Translated from Munkácsi's Vogul Folk Poetry Collection (1892)

The Mansi people — known in older ethnographic literature as the Vogul — are a Finno-Ugric people of the upper Ob-Irtysh basin in western Siberia, close kin to the Khanty and distantly related to the Hungarians. This collection presents all eleven cosmogonic narratives from Volume I of Munkácsi's field collection: the earth-diver creation myth, in which diving birds bring the first soil up from the primordial waters; the legend of the encircling of the earth, in which the sky deity Arany-Kworés stabilizes a spinning world for humanity; the great Song of the Flooding of Sky and Earth, a long epic verse narrative of the divine siblings Arany-Kaltés and Arany-átér; the fire-flood legend, in which Numi-Tarem's chosen survivors ride out the burning waters on a seven-layered poplar raft; the sacred song of the lowering of the earth from the sky, a messenger-cycle epic in which the Winged-Kalm ascends to Golden-Kworés's silver-doored sky house, disease enters the world through a premature arrow, and the eldest son transforms into the bear; the Song of Creation of Earth and Sky, a parallel messenger-cycle epic in which Bark-Earth Mother sends messengers to Numi-Tqrém, the seven sons hunt at Lews-tumen lake, disease enters through the iron-breasted grebes, and the fly-agaric-maddened eldest son tears apart his warrior equipment to become the sacred bear, closing with the bear-oath formula of the living ceremony; the legend of the creation of man, in which Joli-Tqrém descends from heaven on a sevenfold iron chain and the first humans are fashioned from clay; the Legend of the Earth Emerging from Water, the most complete Mansi cosmogonic cycle — a son's repeated ascents in squirrel form to Numi-Tarem's silver house, the diving for earth, the stabilization of the spinning world with the silver-buttoned belt that becomes the Ural Mountains, the creation of humans from earth and snow, the invention of the bow and the weir, and the deliberate release of disease and death to balance the earth; the Devil-Prince legend, a dualistic earth-diver in which Numi-Tqrém and Xut-átér create the world together; the legend of the old man named Atom, a Mansi parallel to the story of Adam and Eve; and the song of the origin of cities and villages, in which a divine prince descends to the black earth and sings civilization into being. These are the complete Mansi cosmogony — the stories of how the world came to be, how it was made stable, how it was almost destroyed, how humanity was fashioned, how civilization was provisioned, and how death was released to keep the earth in balance.

The source is Bernát Munkácsi's Vogul Népköltési Gyűjtemény (Vogul Folk Poetry Collection), Volume I: Tales and Songs about the Creation of the World, published by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest in 1892. Munkácsi gathered these myths from Mansi speakers in the field during the 1880s and 1890s, building on the earlier phonetic transcriptions of Antal Reguly (1819–1858). He presents the Mansi text in phonetic Latin transcription alongside a Hungarian interlinear translation — the only complete bilingual scholarly edition of these cosmogonic narratives. No prior complete English translation is known.

This translation was made by working through Munkácsi's Mansi phonetic transcription with his Hungarian interlinear as the necessary semantic bridge. The English is independently derived from the combined Mansi-Hungarian reading; no prior English translation existed to consult. This is honest Blood Rule methodology: Mansi is the source language, Hungarian is the bridge, English is independently composed. The Mansi text is preserved below for verification and scholarship.

I. The Sacred Tale of the Origin of the Earth

(A föld keletkezésének szent regéje — Ma telem jelpin möjt)

§1

On the tundra hill, an old woman and an old man live. Their raven is snow-white. On all sides of their house, as far as the eye reaches, there is only water; there is no earth anywhere. The old man does not go outside. What the outer world looks like, he does not know.

One day, as they live there, a crashing sound is heard from the upper sky. The old man looks out through the window: from above, from the sky, an iron diving-bird descends, coming down to seek earth in the water. It dove and dove deep below — then it surfaced, and had found no earth at all. It drew breath and dove again into the water. It went, it dove, it surfaced — still nothing, still no earth. It rested a moment and dove a third time. When it surfaced, it drew breath so hard that the underside of its throat burst open — but on its nose there was a tiny crumb of earth. It took wing and flew back toward the sky.

§2

The woman and man lay down. In the morning, when they rose, another crashing sound was heard from the sky. The old man looked out: from the sky, an iron grebe descended and plunged into the water. It dove and dove, and when it surfaced there was nothing on it, nothing at all. It rested and plunged again. It went, it dove, it surfaced — still nothing. It rested once more and plunged a third time into the water. When it surfaced, it drew breath so hard that the crown of its head burst — but on its nose there was a good-sized piece of earth. It rubbed its nose against the corner of the tundra-hill house, and then flew back toward the sky.

