UIGHUR FOLKLORE and LEGENDS - 59 tales and children's stories collected from the expanses of Central Asia E-Book

Various Authors

• Herausgeber: Abela Publishing
• Kategorie: Fantasy und Science-Fiction
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

We invite you to curl up with this volume and indulge yourself in the fifty-nine tales and stories that stretch back in time, almost to the great flood itself. Read about one-eyed, seven horned monsters that double as mothers-in-law, tricksters, illusionists, shape-shifters, ogres and even the origin of the meaning of fate itself.   The Uyghur people have origins that are as ancient as the Han Chinese, if not older. Originating in central China, they were slowly pushed further west until they settled in the Tarim Basin. But the Uyghurs are not just limited to East Turkestan and can also be found inhabiting the Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, andUzbekistan. Smaller communities can also be found in Mongolia, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Russia.   Because they have travelled so far and have encountered so many different cultures, it is therefore not surprising that Uyghur Folk-Lore is extensive, which when woven together in such a volume, results in a rich tapestry that can only be pleasing for the reader.   NOTE: The Uyghurs are an ethnic minority, who like the Tibetans, have been fighting for their independence for generations.   33% of the publisher’s profit from the sale of this book will be donated to UNICEF. 

Leseprobe

Uyghur

Folk-Lore

and

Legend

Compiled by

ABELA PUBLISHING

LONDON

[2009]

A book in the Series

Myths, Legend and Folk Tales from Around the World

Uyghur Folk-Lore and Legend

Typographical arrangement of this edition

© Abela Publishing 2009

This book may not be reproduced in its current format in any manner in any media, or transmitted by any means whatsoever, electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, or mechanical ( including photocopy, file or video recording, internet web sites, blogs, wikis, or any other information storage and retrieval system) except as permitted by law without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Abela Publishing

London

United Kingdom

2009

ISBN-13: 978-1-907256-11-0

Email

[email protected]

Website

www.AbelaPublishing.com/Uyghur

D e d I c a t I o n

This book is dedicated to the teachers and storytellers

who keep folklore and history alive

through the telling and re-telling of these tales.

P h I l a n t h r o p y

A percentage of the net from the sale of this book

will be donated towards scholarships

for the education of the Uyghur people in East Turkestan

(East Turkestan is also known as the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China).

A c k n o w l e d g e m e n t s

The Publisher acknowledges the

work that early collectors did

in collating this exquisite collection

of Uyghur Folk-Lore in a time

well before any electronic media was in use.

The Uyghur Eagle

C O N T E N T S

The Song of the Fox

The Mangqys and Tutuqash

The Sheep, the Lamb, the Wolf and the Hare

Siddhi Kür. Tale XXI.

The Wolf

How the Hare Got His Lip Split

How the Hare Made a Fool of the Wolf

The Friendship of the Wolf, the Fox, and the Raven

The Male Goat and the Mangqys

The Jackal Punished

The Leopard

The Ogre and the Five Girls

The Animals' Den

Altamsy and Kundemsy

Yogh-tamu-ntso

Yangqysaq and Qongyrjan

Chin Tömür

The Fortunes of Shrikantha

Why Dog and Cat are Enemies

The Idler's Adventure

The Three Sons

The Blind Man and the Wild Animals

The Talking Wooden Bolt

The Sick Girl

The Magic of the Old Monk

The King's Son As Thief (1)

The King's Son As Thief (2)

The Reverses of Fate (1)

The Reverses of Fate (2)

The Mysterious Advice

The Evil Stepmother

The Mother and the Son

The Pyhrqan's Son

The Boy Who Fell in Love with a Ghost

The Triumph of Justice and the Punishment of

Treason

The Smart Boy, Who Bartered a Mouse for a Horse

and a Beautiful Wife

Cullaka-Setthi-Jataka

The Rat's Wedding

How the Ugly Boy Pretends to Be Beautiful and

Marries a Beauty, or, The Pyhrqans Who Change the Appearance of People

The Trickster Thief

The Smart Woman, or, The Living Corpse

The Monk and the Woman

The Bitten-Off Tongue (1)

The Bitten-Off Tongue (2)

The Master Illusionist

The Three Sons-in-Law

The Seven Fools1

The Story of the Seven Simpletons

The Stupid Peasant

The Numskull

The Travelling Pyhrqans

The Buddhist Prayer

Beauty Through Faith

Dorje

The Monk's Conversion

The Instructiveness of Dreams

The Flight of the Living Buddha

The Living Buddha's Hat

Map of East Turkestan

The Song of the Fox

told by SERTAN TONJA (1913)

"Down the steppe I ran, I brought steppe grass!

