The heroes of such plots often leave for their betrothed only after gaining a heroic status. Usually these are late-born sons of elderly parents ("Huhosei Mergen", "Arnay Gerdei Mergen", "Ulandai Mergen", etc.).
The heroes of uligers with a purely fabulous development of the theme of heroic matchmaking are, as a rule, the youngest of three brothers: fools and slovens, not promising loafers (Bulgan Tolgoi Khubun, Altan Shagai and Mungen Shagai, Khohor Bogdo Khan, Erbed Bogdo Khan ").
Thus, a low-status hero of the eponymous uliger, Bulgan Tolgoi Khubun (literally: "Sable-headed fellow"), the only one of the brothers, fulfills the will of his parents (to pray three nights at their graves) and receives magic mirrors, three gray horses and a parental blessing. Thanks to this, the sloven wins the competition of the grooms (plucking the bride's gold ring from the sky, jumping on a horse, from the sky) and marries the khan's daughter. The snotty, hidden for the time being, reveals his heroic appearance only after he was elected as a princess as a husband.
The second part of this uliger is dedicated to the heroic struggle of Bulgan Tolgoi Khubun with his wife's kidnapper, Mangadhai, who lives in the underworld.
In the street Erbed Bogdo Khan, the old father's eyes disappear, and then his three daughters. The elder sons, having left in search, become victims of the treachery of road pests. Only the younger son, fool Paakli, returns the loss and marries a powerful sorceress, the daughter of a celestial. Having overcome the magical barriers set by her on the border of her possessions (malicious hagshaa witches, iron warriors, hawks, magic signal strings), the hero removes a golden ring from a sorceress sleeping in her palace.
The fool Paakli magically turns out to be stronger and more cunning than the kidnapper, and she, having failed, becomes his wife; returns her father's eyes, placed in a vessel with living water, removes the enchantment from the sisters, whom she had previously turned into guards: witches-hagshaa.
Another type of plot development of the theme of marriage is realized in the epic "Altan Shagai Mergen", which is popular among Western Buryats. A summary of one of its many variants, written down in 1928 by G.D. Sanzheev from the Ungin storyteller N. Tuzhinov (volume of 3674 verses) is reduced to the following:
Altan Shagai Mergen receives a challenge to a duel from the Nine Gabshuu fellows - the grandchildren of the Black Baba mangadhaika (Eme Hara mangadhai - literally: "Black Female monster"). After postponing the fight for 10 years, the hero leaves for his betrothed daughter, Bayan Monkhe Khan, who knows how to "revive the dead, enrich the impoverished." On the way, he dies from the arrow of a foreign hero - a rival in matchmaking, but manages to mortally wound him too.
On the advice of the magic cuckoo, the hero's horse turns into a wonderful pacer in the khan's herd and kidnaps his betrothed resurrector. She revives Altai Shagai Mergen and, having turned into a golden hawk, flies home.
Altan Shagai Mergen revives his rival with a wonderful stone and fraternizes with him. Arriving at Bayan Monkhe Khan, he wooed his daughter. The hero's betrothed sends a maid to see what the groom is like. She deceives the princess: she says that he is old and ugly. Then the bride turns into a hawk and flies away.
The cunning maid invites the confused khan and khansha to wash her in the bathhouse, perfume her, dress her up in princess clothes and marry her instead of her daughter.
The hero marries an imaginary betrothed. On the way to the house, he makes a stop. The wife walks at the khan's feasts. The princess arrives and, assuming her real appearance, sews clothes for Altan Shagai Mergen. The servant's deception is soon revealed, Altan Shagai executes her and unites with his true betrothed.
The emergence of new conflicts in the development of the topic of matchmaking - the substitution of the betrothed, the struggle of the maid with the mistress, the abduction of the princess's horse instead of the traditional "difficult tasks" given to the groom by the bride's father; the struggle of the heroic maiden - the hero's sister for his betrothed-resurrector - significantly change the tone of the narrative, giving it the character of entertainment. The image of a deceitful, impudent servant, who does not shy away from drunkenness, creates in him a number of comic situations, introducing a live stream of folk humor into the heroic content of the uliger.
Instead of a chain of interrelated motives and episodes that consistently reveal the theme of heroic matchmaking in the archaic tradition, in Ungin there is an expansion of the artistic structure of the uliger, branching it into completely independent plot-thematic blocks (types): and marries a hero "who are freely" assembled "into the plot composition of other Ungin uligers (" Five-year-old Tolay Mergen "," Altan Gasuu "," Yermei Bogdo Khan "," Haydar and Buidar "). In addition to them, the following plot block also functions in the Ungin epic: the hero, in the guise of a wandering poor shepherd, becomes the husband of the khan's daughter and fights with the khan's deceitful brother-in-law, who takes his merits, which is realized in the uligers: "Altan Shagai and Mungen Shagai", " Altan Gasuu "and others.
The change in "Altan Shagai Mergen" of the traditional motives of twinning and the trial of the groom testifies to their transformation towards a realistic reflection of reality, overcoming mythology. The archaic motive of the death of the hero also changes in him, which forces him to act not for the hero-sister, as in the Ekhirit-Bulagat epic, but for his horse.
The weakening of heroic motives in the story of Altan Shagai Mergen's marriage is compensated for by their strengthening in the second part of the legend, where the hero fights against the Mangadhais - the Nine Gabshuu fellows, who, having violated the agreement, in the absence of the hero, attack his property, steal cattle and herds and take household members into captivity and subjects. Altan Shagay goes on a campaign against enemies. On the way, Boybor defeats Three fellows - the sons of the Black Baba-man-gadhaika.
At the foot of Mount Oriel Nine fellows Habshuu are waiting for the hero. Altan Shagai Mergen enters into battle with them, but the forces are unequal. Heavenly deities send his brother-in-law to help, but even the two of them cannot defeat the Nine Habshuu fellows. Then the celestials predetermine the birth of the hero's wife of two twin sons. They acquire heavenly horses, weapons, clothing and, having become heroes, go on a campaign after their father.
Together with his brother-in-law and sons, the hero wins the mangadhais in single combat, burns their corpses, and scatters the ashes. He marries his sons to the beauties who helped him; frees his brother and daughter-in-law from bondage, destroys the nest of the Mangadhais led by their ancestor - the monster Black Baba, and returns to his homeland, taking his property and subjects. Lives with his sons calmly and happily.
Such a plot development of the fight against the Mangadhai is characteristic of many Ungin uligers, who narrate about two (less often about three) generations of heroes (father - son - grandson), where the decisive role in the outcome of the battle belongs to the sons - the defenders and successors of the father's cause, although his heavenly help is provided. patrons, brothers-in-arms, and sometimes well-wishing heroes from the camp of the enemy.
The main opponents of the heroes in the epos of the Unginians, along with the foreign heroes, as in the previous tradition, continue to be the Mangadhai monsters, whose ancient mythological images in the heroic legends of the Buryats are represented at different stages of evolutionary development.
In the archaic Ekhirit-Bulagat epic, these are terrible, fantastic monsters with an exaggerated multitude (tens, hundreds, thousands) of heads and perch-like horns, personifying their strength and vitality. In the absence of names, the Mangadhai differ in the number of these attributes, as well as in the epithets that define their characteristic features: 108-headed Biting Yellow Mangadhai (Zuudag sara mangadhai), 13-Headed Asurai Yellow Mangadhai (Asuurai shara mangadhai), where the meanings of the words: "Asurai (Sanskrit. asura- daemon; evil spirit), "Zuudag" - biting, biting "(Buryats, zuuha- to grasp with your teeth; keep in your teeth; bite [about the dog]) indicate the nature of these images hostile to man.
Mangadhai are able to draw with a stream of air into their huge mouth, indiscriminately swallow all living and nonliving. Crowds of people, herds of horses and herds, carts with firewood, carts with flour, etc. usually emerge from the insides of a monster killed by a hero. Sometimes Mangadhai are depicted as cannibals living in the underworld ("Osodor Mergen"). Zoo-anthropomorphic features are bizarrely combined in the images of female Mangadhaeks. Such is the old Mangadhaika woman - the daughter of the 500-headed, 50-horned Old Mangadhai, who has a "white-white head, a large pointed chin, a single tooth in her mouth, a single eye on the crown of her head and a sharp white beak" (Abai Geser the Mighty ... 1995; verses 5433-5437, 7212-7222.) The invariable attribute of these old women is the "thousand-heeled" white leather scraper (mitan sagaan hederge). Conspoken by her mistress, she, striving to destroy the hero, is able to pursue him, sweeping away all obstacles on the way.
Demonic old women also act as "travel pests", treating street heroes with poisoned (wormy) tea. In the ekhirit-bulagat version of Geseriad, they fight the hero, avenging the death of their many-headed kinsmen, the Mangadhais. Through cunning intrigue and deceit, one of them turns Geser into a horse and takes his wife to her son.
