as sophisticated as, say, those in Olonkho by D.M. Govorov or (it is said) Ivan Okhlopkov. Among the recorded Olonkho there is one which can be considered as a basis for P.A.Oyunsky’s Nurgun Botur the Swift. This is also Nurgun Botur the Swift, recorded by an illiterate Yakut man, K.G. Orosin, in 1895 at the request of a political exile, E.K. Pekarsky, later a famous researcher.
Sakha lady in national costume
E.K. Pekarsky did much textual analysis on K.G. Orosin’s manuscript and included it in his ‘Obraztsy’. Interestingly, none of the other Olonkho recorded under the title ‘Nurgun Botur’ bears any relation to the plot of the Olonkho of the same name by K.G. Orosin and P.A. Oyunsky.
In Soviet times, a well-known folklorist, G.U. Ergis, released a separate publication, breaking the text into verses (but not touching the basis of E.K. Pekarsky’s textual analysis) and supplying it with a parallel translation into Russian with scholarly notes.
First of all, there is the interesting evidence of E.K. Pekarsky that K.G. Orosin learned this Olonkho from one of the Olonkho-tellers from Zhuleysky (the native village of P.A. Oyunsky). This means that Olonkho written by K.G. Orosin and P.A. Oyunsky have the same source. Comparison of the Olonkho texts shows that they are indeed variants of the same Olonkho.
I will not address all the similarities and differences between these two Olonkho. I will discuss the main one: The descriptions of the descent of Nurgun Botur from heaven to earth to protect people, the battle between Nurgun Botur, his brother Urung Uolan and the monster Uot Uhutaki, the salvation of warriors, captives and imprisoned in the Under World, and the occurrence and descriptions of many other events as well as many songs of heroes are basically identical. This can occur only with an Olonkho existing in one singing environment which is used as a source text by a number of Olonkho-tellers from one village or several adjacent villages.
But P.A. Oyunsky’s variant has many stories, personal details and descriptions that are missing in the version by K.G. Orosin. I will point out the main ones. In Orosin’s Olonkho, for example, there are no stories related to the battle against the hero Uot Usumu, and there are none related to the birth, upbringing and battle of the young hero Ogo Tulayakh, a son of Urung Uolan and Tuyarima Kuo. In K.G. Orosin’s Olonkho, there are no episodes associated with the Tungus hero Bokhsogolloy Botur.
It is difficult to say whether these stories were originally from Nurgun Botur the Swift or whether P.A. Oyunsky got them from other Olonkho. In any case, we must bear in mind that in the introduction to his Olonkho, he wrote that Nurgun Botur the Swift was created ‘out of thirty Olonkho’. When he said that he had created his Olonkho ‘out of the thirty Olonkho’, he was using poetic hyperbole, and the number ‘thirty’ was an ‘epic’ figure. Incidentally, in the past a love of hyperbole was common among Olonkho-tellers. To show how great their Olonkho was, Olonkho-tellers would say: ‘I created it by combining thirty Olonkho.’ Even so, it must be admitted that P.A. Oyunsky introduced stories into his Olonkho from other Olonkho. As mentioned above, this was a typical, traditional practice of Yakut Olonkho-tellers.
We can say with a high probability that P.A. Oyunsky took the plot about a slave called Sodalba from the Olonkho ‘The Shaman Women Uolumar and Aygyr’. Moreover, in this Olonkho, Sodalba is uncle of the young heroes, but in Oyunsky’s Olonkho he is a warrior-servant and Nurgun Botur turns to him. Usually, the hero, coming to his bride, because of whom a battle is to take place, masks and turns to a slave boy, the son of an old woman, Simekhsin. He does this so that the enemies who come to the bride before him will not notice him at first and will not take any decisive action.
In the Olonkho ‘The Shaman Women Uolumar and Aygyr’ the character of Sodalba is associated with avunculate, reverence for the maternal uncle and his assistance to his relatives. Interestingly, the avuncular Sodalba in the Olonkho about shaman women was transformed into a slave not only taking care of his nephews and fighting for them, but also obediently carrying out all their whims. Only at the end of the Olonkho does the slave Sodalba rise against and leave his young nephew-masters. P.A. Oyunsky (and perhaps his predecessors from Zhuleysky and neighbouring villages) included this remarkable image of the mighty slave in his Olonkho. The character of Sodalba in Nurgun Botur the Swift was introduced from another Olonkho, and it can be said with confidence that the transformation of the hero in the boy-servant was an age-old theme in all Olonkho presenting this situation.
But what is typical: the character of Sodalba in ‘Nurgun Botur’ somehow does not give the impression of having been imported. It is merged with the whole context of the Olonkho. These are the distinctive features of Olonkho and of the exclusive ingenuity of the Yakut Olonkho-tellers.
In P.A. Oyunsky’s version, the introduction contains a striking piece on the war among the gods and how they divided the three worlds. This pattern is absent not only in the version by K.G. Orosin, but also in all other Olonkho known to me. Apparently, this episode was once in the Olonkho, was forgotten and was then restored by P.A. Oyunsky, who used to listen to the great Olonkho-tellers like Tabakharov and Malgin.
All of this suggests that P.A. Oyunsky recorded his own version of ‘Nurgun Botur’ (as practised by him in live performance and perceived in a live performance), that it was not just a version ‘compiled’ or borrowed from others. These are some of the most significant features of P.A. Oyunsky’s Nurgun Botur the Swift. They show that this Olonkho, in its entirety, is within the tradition of Yakut Olonkho-tellers and represents one of the versions of people’s Olonkho, and that it is not just a ‘consolidated text’ arranged by a poet at a table.
Nurgun Botur the Swift was translated into Russian by V.V. Derzhavin – an outstanding poet and translator. He undertook this work after translating many works of classical poetry of the peoples of Central Asia, Iran and the Caucasus (Navoi, Ferdowsi, Nizami, Khagani, Khayyam, Rumi, Saadi and Hafiz). The works of these classics of the East in the translation of V.V. Derzhavin were published repeatedly. Widely known translations of ‘David of Sassoun’, ‘Kalevipoeg’, ‘Lacplesis’, ‘Raushan’ and other works of epic poetry were made by V.V. Derzhavin. The Uzbek writer and academician Camille Yashen said about V.V. Derzhavin’s works as a poet and translator: ‘The ingenuity of the translation skills of V.V. Derzhavin stands solely on faithfulness to the manuscript, careful and meticulous study of the culture of the people to whom belongs this literary masterpiece, and the ability to penetrate into the essence of the historical perspective of the author, to recreate the original tone and unique colours of his poetic world – in other words, the ability to make the Russian reader feel the flavour of poetry born in a different language.’
The same can be attributed to V.V. Derzhavin’s translation of the Yakut Olonkho; he worked on it for many years. Throughout that time he consulted with me continually about the translation of ‘Nurgun Botur the Swift’, and I would like to note his extremely attentive attitude towards this monumental epic.
Before translating, V.V. Derzhavin read books on the history, ethnography and mythology of the Yakuts, carried out a detailed study of all translations of the epic and folklore, as well as works on Yakut folklore. He consulted with me in detail on all manner of questions, seeking to deepen his understanding of the epic, as yet unknown to Russian and European readers. During all these years V.V. Derzhavin repeatedly met with me (and often with writers from Yakutia) and discussed all aspects and details of the Yakut epic and its translation and the difficulties encountered in the process.
His translation is fair and true and conveys the spirit and imaginative system of the Olonkho and its plots. Preserving the original style, he has recreated a parallel system in tune with the poetic system of Olonkho.
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