Down the mountain I ran, I brought mountain grass!

Down the meadow I ran, I brought meadow grass!

Down the hill I ran, I brought hill grass!

Down the desert I ran, I brought desert grass!

Lamb, lamb, open the door!" he said.

The lamb opened the door. The fox put down the grass. The lamb ate. The fox set off again. She met with a wolf. The wolf asked the fox: "What do you do? Just you tell me," he said. The fox told it.

The wolf called: "Down the steppe I ran, I brought steppe grass. Lamb, open the door!" he said.

"My mother's voice is light, your voice is coarse. I won't open," the lamb said. Then it tried to lock the door. But the wolf entered. He devoured the lamb.

The fox came back. She called the lamb. It gave no sound. She opened the door and entered. The lamb was no more. The wolf had devoured it.

The fox singed its head and feet and cooked them. She went to invite the wolf. "You have devoured my lamb. Look for me in the omens," she said.

"A person like me has devoured your lamb."

"Then let me invite you," the fox said. "Just you come to eat the head and feet," she said.

Then the fox dug a hole. In the hole she made a fire. She spread a straw mat over the fire. She spread a blanket over the straw mat. The wolf came. He quickly sat down on the blanket.

"Just you sit more backwards. Let me give you a foot," the fox said. "Get a little more backwards. Let me give you the jaw," she said. "Just get a little more backwards. Let me give you the head," she said. She gave the head.

Then the wolf went into the hole. The fire baked him.

"Is Tumagha's meat good?"

"Ouch, Tumagha's meat is good. Ouch, the fire is baking me!" the wolf said. "Eh, you pull me out quickly!" he said.

"Let me put on my garment," the fox said. "Eh, just let me put on my girdle," she said. "Just let me put on my hat," she said.

She killed off the wolf by baking him.

The Mangqys and Tutuqash

told by ANJANG SANYSHKAP

There was an old woman. The old woman had a son. The name of her son was Tutuqash. One day, a mangqys1 came to eat the boy. His mother had locked the door and had gone to tend the sheep. When she had gone, the mangqys arrived.

"Tutuqash, Tutuqash, open the door!" thus she said.

"You are not my mother! My mother has a light voice, you have a husky voice. You are not my mother!"

The mangqys opened the door and entered. Tutuqash had overturned the cauldron and had hidden under the cauldron. The mangqys looked for him. She looked for him and found him under the cauldron. She devoured Tutuqash.

His mother came back from the sheep.

"Tutuqash, Tutuqash, open the door! Open it!" she said. He did not utter a word. Again she said:

"Tutuqash, Tutuqash, open the door!Down the steppe I ran, I brought steppe grass!Down the desert I ran, I brought steppe grass!Open the door!"

He still did not utter a word. Then the old woman opened the door herself and entered. As she entered, the mangqys had devoured Tutuqash.

Then the old woman cried and cried, and she dug a hole. In the hole she kindled some dung, and on top of it she spread out a straw mat. The old woman went to invite the mangqys. The mangqys accepted the invitation. She made her sit on the seat of honour.

Ay, here with me are the head and feet of Tutuqash. Just you eat. Just you go sit down a little further," she said. "Let me give you his head," she said. The mangqys ate his head.

"Just you sit a little further again." Again she sat down a little further. "Just sit down a little bit further on the blanket," she said. Again she moved over thither.

The mangqys fell into the fire hole. Then the mangqys burnt her body at the fire. She baked her feet at the fire. Then the mangqys rushed off.

Thus the old woman revenged Tutuqash.

The Sheep, the Lamb, the Wolf and the Hare

Once upon a time there lived an old Sheep in a low-lying valley of Tibet, and every year she, with her Lamb,* were in the habit of leaving the valley during the early months of summer, and going up on to the great northern plateau, where grass is plentiful, and where many Sheep and Goats graze throughout the summer.