Mangadhai in uligers are always related by kinship and make up one large family, headed by the oldest maternal grandmother in the family (ehe holhi toodei), or the aunt who keeps the souls of monsters. They also saturate the sons and grandchildren exhausted in the struggle with the hero with their breast milk.
In the Ungin epic, the mighty Eme Hara mangadhaika (literally: Black female monster) acts as the ancestor, which has anthropomorphic features: eyelids falling down on the nose, hanging on the navel of the chest, a fat belly falling to her knees. The hero usually catches her dressing moose skins with a black iron leather-scraper, with which she lifts her eyelids to see who has entered, and then tries to kill, avenging her dead relatives. Like her archaic predecessors, the monstrous Baba is vicious, aggressive and possesses not only enormous physical strength, but also magical abilities (with a blow of her leather mill she turns street bator into wild animals). The hero with great difficulty manages to defeat her in single combat, often thanks to the help of his sons and brothers.
In the opinion of SJ. Neklyudova "this class of characters goes back to the images of demonic matriarchal" mistresses "of archaic mythology or varieties of the chthonic mother goddess ..." (Neklyudov. 1984.S. 115).
In the process of the development of the street genre, there is a gradual evolution of the images of the Mangadhais towards anthropomorphization. Their multi-headedness becomes rudimentary. In the later recordings of the Ungin uligers, there is a tendency to depict many-headed monsters in the form of comic, stupid simpletons (some of their heads tell fairy tales and uligers, they sing other songs, the rest make riddles). In the Ungin epos, the Mangadkhais are mainly called "Khubuns" (hubuun- a son, a guy, a good fellow, a dashing man), that is, good fellows, daring ones - the descendants of the Black Woman-monster. In their actions and deeds, their way of life, they do not differ from alien enemies: heroes and khans; live in palaces, have an army, bators. They oppose the hero not one by one, but collectively and differ only in their number and nicknames: Three fellows Boybor (Gurban boybor hubuud), Nine guys Gabshuu (NShen gabshuu hubuud), where definitions "boybor", "gabshuu" matter: dexterous, agile, agile, agile. The one-headedness of these mangadhais is especially emphasized.
These representatives of the hostile world in uligers usually live in the mythical land of Honin Hot, located in the north, northeast, in a desert windy land from which there is no return. In some uligers, mangadhai appear from water (river, sea) or the underground (lower) world (doodo zambi). In the archaic Ekhirit-Bulagat version of Geseriad, multi-headed monsters are located in the dark, northern part of the sky, and in the Ungin versions of the epic later in their formation, the story of the appearance on earth of the Mangadhais from the body parts of the head of the evil eastern (left-sided) celestials, Atai Ulan Tengri (Abai Geser ... 1995. Verses 4545-4554; Burchin. 1990).
In the Ungin epic, the fight against the Mangadhais is no longer accidental, as it used to be, but is an integral part of the heroic deeds of the hero who protects his property, clan and tribe from their predatory raids. Much less often, matchmaking or wife-kidnapping is the cause of the struggle.
Detailed formal descriptions of this struggle (single combat, group fights, fights with archery, battles with the participation of warriors and vigilantes) occupy a significant place in the heroic-epic legends of the Unginians. The military qualities of bators and mergen are clearly manifested in them. In the epic, male heroes are idealized, whose excellent qualities are determined by the epithets that make up their names: baatar- hero, warrior; mergen - letters .: well-aimed shooter; hubuun- in a figurative sense - a daring man, a young hero, a young warrior; er- letters: male, male. In the epic it is used in the sense: strong, courageous, brave man, warrior.
Along with the heroic single combat, where the outcome of the battle is decided by the superiority of physical strength or with the help of weapons, the hero uses his supernatural powers and abilities (magician, sorcerer, werewolf), which his opponent also possesses. This usually happens in the fight against a particularly strong invulnerable monster-mangadhai, which can only be defeated by destroying his "outer" soul before (amyhulde khoyor- letters: breath and [vital] force, energy) stored in an inaccessible place; or by hitting a vulnerable "point" on the enemy's body, which is the focus of his soul. In multi-headed Mangadhais, they usually have one "main" whitish head, located in the middle of its numerous heads, or a birthmark between the shoulder blades on the back, or the pupil of the "central" white one of the hundreds of thousands of dorsal eyes of the monster. In the Ekhirit-Bulagat version of Geseriad, the analogue of the soul of an invulnerable baby, the son of a monster, is a wonderful thread stretched from the sky through which water flows, saving him in a red-hot barn.
The stories about the acquisition, catching, destruction of the soul, the pursuit of it, based on the animistic views of the creators of the epic, represent a great variety in the heroic-epic legends of the Buryats. The soul, presented as a material phenomenon, usually has the form of quails in the epic works of Buryats. (budene), sometimes quails and partridges, quails and wasps. Their number is different: 12, 13, 22, 23, 26 and they are in a gold box, which in turn is in a silver one, enclosed in a wooden or iron box and hidden in the stomach of mythical animals (three-year-old toads, wild pigs) that live at the bottom of the poisonous (yellow) sea, or kept by the grandmothers or older aunts of the monsters-mangadhais. In one of the Ungin variants of the Geseriad, the souls of the three Sharablin khans - Geser's enemies - look like white and silver butterflies and are in a box on the top floor of their palace. And in the Ekhirit-Bugat epic "Erensei" the soul of the Mangadhai in the form of a yellow stone is hidden in the knife-like feather of the right wing of the huge bird Khan Kherdeg.
Getting the enemy's soul is always associated with cunning, magic, werewolf. The hero usually comes to the guardians of the souls of the Mangadhais, turning into their "grandson". Then, having magically put them to sleep, he breaks the boxes and catches the scattered birds with the help of his magical art: releasing a bitter frost, he collects the rays of the sun on his right palm, and with his left he destroys the quails that have flown to the warmth.
Sometimes the soul, fleeing persecution, successively turns into animals, plants, fish, etc. The motive of the chase, based on the idea of the metamorphism of the soul, is widespread in the epos of the ekhirit-bulagats. The most detailed and colorful plot of the chase is found in the epic "Abai Geser-khubun" ("Abai Geser the Mighty") by the ekhirite-Bulagat storyteller Manshud Imegenov, where the hero pursues the soul of the Long-haired Red-haired mangadhaika (Uta Shara ezy).
Twenty-six quails that fluttered out of the box successively turn into roe deer, growing millet, small fish, and Geser, exterminating them, turns into a gray-gray hawk, nine gray heavenly wolves, nine soldiers, nine pikes, respectively. And when the last fish turns into thirteen quails, he directs the rays of the sun to the withers of his horse, the rays of the moon to his croup; causes bloody rain, stone hail and destroys flocked birds.
In the Ungin epic tradition, in the plot of the chase with transformations, the hero can be replaced by his arrow, and the pursued soul - by his owner, a foreign hero (uliger "Altan Shagai Mergen"). In the epic of the Unghians, plot collisions are more popular in the search, obtaining a soul, and not in pursuit of it. So, in the uliger "Late-born Ulandai Mergen" (Orei henze Ulaandai Mergen; 3307 verses; written down by G.D.Sanzheev in 1928, in the Srednyaya Kuyta ulus of the Nukutsk district of the Irkutsk region) the hero and his antagonist, One-headed mangadhai hune Boy , having failed to defeat each other in single combat (since both are invulnerable), they set out in search of souls, the whereabouts of which they learn by exchanging their books of fate-zayana.
Mangadhai turns into a yellow-and-white wasp and observes the behavior of the hero's wife, the beautiful Shara Sesag abhai. Then, ascending to heaven, he takes her form and asks the grandmother's supreme celestial woman Manzan Gourmet for the soul of "her husband", ostensibly to "strengthen" her. And Ulandai Mergen, turning into a huge fish Abarga at the bottom of the poisonous sea, conjures his magic weapon - a heavenly crystal blue "stone" - a jewel (molor hukhe erdeni), to rip open the belly of a wild pig and carry the box with the soul of the Mangadhai to the shore. Then he destroys twelve quails, frozen from the cold, when they flock to his palm to the sunbeam. At this moment, the mangadhai, who was already about to receive a bottle (lonho) with twelve quails (the soul of Ulandai Mergen), falls dead from heaven and breaks.
In the Ungin epic tradition, such stories about the search and destruction of the enemy's soul acquire a fabulous, entertaining character.
At the later stages of epic creativity, representatives of a hostile world are portrayed as more powerful than their archaic predecessors, endowed with supernatural strength and invulnerability. The hero cannot defeat them either in single combat or by force of arms. In the Ungin Geseriad, this is one with a hundred thousand eyes on the back, forty thousand eyes on the chest, a star-white eye on the crown - the monster Gal Dulme khan (literally: Khan of Fire and Pyla-Heat), destroying all life on earth, bringing drought and pestilence; the devil Sharem Minata Alban Shulma (literally: the devil with a cast-iron whip), who lives on the other side of the land of death; Lobsogoy Black Mangadhai riding an iron blue horse. All of them originate from the body parts of the evil Atai Ulan Tengri, the heads of the left-sided (eastern) celestials, who opposed the right-sided (western) good deities, thrown to the ground. Geser destroys enemies with the help of his patrons - Western heavenly deities: he strikes Gal Dulme Khan in a vulnerable spot - the pupil of a star-white eye on the crown, where his soul was kept, and his unborn (uterine) son - an invulnerable iron-bodied baby - is melted by heavenly smiths into iron barn; the invincible devil Sharem Minata, who evidently personifies death itself, is cut into pieces by the magic woolly twig of the grandmother's grandmother's supreme celestial Manzan Gourmet; and the immortal, without a soul, Lobsogoy Black Mangadhai is imprisoned in a deep dungeon with guards who do not allow him to get out of there.
In the epic mangadhai, as the worst enemies of people, are always destroyed, their bodies are burned, and their ashes are scattered. In their origins, these images belong to the most ancient layer of epic mythology. According to A.I. Ulanova, amorphous, indefinite images of many-headed, multi-horned, many-eyed monsters, combining the signs of both humans, and predatory animals, and birds, and the spontaneous destructive forces of nature, arose at the stage of fetishism and continued their formation at the advanced stage of animism (Ulanov. 1963.S. 162, 168-169).
Etymology of the term mangadhai, having in different phonetic variants (mangus, mangad, mangaa, jal mouse, moos) widespread in the epic of the Turkic-Mongol peoples, as well as the genesis of this folklore-mythological image, in science are still unclear. Perhaps the opinion of G.D. Sanzheev, who believed that people of a foreign tribe were caricatured under the images of these monsters in the Buryat epic (Sanzheev. 1936, p. 29), is not without foundation, since the tradition of identifying representatives of other tribes and peoples with the word "Mangad" existed, in particular, among the Western Buryats and Kalmyks. It is possible that in later historical periods, depending on the circumstances, this ethnonym could be used negatively, demonizing the image of a foreign enemy.
A rather large group in the heroic and epic works of the Ungians is represented by uligers, whose plot basis is built on the antagonism of members of a patriarchal family and clan: the struggle of older sisters with brothers, older brothers with younger ones, uncles with nephews, parents with a son, daughters-in-law with sisters-in-law, elder sons-in-law of the khan with a low-status poor son-in-law ("Haydar and Buidar", "Khan Sagsei Mergen", "Ere Khabtas Mergen", "Amagalan Bogdo Khan", "Bogdoni Hubshe Mergen", "Five-year-old Tolay Mergen" and others). Compared to other thematic groups, they more fully reflected the ideology of the era of military democracy, the transition to a new type of management - cattle breeding, the strengthening of the power of men in the family and clan, the emergence of property and social inequality in ancient society. The deadly struggle, treachery and betrayal of blood relatives are motivated in these uligers by the desire to seize property: cattle, herds, subjects, and not by the marriage of a sister, as in the archaic tradition. The winner is always a male hero (younger brother; nephew) who severely punishes traitorous relatives.
In this group of uligers, the image of the heroic maiden, the hero's younger sister, who traditionally acts as his savior, is undergoing transformation in this group of uligers (the plot type "Sister gets her brother a bride-to-be-resurrector"). At a new stage in the development of the epic, with the glorification of the image of a hero-man, she loses this function, which passes to the hero's horse. In the Ungin uligers, on the theme of the struggle of blood relatives, a new fairy tale appears about the defenseless, persecuted by evil daughters-in-law, the hero's younger sister, who has completely lost the heroic features of a heroic maiden.
Uligers, telling about the relationships and conflicts of family members and clans, differ not only in rethinking, changing the interpretation of archaic motives, but also by enriching them with new plots, episodes and images; unfolding, complexity of the narrative structure.
In contrast to them, the uligers about the struggle of heroic maidens with the Mangadhais, who came to them for matrimonial purposes, are small in volume: "Maid Alag Bulag" (518 verses), "Maid Ereg Dureg" (252 verses), the narrative of which is humorous, and also uliger "Seven eminent savras mares" (Suutyn doloon hulagshan)(1233 verses), telling about the death of the herd from a foreign hero-invader and her leader - the Savras mare, at the cost of her own life, saving her foal.
Unga uligers represent a higher stage in the development of the Buryat epos with a tendency towards liberation from mythological views. But they still contain many elements of the hunting epic, animistic representations. Heroes are traditionally endowed with wonderful abilities (werewolf, magic).
The formation of the Ungin epic tradition was due to the socio-economic processes that took place during the disintegration of the tribal society. The epic tradition of the Unginians shows that the interests of the material order, the seizure of someone else's property, become in many ways the root cause of the contradictions that arose in society.
The further development of the heroic-epic legends of the Buryats is demonstrated by the Khorin uligers, whose creators, keepers and performers were mainly representatives of the most numerous Khori tribe, who lived in the steppe and semi-steppe regions: along the valleys of the Uda, Kurba, Khilka, Chikoya, Onon rivers, the right bank of the Selenga; in the steppes of Kudara, Tugnuy and Agha - favorable for breeding cattle, horses, camels, sheep and goats. Those who moved to the Selenga basin in the 17th century also lived together with the Khorin people. Mongolian clans of Atagans, Tsongols, Sartuls, Uzons, Khatagins, Tabanguts, as well as small groups of Bulagats and Ekhirits (in Ivolga, Orongoi, Tugnuy, Mukhorshibiri, Eravna), undoubtedly, brought their archaic epic traditions (sets of plots, images, motives).
According to historical sources, the main occupation of the Trans-Baikal Buryats in the 17th-18th centuries. there was nomadic livestock raising in the complete absence of arable farming. Hunting also did not play a big role in the economy. (Sanzhiev, Sanzhieva. 1999.S. 42). The separation of cattle breeding into a special industry as a specific independent production inevitably pushed the growth of new social relations, increased property inequality, the emergence of a rudimentary tribal aristocracy. This process was also facilitated by ancient ties, the closeness of the Khori-Buryats with the Khalkha, the presence in their life of features of the later feudal Mongol culture. According to A.I. Ulanov, "among the Khoris, the 17th century is marked by many signs of a class society: property differences, the power of leaders, the beginning of the penetration of Buddhism, etc." (Ulanov. 1974. P. 69).
The originality of the natural, economic, historical, social conditions of life and life of the Khorin people was vividly reflected in their epic, defining the typology of its artistic organism, which gave the basis for separating it into a separate stage formation.
The first recordings and publications of epic works of the Khori-Buryats, begun at the end of the 19th century. G.N. Potanin (retelling in Russian by the uliger "Bolod Khuray"), were continued by A.D. Rudnev (prose texts of the uligers "Lodoy Mergen", "Shoroltor Mergen", "About old Zhibzhen" with translation into Russian) (Rudnev. 1913-1914), C. Zh. Zhamtsarano, B. Baradin (uligers "Khashagta Mergen", "Nayantai Mergen"); in 1929 - G.D. Sanzheev in the mountain Oka ("Bogdo Hubshe Mergen", "Ere Sogto Mergen"), in 1934 - N.N. Poppe ("Bator Shono Galdan", "Ulan Nuden Buidan").
Of particular value among them is the collection of Ts. Zhamtsarano, consisting of nine street texts recorded in 1908 in Khara-Shibiri from the 63-year-old storyteller Bazar Galdanov, an expert on the epic tradition of the Khori Buryats ("Menielte Mergen", "Heder Mergen "," Saazuunai khubun "," Doloolin lugaa basagan "(Maid Dololin Luga)," Namuunai khubun "," Zhibzhelte Mergen "," Tumar Boldor "," Shulun Boldor "," Khan Khashagta Mergen ").
A significant number of uligers were recorded in the 30-50s of the XX century. A.N. Stepanov: "Twelve-year-old Altan Ganzhudai" (917 verses); "Fifteen-year-old Abadai Mergen" (580 verses); "Uncheng Zhagar Bogdo Khan" (832 verses); "Unkhelseg Bator" prose-poetic text; "Bogdo Bugter Khan" (600 verses); "Bator Shono Galdan" (1500 verses); "Muu Khubun" (716 verses) and others; YES. Alekseev: "Lodoy Mergen", "Khureltor Mergen, riding a brown horse"; S.P. Baldaev, N.O. Sharakshinova, P.B. Baldanzhapov, G.O. Tudenov, Ts.-A. Dugarnimaev and others in the Selenginsky, Bichursky, Kizhinginsky, Khorinsky, Eravninsky, Mukhorshibirsky aimags of Buryatia and the Aginsky Buryat Autonomous District of the Chita Region.
These records show that the epic tradition among the Trans-Baikal Buryats was alive almost until the end of the 20th century, despite the process of its extinction, which apparently began in the middle of the 19th century.