One spring the Sheep, in accordance with her annual custom, set out for the north, and one day, as she was strolling sedately along the path, while her little Lamb skipped about beside her, she suddenly came face to face with a large, fierce-looking Wolf.

"Good-morning, Aunty Sheep," said the Wolf; "where are you going to?"

"Oh! Uncle Wolf," replied the trembling sheep, "we are doing no harm; I am just taking my Lamb to graze on the rich grass of the great northern plateau."

"Well," said the Wolf, "I am really very sorry for you;

but the fact is, I am hungry, and it will be necessary for me to eat both of you on the spot."

"Please, please, Uncle Wolf, don't do that," replied the Sheep. "Please don't eat us now; but if you will wait till the autumn, when we shall both be very much fatter than we are now, you can eat us with much more benefit to yourself on our return journey."

The Wolf thought this was a good idea.

"Very well, Aunty Sheep," said he, "that is a bargain. I will spare your lives now, but only on condition that you meet me at this very spot on your return journey from the north in the autumn."

So saying, he galloped off, and the Sheep and the Lamb continued on their way towards the north, and soon forgot all about their encounter with the Wolf.

All the summer they grazed about on the succulent grass of the great plateau, and when autumn was approaching both were as fat as fat good be, and the little Lamb had grown into a fine young Sheep.

When the time came for returning to the south, the Sheep remembered her bargain with the Wolf, and every day as they drew farther and farther south she grew more and more downhearted.

One day, as they were approaching the place were they had met the Wolf, it chanced that a Hare came hopping along the road towards them. The Hare stopped to say good-morning to the Sheep, and noticing that she was looking very sad, he said:

"Good-morning, Sister Sheep, how is it that you, who are so fat and have so fine a Lamb, are looking so said this morning?"

"Oh! Brother Hare," replied the Sheep, "mine is a very sad story. The fact is that last spring, as I and my Lamb were coming up this very road, we met an ugly-looking Wolf, who said he was going to eat us; but I begged him to spare our lives, explaining to him that we should both be much larger and fatter in the autumn, and that he would get much better value from us if he waited till then. The Wolf agreed to this, and said that we must meet him at the same spot in the autumn. We are now very near the appointed place, and I very much fear that in another day or two we shall both be killed by the Wolf."

So saying, the poor Sheep broke down altogether and burst into tears.

"Dear me! dear me!" replied the Hare; "this is indeed a sad story; but cheer up, Sister Sheep, you may leave it to me, and I think I can answer for it that I know how to manage the Wolf."

So saying, the Hare made the following arrangements. He dressed himself up in his very best clothes, in a new robe of woollen cloth, with a long ear-ring in his left ear, and a fashionable hat on his head, and strapped a small saddle on to the back of the Sheep. He then prepared two bundles, which he slung across the Lamb, and tied them on with a rope. When these preparations were complete, he took a large sheet of paper in his hand, and, with a pen thrust behind his ear, he mounted upon the back of the Sheep, and the little procession started off down the path.

Soon after, they arrived at the place were they were to meet the Wolf, and sure enough there was the Wolf waiting for them at the appointed spot.

As soon as they came within earshot of where the

Wolf was standing the Hare called out in a sharp tone of authority:

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

"I am the Wolf," was the reply; "and I have come here to eat this Sheep and its Lamb, in accordance with a regular arrangement. Who may you be, pray?"

"I am Lomden, the Hare," that animal replied, "and I have been deputed to India on a special mission by the Emperor of China. And, by the way, I have a commission to bring ten Wolf skins as a present to the King of India. What a fortunate thing it is that I should have met you here! Your skin will do for one, anyway."

So saying, the Hare produced his sheet of paper, and, taking his pen in his hand, he wrote down the figure 'I' very large.

The Wolf was so frightened on hearing this that he turned tail and fled away ignominiously; while the Sheep and the Lamb, after thanking the Hare heartily for his kind offices, continued their journey safely to their own home.

Siddhi Kür. Tale XXI.

In the past there lived in the north of India, in the country of Nepal, near a river called golden-coloured, an old man and his old wife who had no son and one daughter only. As the old ones were of age, they were thinking of finding a good son-in-law for their daughter and give their property in his hand. It so happened that a poor old couple had born a son, and they gave their daughter to the son of this couple. They made him their son-in-law and gave the poor old parents many presents after which they send them back.