In comparison with the Western Buryat ones, the Khorin uligers have basically a mixed prose-poetic form, in connection with which they were distinguished by their deep originality and their performance. According to Ts. Zhamtsarano, the narrative part of them was told by the narrator "recitative", and the monologues and dialogues of the characters were sung. “At the same time, those present, for the most part already sung, sing in chorus after each line the corresponding refrain -" turilg, e "(from the word mypixy - nudge). Each speaking face in the uliger: hero, mangathai, horse, beast, arrow - has its own motive and its own chorus that characterize the speaker. " (Zhamtsarano. 1918.S. 25-26). These choruses were sometimes accompanied by strings (hure or yataga).
The live participation of listeners in the performance of uligers among the Khori-Buryats was thus expressed in a vocal repetition following the narrator of short couplets or quatrains (chorus-formulas), stable in their composition and structure, without coherent semantic content, but apparently serving as a means phonosemantic characteristics of a specific image of an epic character, on behalf of whom he was performed. So, the chorus-formulas of the heroic horse: "Truja, Trojanza!" or "Turya-ee turyanza, turyahysa-ee turyanza!" are undoubtedly onomatopoeic variations of the word turyakha snort, and turelge dogs: "Gangyaanuur, Gangyaanuur, Gangyaa Gangyaanuur!" comes from the word gangyanaha- whine.
A feature of the Khorin epic is also the vocal monologues of the heroes, in which they express their feelings and experiences experienced by them at critical moments.
Along with the prose-poetic, the Khorin uligers have a poetic form, performed both in a lingering melodious and declamatory, recitative manner (Ulanov. 1974.S. 73). They are small in volume (from 500 to 2000 verses) and are more like a short retelling, since in the process of the extinction of the street tradition, they have lost many traditional features of style, composition, artistic expression (reduction of epic cliché formulas, etc.).
The plots of the Khorin uligers are diverse and thematically fall into groups: the first one is about heroic matchmaking and the marriage of heroes ("Bolod Khuray", "Maid Doloolin Lugaa", "Borontuu Mergen on a gray-motley horse", "Nugelte Nyusegen Gurguli", " ); the second - about the marriage and struggle of heroes with the Mangadhais and foreign khans-invaders ("Unchen Zhagar Bogdo Khan", "Khan Khashagta Mergen", "Unkhelseg Bator", "Bogdo Hubshe Mergen"); the third is about intra-family and clan relationships and conflicts ("Menielte Mergen", "Lodoy Mergen", "Erelday Ezen Bogdo Khan", "Bator Shono Galdan", "Sagadai Mergen and sister Nogodoy Sesen", "15-year-old Abadai Mergen", "12-year-old Altan Ganzhudai").
The main motives of the Khorin epic, related to its ancient strata (the fight against the Mangadhais, heroic matchmaking, magic, shape-shifting, the death and resurrection of heroes, the destruction of the enemy's soul, etc.), are common with the Western Buryat uligers, which indicates their formation on the soil a single epic tradition.
The plots on the theme of intra-family, clan relationships and conflicts (betrayal of the wife, antagonism of the uncle and nephew, older and younger brothers; mutual affection of the brother and younger sister; the exploits of the heroic maiden and her death by evil ones; her death by evil ones; the murder of a son by his parents).
But at the same time, the Khorin uligers have their own characteristic typological features, manifested in a different interpretation of archaic motives, plots and images in accordance with the ideology, the way of life of nomadic pastoralists of the era of decomposition of the clan society and the emergence of elements of a new system.
The epic hero of the Khorintsy is portrayed, as a rule, as a wealthy herder, owner of vast herds, countless herds. Often, the uligers describe five types of domestic animals traditionally bred by the Buryats. (taban hushuu small): cows, horses, camels, sheep and goats. The ancient motive of hunting fades into the background and is interpreted not as a means of food, but as fun, entertainment for the hero. As Ts. Zhamtsarano writes, the round-up of animals from the Khori-Buryats "is arranged for observing foreign countries, establishing relations with other heroes", serves as a method of "concluding alliances or starting a war." (Zhamtsarano. 1918.S. XXX).
The Khorin epic reflects the inter-clan and inter-tribal struggle waged by the khans (leaders of clans and tribes): "Khan Khashagta Mergen", "Namuunai Khan". Opponents, enemies of the hero, along with the mangadhai, are mainly depicted as foreign khans, who are characterized as "evil people" (good sadhalten). They attack the property of the hero, steal cattle and herds, seize land (pastures), and turn their subjects and household members into forced shepherds and slaves (barlag).
The epic hero makes campaigns for the sake of protection, liberation of his possessions from enemy raids, extraction of his betrothed, return of stolen goods (property, wife, parents) or conquest of other clans and tribes (countries), search for better lands and pastures. He is driven by the desire to gain glory, to exalt his name. In some uligers, the hero calls himself a great, rich khan (ekhe bayan khan).
The motive for the struggle of blood relatives (uncle and nephew, older brothers with younger ones) is the desire for power (seizure of the father's "throne").
In the epic of the Khorintsy, the social stratification of society into tribal nobility and simple kinfolk (shepherds, servants), who, in the words of Ts. Zhamtsarano, are "obedient tributaries of their sovereign", is more clearly traced.
In comparison with the Ekhirit-Bulagat epics, the Khorin epic is less archaic. It has few characters of zoomorphic mythology, there is no motive of twinning with animals, and the traditional images of the Mangadhai monsters are deactivated, lose their fantastic features and are portrayed either as "comical, stupid simpletons, which the hero deals with without much difficulty," or endowed with quite realistic features of the invading khans : have weapons, troops and make raids, destroying the property of the heroes.
In uligers with a matrimonial theme, fabulous motives and plots play an important role: marriage, often of a low hero status, thanks to the help of a magic donor, on werewolf maidens, appearing in the guise of birds, animals, animals (swan, fox, roe deer, quail, lark) ... Particularly popular is the image of the celestial swan-maiden - the betrothed hero, going back to the totem cult of this bird, with which the Khori-Buryats associate their origin.
The later layers include the motives of social inequality, as well as images and terms related to the Buddhist religion: lama(Buddhist monk), dayansha(contemplative lama), shudher(damn devil) orhimjo(an attribute of a monk's attire is a wide strip of red material thrown over the shoulder), hadag(a long, silk cloth presented as a welcome gift to guests of honor), abaral zuntag(divination prayer), zurkhai(astrology).
The development of cattle breeding, which played a huge role in the history of the people, was widely reflected in the Khorin (and also Ungin), epic traditions in the form of new genre formations - legends about animals. So the main heroine of the Khorin uliger "Suutyn sagaan khulagshan" (Eminent white mare) and the Ungin "Suutyn doloon khulagshan" (Seven eminent Savras mares) is a horse that, at the cost of his life, rescues its foal from the cruel khan's hero who exterminated their entire herd. In the legends, a hymn to the life-affirming power of mother's love sounds. And in the ungshen sagan botogon (White orphaned camel), widespread among the Khori-Buryats, it tells about the bitter wanderings and longing of a baby separated, at the will of a rich man, from its mother.
Unlike the archaic tradition, the bearers of evil in these works are no longer monsters, but people - representatives of the social top of society.
Cattle-breeding motifs are more widely reflected in the street tradition of the Khorin people than in the previous ones, but the image of a heroic horse is traditional and beloved in all heroic-epic legends of the Buryats. This is a faithful friend, a wonderful universal helper and wise counselor with a shrewd mind and human speech. His image combines both realistic and fantastic elements. In the Ungin epic, the horse, at the cost of his life, saves the heroes from death, obtains the betrothed resurrector for the deceased owner, has the magical ability of reincarnation, and in some cases revives his friend. The hero of the Ungin uligers receives heroic status only after taming, circling the heavenly horse sent by divine patrons.
The image of a wonderful horse, based on ancient totemic beliefs and cult, appears in the heroic epic of the Buryats as the sacred patron of the clan and expresses the strength and power of the street hero.
In general, the Khorin uligers show the further evolution of the epic creativity of the Buryats at a new stage in the development of society and people's consciousness; the process of overcoming the mythological worldview. According to the observations of scientists, the Khorin storytellers, in contrast to the Ekhirit-Bulagat and Ungin stories, treated the uligers as "art, fantasy, beautiful invention" (Ulanov. 1974.S. 74).
The adoption of Buddhism by the Khori-Buryats, the spread of the old Mongolian writing, the religious literature of Tibet and China, the canons and dogmas of the Buddhist Church, served, according to scientists, as the impetus for the gradual extinction of epic creativity, "the development of uligers into fairy tales." (Ulanov. 1957, p. 167), although the people continued to preserve their love for the epic and the tradition of its transmission.
A special place in the heroic and epic creativity of the Buryats belongs to the legends about the mighty hero Abai Geser - the heavenly son, sent down to earth to protect ordinary people from suffering and death. The epic about this hero, which has existed among the people since time immemorial, is widely known in all corners of ethnic Buryatia, enjoys universal love and is considered the pearl of the Buryat street art. Compared to other uligers, the legends about Geser are distinguished by their large volume (from 7 to 20 thousand or more verses), the monumentality of the plot composition and the perfection of the artistic form.
In addition to Buryatia, Geseriada is known in Mongolia, Kalmykia, among the Turkic-speaking peoples of southern Siberia, in Tibet (Kham, Amdo, Ladakh), in Inner Mongolia, Nepal, as well as in Pakistan, India and Sikkim. Among the many national versions reflecting the distinctive features of each people, the Buryat samples of this unique monument are considered the most archaic and represent an extensive epic collection formed on the basis of biographical and genealogical cyclization, telling about the life and exploits of the hero and his sons, who are entrusted with a special mission of fighting against evil on earth and the establishment of a peaceful and happy life for people.
Unlike the Tibetan and Mongolian versions, which had a written tradition, the Buryat Geseriad was transmitted orally for many centuries, which led to the emergence of various local traditions of its performance and an abundance of different options. The book form of Geseriada, close to the Mongolian, existed mainly in Transbaikalia among the Khori-Buryats, where the old Mongolian writing, Buddhism was widespread, and the feudal culture of Mongolia was strongly influenced.
The first steps to fix the Buryat Geseriad were taken by G.N. Potanin, who published in 1883 a rather schematic retelling of the initial episodes of the uliger, called "Gesyr-khan", written by him from the Alar Buryat Manzanov, who spoke Russian. Then, in 1893, in the book "Tangut-Tibetan outskirts of China and Central Mongolia", along with the Tibetan versions, he was placed in a very detailed retelling of the Buryat ethnographer M.N. Khangalov, a consolidated text of the poetic epic "Abai Geser Bogdo Khan" that was used in the Angara region.
M.N. Khangalov, who recorded this epic legend from his father N. Khangalov and the talented uligershin P. Tushemilov, provided the text with an extensive introductory article containing valuable information about the existence of "Abai Geser" among the Ungin Buryats, about the legends associated with his name.
At the beginning of the XX century. the work on collecting heroic and epic legends was continued by Ts. Zhamtsarano. In 1903-1906, on the instructions of the Russian Academy of Sciences, he made the first scientific records of the uligers who lived in the valley of the river. Kudy, Verkholenie, on (now Ust-Orda Buryat Autonomous Okrug). His collection, consisting of ten full-fledged, highly artistic samples of the archaic epos of the Ekhirits and Bulagats, revealed to scientists an amazing wealth of epic creativity of the Buryats. Of particular value in this collection was the epic "Abai Geser-khubun" (10590 verses), written down from M. Imegenov and constituting, together with the uligers, about the hero's sons ("Oshor Bogdo-khubun" and "Khurin Altai-khubun") a cyclized epic, volume 22074 verses, unparalleled in other national versions of the monument. These recordings were published in the first two issues of the second volume of Samples of Folk Literature of the Mongol Tribes. Records and publications of Ts. Zhamtsarano are valuable in that they formed the classical textological basis of Buryat eposology and are actively functioning in science.
In 1909 the English scientist Curtin published three versions of Geser, which he wrote down in 1900 in the same region. One of these options was an abbreviated presentation of "Abai Geser-khubun" written by an Englishman, apparently from M. Imegenov, but it has a number of plot discrepancies in comparison with the full record made by Ts. Zhamtsarano in 1906. The texts in Curtin's publication were the result double translation: from Buryat into Russian, made by V. Mikhailov, then from Russian into English, and in essence they were prosaic retellings of the Uliger plotline.
In Soviet times, from the beginning of the 1920s, the folklorist S.P. Baldaev (1889-1978), who surveyed almost all uluses of ethnic Buryatia. A significant number of heroic and epic works, including the epic about Geser, were also recorded by scientists and collectors: A.K. Bogdanov, K.A. Hadahane, K.V. Baginov, A.I. Shadaev, G. D. Sanzheev, I.N. Madason, D.D. Khiltukhin, R.F. Tugutov, D.A. Alekseev, M.P. Khomonov, N.O. Sharakshinova, A. Balburov, T.M. Boldonova, who worked with talented uligers of the 20-40s and 50s, who still preserved the living tradition of storytelling art. To a large extent, thanks to their efforts, the main repertoire of the traditional uligers that existed among the people was identified and recorded, giving an idea of the general fund of the epic heritage of the Buryats.
At present, there are more than one hundred original uligers in the KHVRK IMBiT SB RAS, among which the heroic-epic legends about Geser are presented with the greatest completeness. They were recorded in different years in Alarsky, Nukutsky, Bokhansky, Osinsky, Ekhirit-Bulagatsky districts of the Irkutsk region, as well as in Tunka (Buryatia) and Are (Chita region) from talented folk storytellers-gesershin: P. Petrov (1866-1943) , P. Tushemilova (1877-1954), P. Dmitrieva (1883-1958), B. Zhatukhaeva (1891-1983), Alfora Vasilyeva (1887-1945), A. Toroeva (1893-1982), O. Khaintaeva, M Gerguseeva, O. Gelinkenova, N. Ivanova, R.N. Bulatov, D. Zabanov, D. Khaludorova "Zh. Samaev and others, each of whom had his own unique creative personality, his own performing style and the gift of poetic speech. today, the diversity and richness of local epic traditions of the Buryat Geseriad.
Bilingual (in the original language with Russian translation) scientific editions of the Geseriada texts, recorded by Ts. Zhamtsarano and I. Madason, were published in the early 60s by A.I. Ulanov and M.P. Khomonov. In 1969 N.O. Sharakshinova published her translation into Russian of the text "Abai Geser-Khubun" (Sharakshinova. 1969.S. 145-314). In 1995, in the series "The Epos of the Peoples of Eurasia", a new bilingual edition of the Ekhirite-Bulagat version was published in the scientific translation by A.B. Soktoeva (Abai Geser the Mighty ... 1995). In addition, various versions of "Geser" were published in the Buryat language. (Tushemilov."Geser". 19 A \; Dmitriev."Geser". 1953; "Abai Geser Bogdo Khan". 1995). Researchers divide all the variety of variants of the Buryat Geseriad into two groups according to their stadial-typological characteristics: the Ungin ones, which are similar in plot to the Mongolian book Geseriad, and the much more archaic Ekhirite-Bulagat (Ulanov. 1957 S. 104-105, 128, 138; Sharakshinova. 1969.S. 40; Abai Geser. 1960.S. 4).
The basis of the plot of these heroic and epic works is the story of the sending of Geser by heavenly deities to earth, his second birth on earth, marriage and exploits for the sake of happiness and a peaceful life of people.
The most famous in science version of the ekhirit-bulagat version of the Geseriad is the epic "Abai Geser-khubun", recorded in 1906 by Ts. 1908), who managed to reproduce this monumental epic trilogy about the hero and his sons in the performing traditions of the ekhirit-bulagats, preserving both the originality of the plot and the picturesque richness of the artistic language, images, not in a familiar setting among one-Husband listeners, but for a visiting scientist who recorded every word he says.
This version, according to A.I. Ulanova, is "completely independent, original, having no resemblance either to the Mongolian" Geseriada "or to the Tibetan or Kalmyk legends about Geser, except for the name of the main character." The archaic nature of "Abai Geser-khubun", which has well preserved the mythological basis, is evidenced by its very content, the interpretation of the images of the main characters, and the main idea of the work: "the fight against monsters personifying the evil forces of nature and overcoming obstacles." (Ulanov. 1957.S. 116).
Events in the epic, as in other versions of the Buryat Geseriad, begin in the sky, on which, according to the ancient beliefs of the Buryats, the Tengri inhabitants live: those born on the western (right) side - 55 good, bright deities headed by Khankhan Hermos and born in the eastern (left) side - 44 dark, evil, led by Ataa Ulan, and in the middle between them - Segen Sebdeg tengri. The eldest, supreme deities, to whom all the inhabitants of heaven obey, are: Esege's father Malan-babai, Malzan's grandmother Gurmen-tedei - the oldest goddess, the mother of all tengri. Kind deities, vigilantly taking care of Geser, helping him in difficult times, are "a thousand bright heavenly Burkhans" (ogtorgoin minggan sagaan burkhan), as well as the Creator the Light Elder Zarlig (Zarlig sagaan ubegen).
The plot of further events in the epic is the dispute between Khankhan Hermos and Ataa Ulan. Each of them wants to master the middle Segen Sebdag tengri, who lives alone and personifies the border, the border between the two opposition camps (light and darkness). This is evidenced by the etymology of his name - "Firm (unshakable; persistent) celestial inhabitant of the border, border".
The Celestials agree to fight: whoever wins will take possession of Segen Sabdag. But Hanhan Hermos forgets about the timing of the battle. And then the three-year-old son of Khankhan Hermos, the late-born Abai Geser-khubun, throws Ataa Ulan to the ground with a blow of his father's spear - the lower zambi(concept of zambi- the earth, as a dwelling place for people, is associated with the cosmogonic ideas of the ancient Buryats, according to which the Universe consisted of the upper (heavenly), lower (earthly) and underground worlds).
The body of the defeated Ataa Ulan spreads a stench and stench; turns into monsters-mangadhais who swallow and devour earthly people and all life on earth. For their salvation, cleansing the earth of monsters, restoring peace, prosperity and order, the bright heavenly deities send Geser to the earth. From that moment on, the hero's whole life is devoted to this noble mission, which is the main idea of the Buryat Geseriad.
Geser descends to earth in the guise of a black raven. His bodily hypostasis remains in heaven. Heavenly patrons first temper him, strengthen the soul, making it invulnerable, endow the hero with wonderful abilities, give him three sisters-saviors as his companions, since severe trials and hard struggle await him on earth.
On earth, the hero is reborn to a 60-year-old woman living in poverty and a 70-year-old man who hunts for small animals.
The main plot links of M. Imegenov's version are: 1) Heavenly prologue (opposition of western and eastern celestials); the overthrow of Ulan-Tengriya by Geser Ataa; 2) Descent to earth and rebirth; 3) Childhood exploits of Geser: destruction of werewolf demons in the guise of big guys; neutralization of iron-billed ravens with iron claws, giant mosquitoes with bone trunks, gathered to peck out the eyes of the hero-baby, and suck blood; 4) Matchmaking and marriage of the hero to the khan's daughter, the maiden San-khan Gohon; 5) The betrayal of the hero Agsagaldai, who succumbed to the intrigues of the 108-headed Biting Yellow Mangadhai. Geser's victory over Mangadhai and the execution of the traitor; 6) The struggle and victory of Geser (with the help of his heavenly brother Dashin Shokhor) over the mighty, vigilant sorcerer Galkhan Nurman khan (literally: "Khan of Fiery Lava"). Destruction of the enemy's unborn son - an iron-bodied baby; 7) The birth of a son, Oshor Bogdo; 8) Geser's fight and victory over the 13-headed Asurai Yellow Mangadhai; 9) Geser's trek to heaven and marriage to the daughter of tengri, the maiden Gagurai Nogon; 10) Returning with his wife to earth; 11) Treason Gagurai Nogon and her departure to the mangadhai. The transformation of Geser into a horse; 12) Salvation of Geser by his first wife Sanhan Gohon; 13) The struggle of Geser with the many-headed and multi-horned monsters-Mangadhai and the Lanky Red-haired woman-mangadhai; 14) Fight with mad wolves, with multi-headed Danyal and Asurai mangadhais; 15) Destruction of the mighty old Mangadhai sorceress; 16) Imprisonment in a deep dungeon-underworld (khurkhen tama) Danial and Asurai mangadhais; 17) Execution of the traitorous Gagurai Nogon and Mangadhai Obsogoldoi; 18) Return to the homeland.
At the end of the story, Geser says that he destroyed all enemies on earth. And after the marriage of the eldest son, Oshora Bogdo, he ascends to heaven, where the tengri deities again turn him into a three-year-old baby.
The version of M. Imegenov captures the early period of development of the Buryat society; it quite vividly reflects the surviving elements of matriarchal and patriarchal ideologies. The supreme power, indisputable authority belongs to Malzan Gourmet-grandmother; the souls of the Mangadhai monsters are kept by old women (grandmothers and aunts) on the maternal side; the oldest woman in the family takes care of the newborn child.
A hunting way of life is depicted in the street: Geser is engaged in hunting; his earthly parents are engaged in catching animals and collecting herbs.
The main enemies of Geser are numerous Mangadhai monsters, evil old Mangadhaik women, Gal Nurma Khan, who has the rudimentary features of a devouring monster; giant iron-billed crows, mosquitoes, rabid wolves and other creatures hostile to people. The hero's fight against monsters occurs as an accidental encounter on the way or on a hunt. Geser, having defeated the Mangadkhais in single combat, executes them by pinching them in the trunks of trees. Social motives of struggle are absent in the epic.
The weapons of the Mangadhais are clubs or axes. They ride on seedy nags with a crumbling saddle. Mangadkhaiks use their leather scrapers in the fight against Geser.
The hero does not distinguish himself from the genus group, he is fused with the genus, which is emphasized by the addition of the word to his name hubuun(son of a clan, tribe, guy), which has an additional evaluative meaning: "mighty", "glorious", which is generally characteristic of the archaic epic.
Geser fights with enemies not for the sake of personal interest, but for the happiness of the members of the tribal collective. The genus is opposed to the surrounding world, which is presented in the form of evil and good creatures. Evil creatures are subject to destruction and the hero directs all his energy against evil monsters.
The ancient form of performance of epic works (when listeners took an active part in it) include such compositional elements in "Abai Geser-Khubun" as ugtalga(literally: meeting) - an inviting song in which the desire to listen to the uliger was expressed; udeshelge(literally: farewell) - a farewell song addressed to the heroes of the epic and listeners and seg daralga(literally: braces; ligaments), performed by the listeners before the beginning of the narration about the next campaign of the hero or at the end of the next episode, when the narrator was taking a break. There are thirteen such songs-bundles in M. Imegenov's version. They contain the glorification of the hero, his horse, wishes of luck on the campaign, etc.
The narrative in "Abai Geser-Khubun" is not limited only to the hero's heroic deeds. It also reflects pictures of peaceful life, everyday scenes that recreate the way of life, customs related to a later time.
Traditional for the archaic epic in this monument are the motives of the difficult assignments of the future father-in-law, the father of the bride: the sending of the giant bird Khan Kherdeg for the feather and the related plot of the hero's rescue of the bird's daughters from the poisonous yellow snake; motives for searching and destroying the soul of the enemy; motives for referring to things, the book of fate-zayana, etc.
For M. Imegenov, the plot development of the motive of the path (Geser's ascent to heaven), where his betrothed Gagurai Nogon lives, a meeting with her creator, the Bright Elder Zarlig, is distinguished by deep originality and uniqueness. the test of Geser's strength and tempering by the heavenly smiths in the crucible.
A different stadial level of development is represented by the Ungin variants of the Geseriad, the characteristic features of which are reflected in the epic "Abai Geser" (12537 verses), written down by I.N. Madason in 1940-1941. from a talented storyteller from the Khadahan ulus of the Irkutsk region, Pyohon Petrov.
Geser's descent to earth is also preceded by a dispute and battle between two opposition camps of celestials (western and eastern) for the seizure of the middle Segen Sebdag tengri. But unlike the Imegen version, in the "Heavenly Prologue" P. Petrov has a story about the illness of Naran Gohon Abhay (Solar Beauty) - the daughter of Naran Dulan Tengri (Tengri of Solar Heat), sent by the head of the eastern (left-sided) celestials, Atay Ulan Tengri. In the event of her death, 55 good western celestials must go under the control of 44 eastern, evil ones.
An important role, as in the archaic version, is played by the grandmother of the Western deities Manzan Gourmet. Thanks to her advice, the son of the head of the Western celestials - Bukhe Baligte khubun (future Geser), gets a wonderful white lark that heals the girl.
On the whole, Petrov's description of heavenly life differs from the laconic Imegen's, in its development, plot completeness; an abundance of images of tengri deities, their hierarchy and functions. This feature is characteristic of the entire Uliguera style. If in the Ekhirit-Bulagat version the little Geser wins the evil Ataa Ulan, then in the Unginian one describes the alternate battle of all the celestials: the sons of Khan Hirmos and Atai Ulan; then tengriyas, personifying atmospheric, weather phenomena (summer, winter fogs, frost, wind, etc.). Then the elders themselves and their horses fight. Khan Hirmos defeats Atai Ulan with the help of Bukhe's son Baligte, who pierces the opponent's right big toe with a spear, where his soul was kept.
"Abai Geser" describes in detail the appearance of monsters on the earth: the evil Sharablin khans; the mighty, many-eyed monster Gal Dulme Khan (Khan of Fire and Heat), the Master of the Forests - the devourer of the Orgoli-White Deer; the devil Sharem Minata (the devil with the Iron Whip), who lives on the other side of the land of Death; Abarga Sesen Mangadhai, who lives in the desert land of Honin Khoto; Black Mangadhai Lobsogoldoi and his three sisters Yonghoboi, who arose from the severed parts of the body of Atai Ulan and his three sons.
The first part of the Ungin Geseriad (Heavenly Prologue) is essentially a series of myths, clothed in the form of an epic legend, where they received a kind of personification of the forces of Good and Evil, Light and Darkness. Their eternal struggle is expressed in the war of the celestials, the division of which into two opposite camps is based on the most ancient universal binary opposition (Burchina. 1997.S. 113-116).
In the Ungin Geseriad, there is a generalization, a systematization of myths designed to explain the appearance of evil and monsters within the framework of a mythological worldview.
Monsters begin to destroy all life on earth. Drought and pestilence begin. People are dying, cattle are dying. The celestials learn about this from a shaman woman who made an offering to the head of the western (right-sided) kind celestials Khan Hirmos, consisting of tears and phlegm of sick people.
The Heavenly Council sends for deliverance from evil, the revival of life on earth, the middle son of Khan Hirmos - Bukhe Baligte, who is born there again to a childless couple of exiles: Khan Sengelen and Naran Gohon - the daughter of Naran Dulan Tengriya.
Geser's struggle with monsters - the offspring of Atai Ulan Tengri - constitutes the content of the Peter's version. The hero's mission on earth is expressed in the song of the uliger: "He punished the invaders, He tamed the arrogant, He pacified the fanged, He exterminated the predators - Great Abai Geser, Mighty Abai Geser. His height is eighty cubits, his life is eight generations."
This version consists of the following main chapters: 1) Heavenly prologue. The struggle of the western and eastern celestials. The overthrow of Atay Ulan and his sons to the ground. The appearance of monsters there; 2) Pestilence, drought on earth, death of all living things; 3) Sending Bukhe Baligte, the middle son of the head of the Western celestials to earth to save people; 4) The miraculous conception and the second birth of the hero. Children's exploits of the hero-brat; 5) Matchmaking and marriage to Tumen Yargalan. Second marriage to Urmay Gohon; 6) The hero acquires his true heroic appearance, becomes Abai Geser Bogdo Khan. Marriage to the hero Alma Mergen, daughter of the ruler of the seas, Lobson; 7) Geser's hike to the Master of the forests Orgoli-White deer (swallowed). Victory over the monster; 8) Victory over the huge serpent Abarga; 9) Betrayal of uncle Geser, black-hearted Khara Soton-noyon, who sent him a disease; 10) Tumen Yargalan, in order to save Geser, goes to Abarga Sesen mangadhai; 11) Hike and victory of Geser over Abarga Sesen mangadhai; 12) The wife gives the hero intoxicating food and Geser forgets about the house; 13) Sharablin khans capture Urmay Gokhon; 14) Three heavenly sisters-saviors (cuckoos) return Geser's memory; 15) Geser's campaign against the Sharablin khans. Transformation into a foundling baby and adoption by the khans. Victory and liberation of Urmay Gohon; 16) Hike and victory over Gal Dulme Khan; 17) Lobsogoy Black Mangadhai, turning into a lama, turns Geser into a donkey; 18) Alma Mergen Khatan frees Geser; 19) Geser's victory over Lobsogo, his imprisonment in a pit-underground; 20) The battle of Geser with the devil Sharem Minata and victory with the help of a wonderful woolly twig; 21) Geser frees the subjects of the Chinese Gumen Sesen Khan from death.
P. Petrov's version also has additional episodes: "Sagan-bator" (White hero), "Four last children of the world", "Lonely tree", which are absent in other versions of Geseriad.
P. Petrov's chapters and episodes, which narrate about the birth of Geser, his childhood exploits, the trial of his sons by Sargal Noyon, the war with the Sharablins, about the Chinese Gumen Sessen Khan, have similarities with the Mongolian Geseriad.
But the poetic Geseriada among the Buryats, in comparison with the prosaic Mongolian, is deeply original, since it reveals the ethical and aesthetic views of the people through the figurative system of Buryat epic creativity. Many motives and episodes from other uligers were included in the plot of the Ungin Geseriad. They have much more details, details, episodes and plots than the Mongols, since the epic tradition of the Buryats is characterized by the proliferation of the narrative fabric. Descriptions of wrestling, fights with monsters, competition of suitors, epic formulas, chants, seg daralga, udeshelge in "Abai Geser" are characteristic of the entire heroic epic of the Buryats.
The image of Geser embodies the traditional features of the heroes of Buryat epic legends. He embodies the national ideal of a hero, a fighter for the happiness of people, therefore he is one of the most beloved heroes of the Buryat epic. Unlike the archaic tradition, in the Ungin Geseriad, the hero fights in most cases with hostile khans, he has not only warriors-bators, but also an army that takes part in battles. Many cattle-breeding motives appear (shepherds, herds of animals, milking cows).
The character of the epic "Abai Geser" is determined by the idea of struggle for good against all evil; expresses deep faith in the victory of Good over Evil. The idea of the triumph of good is the leading idea in the Buryat Geseriad. The Ungin Geseriada is a huge epic canvas, the events of which develop against the background of the entire Universe, covering the sky, earth and the underwater world. In the epic, there is an increase in motives that embody the theme of heroic heroism, the fight against rapist enemies and monsters who are destroying people. The Legend of Geser is the highest development of the Ungin heroic epic, incorporating the entire traditional system of epic creativity of the Buryats.
Geser ( Geser, Gecap, Kecap) - a character of Tibetan myths and myths of the Mongol peoples, including ( Abai Geser Khubun), as well as a number of Turkic (Salars, yellow Uighurs, Tuvinians, Altaians) and Tibeto-Burmese peoples.
Geser - a character in the myths of the peoples of the East
Geser is a hero of epic legends and poems, an object of a developed religious and mythological cult. The original core of the tale appears to have developed in northeastern Tibet. According to the legends about Geser, one of the three sons of the heavenly ruler was sent to the Lin state, which did not have a ruler. He is reborn in Lina in the family of one of the princes as an ugly, snotty child named Joru. His paternal uncle Thotun (Mong. And Kalm. Tsoton, Choton, . Sotoy, Hara Zutan). As a child, the boy shows wonderful abilities, destroys various demons, wins the equestrian competition for the possession of the beautiful Drugmo (Rogmo-goa, Urmay-gohon), the throne and Lin's treasures. Then he receives a wonderful horse from the sky, takes on his true majestic appearance and the name Geser. Geser defeats the demon of the north, the cannibal Lubsan, with the help of the wife of the demon Meza Bumjid (Mong. Tumen Jargalan, according to some versions, including Mong., she - ex-wife Gesera, kidnapped by a demon). Meza Bumjid brings the hero "the drink of oblivion", after drinking which he remains in the north.
In Lina, Thotun, who in vain solicited Drugmo, commits treason, as a result of which Lin is attacked from the neighboring state of the Choirs (Mong. sharai-goals, drilled, Sharablin khans), capture Drugmo, and she becomes the wife of one of the Khor rulers - Gurkar (Mong. Tsagan Gertu Khan, "white-young khan"). Having thrown off the glamor thanks to the heavenly intervention, Geser hurries to his homeland. In the guise of a nasty boy (Mong. Oljibay) he penetrates the choirs, kills Gurkar in a witchcraft way and, having subjugated his state, returns to Lin with Drugmo. According to a number of plots, Geser goes to China, where with the help of miraculous means he gets himself a princess, rescues his earthly mother from hell; destroys the demonic rulers of neighboring countries (in the north, south, east and west), subjecting their subjects to his power. In Mongolian legends, Geser revives the heroes who fell in the war with the Sharaigols.
The most ancient core of Geser's image is a cultural hero sent from the sky, cleansing the earth of monsters (cf. Indian Ramu). In the oral Mongolian tradition (and in the Buryat version of the epic) Geser gained a reputation as a destroyer of demons and monsters (mangus). As the chosen ruler and even the first person to descend from heaven, Geser goes back to the pre-Buddhist, Bon tradition. In a number of versions of the epic, Geser's earthly father is a mountain spirit. Taking into account the connection with the deity of the sacred mountain, as well as with the world mountain, Geser is perceived as the ruler of the "center", opposed to the rulers of the outskirts, the fight against which is essentially adequate to the civilizing activity of a cultural hero. Sometimes Geser himself is the ruler of one of the four countries of the world - the north. But, apparently, the most ancient localization of Geser is Kroi (possibly from Rum - the Iranian name for Byzantium). Under the influence of Indian and Buddhist mythologies, Geser's father turns out to be Brahma or - in the Ladakh (Western Tibetan) version and in all Mongolian - Indra (Mong. Hormusta; among Western Buryats, his place is sometimes taken by a shaman deity Esege Malan-tengri). By the similarity of functions or appearance, the incarnations of Geser (or his wonderful horse) are close to a number of characters in the Lamaist pantheon; as the war deity Geser (Tib. Dalha, mong. Daisuntengri or Daichin-tengri) is sometimes identified with Jamsaran. More recent (from the end of the 18th century) is the identification of Geser with the god of war in Chinese mythology - Guan-di.
In cult practice, Geser, as a universal protective deity (like most deities), acts as the patron saint of warriors, protector of herds, conqueror of demons, giver of a happy fate (including hunting luck). In shamanic invocations, Geser is sometimes called Burkhan or Tengri, he is called the son of the sky, dwelling on top of a high white mountain peak in a house of clouds and fogs. Unlike Tibet, where many companions and opponents of Geser are also deified, among the Mongolian peoples only Geser is the object of cult worship.
Read in Irkipedia:
Literature
- Abai Geser. Will join. Art., preparation of the text, trans. and comm. A.I. Ulanova. - Ulan-Ude, 1960.
- B.Ya. Vladimirtsov Mongolian literature // Literature of the East. - Issue. 2.Pb., 1920.
- Damdinsuren Ts. Historical roots of Geseriada / Kozin S.A. (lane, introductory articles and comments). - M., 1957.
- Geseriad. The legend about the merciful Geser Mergen Khan, the exterminator of ten evils in ten countries of the world. - M.-L., 1935.
- Neklyudov S.Yu. The heroic epic of the Mongolian peoples. - M., 1984.
- Neklyudov S.Yu. The Legend of Geser in the East Mongolian Epic Tradition // Olon ulsyn Mongolch Erdemti III their khural. II bot. - Ulaanbaatar, 1977.
- Neklyudov S.Yu. Transformation of the mythological theme in the oral East Mongolian versions of the Geseriad.
- Rinchinsambuu G.(comp.) Mongol ardyn baatarlag tuuls. - Ulaanbaatar, 1960 (Studia folclorica, Ulaanbaatar, Vol. 1, Fasc. 1)
- Khomonov M.P. Mongolian heseriad. - Buryat book publishing house.
The horses flew snoring towards the sunset.
Fire and the Word have been worshiped for generations.
The silence is kept by Geseriad
About the secrets of their origin.
But the descendants remember the riders wisely,
Where does the light of good old come from:
Great voice of the nomadic morning,
Mouths are immortal uligershina.
Geser is not only the central character of the Buryat heroic epic, but also the most popular character in the Buryat folklore. In his image, the best human traits and qualities are brought together. The creators of the epic saw in Geser a hero with a lofty soul and good thoughts, Geser goes to meet his fate, full of faith in the justice of his destiny. He does not change the decisions made and invariably achieves his goal. Geser is faithful in friendship, but adamant in the fight against
enemies. According to the customary law of the clan society, Geser buries a defeated enemy according to an ancient custom with military honors. At the same time, the hero says: “I should not boast that I have suppressed the mighty enemy,” since he understands that the struggle is not over yet. Since the defeated opponent has a circle of his loved ones, they can try to take revenge on the winner.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Sampilov Ts.S. Sketches for the epic Geser | Sampilov Ts.S. Sketches for the epic Geser | Jamsaran (Tib. Jamstrin). Mon- Holia XIX |
Geser (Goviin lha). Mongolia XIX | Geser. Mongolia, mid-19th century | |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Tibetan cursive manuscript of Geseriad | Pages of the Tibetan manuscript of Geseriad | To the 275th anniversary of the publication of the Mongolian version of the Geseriad. Booklet | Distribution map of the Buryat Geser | ||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Sakharovskaya A.N. Abai Geser | B.M. S. Zydrabyn. Illustration for the branch of the first epic Geser | E. Purevzhav. Geser Khan on the way | Shonkhorov Ch.B. Geser's victory over Gal-Nurman khan | Shonkhorov Ch. B The birth of the HESER on earth | Shonkhorov Ch.B. The last fight |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| Dorzhiev B. Songs about the native land. 2005 | Shonkhorov Ch.B. Lobsogoldy turned Geser into a donkey | Shonkhorov Ch.B. The last fight | Shonkhorov Ch.B. Geser on the hunt | Shonkhorov Ch.B. Meeting of the three tengeri | |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Shonkhorov Ch.B. War between Western and Eastern Tengriyas | Shonkhorov Ch.B. Geser's fight with mangadhai | Shonkhorov Ch.B. Geser's fight against gazarai Gani-Bukhe | Shonkhorov Ch.B. Geser rises to the seventh heaven | Shonkhorov Ch.B. Illustration for the epic Geser | Sakharovskaya A.N. etc. Geser descends to the ground (batik) |
 |
 |
 |
|||
| Morinhur | Geser. Mongolia, early XIX v | I. Garmaev as Geser. 1995 |
The bearers and keepers of ancient epic traditions were their experts - uligershins. They were held in high esteem and respect by the people. The proverb says about the love of the Buryats for storytellers: "Uligershin is supposed to sit on an olbok pillow, and the singer is supposed to sit on a dobun hill" or "Uligershin is treated with foams and cockroaches, the storyteller is put on a carpet and a pillow."
At the time of the productivity of the epic tradition, uligers probably knew, if not all, then many. Even now, by interviewing people of the older generation, the names of many storytellers who performed uligers in the 1920s and 1930s have been identified. But not every connoisseur of uligers could become a good uligershin. They became the best in skill and knowledge, with the appropriate talent. The narrator should have had an impeccable memory so that, without omissions and distortions, as required by tradition, he could convey huge epics, consisting of thousands of verses. Uliger could not be reduced, altered in his own way. Evaluation of his performance was given by listeners who knew well the content of the uligers. The singer had to have a sonorous beautiful voice, an ear for music, a good command of the word, and most importantly - be able to be inspired, for he "is a kind of inspired poet." The storyteller seemed to be reincarnated as a hero, selflessly giving himself up to singing; with his voice, special intonations, gestures or playing the khura he conveyed the peculiarities of the events taking place in the epic. Such a state of inspiration came to the uligershin only in front of the audience, “in a certain exciting environment,” as Ts. Zhamtsarano writes.
Thus, a good uligershin was an actor, musician and poet all rolled into one. Such requirements were determined by life itself and proceeded from the syncretic nature of ancient art. And therefore it is not surprising that “the listeners of a good rhapsode cry in strong tragic places, express the most lively joy when the truth suddenly triumphs.
Buryat storytellers were not professionals. Often ordinary workers, people from poor strata, were fond of the art of narration of the uligers, many of them worked in their youth.
The storytellers perceived the texts from childhood, mainly in the family circle. Most of them had parents or grandparents as storytellers. In addition to the family, the source of the repertoire could be folklore experts from their own or neighboring ulus. So, uligershin P. Petrov in childhood heard folklore works from his father, as well as from a storyteller from the neighboring village of Tabaran Dorzhiev. Since there was no professional performance, there were no “schools”, admission to the storyteller “as students”. Over time, the narrator's repertoire, which was perceived along the family line, expanded and replenished. Most often this happened in places where people from different regions gathered.
According to the epic scholars, the poetics of Geseriada is highly organized, the verbal text is richly saturated with metaphors, hyperboles, antitheses and other artistic and graphic means. The storytellers themselves had a good sense of the rhythm and size, used the techniques of accelerating and slowing down the rhythm.
They skillfully varied various accords, alliterations, inner and final rhymes. Storytellers often used such a technique as parallelism - psychological and syntactic. The epithet was notable for its freshness and novelty, although, as is characteristic of every epic, the stability of the favorite definitions: black and yellow but are, as a rule, negative, at the same time, the yellow color of certain objects - the handle of the sword, the brush of the headdress - is perceived as positive. White, red, silver are always positive colors.
The performance of the uliger was considered not an easy matter and pursued not only entertainment goals. Usually it was timed to coincide with some public event. Ts. Zhamtsarano noted: “Uliger sing (say) to achieve various benefits, for example, to heal the sick, to enlighten the blind, to succeed in trades, hunting, raids, fishing, etc .; Uliger contributes to success in hiking. "
The production and ritual significance of the performance of the epic remained for a long time. In the past, the performance of the uliger was an integral part of the household complex of the ancient collective. So, the specific purpose of the uliger is reflected in the ritual of hunting preparations for the taiga hunters, who were to enter the world of forest animals. “Upon arrival at the hunting site, the Buryats performed some rituals with the purpose of pleasing the spirits of animals and forests, on which one or another hunting outcome depends. Then, in the evening, before going to bed, the singer spread his white felt in the hut (not stained with horse sweat), they put lighted juniper branches, a cup of wine or milk on it, stuck an arrow into it and all night, until the first glimpses of the morning dawn, they sang his epic: without this ceremony, the hunt, according to the Buryats, could not be successful. "
This is how those uligershins (M. Imegenov, E. Shalbykov, L. Bardakhanov) understood the meaning of their storytelling business, with whom Ts. Zhamtsarano met and worked for a long time in the uluses of the Kudin valley of the Irkutsk province at the beginning of the 20th century. He noted that a suitable audience is required for the performance of an uliger, which means listeners who know the content of epic poems and who are versed in the intricacies of storytelling art. However, the aesthetic side of the performance of the epic became more tangible and gradually began to prevail in the performing process. In the old days, at the time of active epic creativity, uligers were performed at a certain time or in a certain setting. Thus, the narrator P. Petrov did not perform uliguera in the summer (more precisely, after the winter cold) and in the daytime. Uliger was usually performed in autumn and winter evenings in the circle of one-lusniks. Listeners perceived the uligers as memories of the historical past of the people. The perception of the uliger is marked by depth and seriousness, its effect was “cleansing” and influencing the spiritual mentality of the listeners. At the same time, one should take into account the enormous artistic impression produced by the performance of the uliger.