§3

The woman and man lay down. When they rose the next morning, the earth had become the width of a sole. The second day, when they rose, the earth had grown to the edge of the horizon. The third day, when the woman and man looked out the window, there was no water anywhere — it had all become earth.

The old man spoke to the snow-white raven: "Go, see how large the earth has grown!" The raven flew and was back in a little while — already the earth was very large. They lay down, rose again, sent the raven out again to see. It flew all day and returned at noon — the earth had grown so wide. The third day they spoke to the raven again: "Go, see how large the earth has grown!" But this time the raven did not return by nightfall. It returned at last — and it was black.

The old man spoke to his raven: "In your travels, you have done something." The raven answered: "What have I done? A man died, and I ate from him — that is why I turned black." The old man said: "Since you have eaten a man, go from here! When the age of human beings comes upon this earth — you shall never be able to kill wild animals yourself; you shall never be able to kill water-fish yourself. Wherever a man has killed some wild animal, in that blood-soaked place you shall ease your hunger; on some days you shall lie down without food." The raven went into the forest and lives there to this day.

§4

Now the woman rose from the tundra-hill house and came back inside; she spoke to her old man: "Old one, behind the house there is a tree that has sprouted." The old man said: "As the root was, as the branches were — bring it in just as it is!" His wife dug up the tree and brought it in; the old man recognized it: a stone pine. He spoke to his wife: "Take it out; stand it where it was!" The old man himself never went outside.

He lay down with his wife. When he rose, his wife was nowhere to be found. Where she had gone, or what had happened to her, he did not know. He lived alone, as before. Some four or five weeks passed and he grew restless. Though he was not supposed to go out, that day he went to look for his wife. He went to the doorway — his wife's voice came from outside: "Do not come out! I have a little son, and my son has already grown big enough to kill a squirrel. I will come home in one week. Do not come out!" A week more she stayed outside, and then that woman came back into the house with her little son. The boy had grown large enough already to run about.

§5

The song-man, the tale-man — how long does he grow? The woman and her old man lived on, and were happy. Their son grew large enough to kill wild animals. From a leftover wood-shaving stick they made him a bow; he began to hunt animals of the water-country and of the forest-country. The old man said: "What name shall we give our son?" The wife answered: "If it were a girl, I would name her — but should a boy not receive his name from his father?" The old man said: "What name should I give him?" His name became this: Tari-pes-nimala-saw.

II. The Legend of the Encircling of the Earth

(A föld körülövezésének regéje — Ma entéptané möjt)

§1

A woman and an old man live together. On a land-hill no larger than their house they dwell. Whether Numi-Tarem their father cast it down from the sky or it rose up from the waters below — they do not know at all. When the lower wind blows, they are swept up into the upper sea; when the upper wind blows, they are swept into the lower sea. Seven winters and seven summers they have lived so, and in all that time not once has any grass grown, not once has any tall stalk risen. One day the woman went outside; in the corner of the guest-recess a little yellow-tipped stalk had grown. She went back inside and said to her old man: "Seven winters and seven summers we have lived here — in all that time no such stalk has ever grown. Come look at this!" The old man said: "Bring it in!" The woman took her silk scarf in her hand, covered the little yellow-tipped stalk with the scarf, pulled it up by the root; as she lifted it — a child cried out. With joyful hands and joyful feet she brought the child inside. The old man said: "We two have been a childless pair for seven winters and seven summers — where did you find this?" The woman answered: "Where did I find it? That is the very stalk I noticed."

§2

The song-man, the tale-man — does he grow slowly? Today his wearing-garment is too small for him; tomorrow his wearing-garment is too small for him again — so fast does he grow. At last he cannot stand up in the house. As he grows so, one day he speaks to his aunt and uncle: "I would like to go outside; my hands have grown restless, my feet have grown restless." His aunt will not let the child go outside alone; she says to the old man: "Go out with the child; wherever he goes, go with him — do not let him fall in the water!" The old man took the child outside; wherever the child ran and played, he walked alongside. They went for a long time or a short time, until the old man grew weary; he went back inside. His wife scolded him: "Why did you come in? Go back out — the child will fall in the sea!" The old man went out again; he searched and searched, but the child was nowhere. Nothing anywhere — where should he go now? He went back inside. His wife, weeping, began to scold him again: "Why did you come in?! I told you to go together and not let him go even a step away — and now he has fallen into the sea." The old man answered: "What am I to do? The child runs so much — how can an old man like me keep up with him?"

§3

As they argued so, suddenly a man stepped quickly in from outside. They looked up: there stood the child. He asked: "Uncle! Aunt! Why are you arguing?" "Where have you been, that we lost you?" "Where have I been?! I went up to my father Arany-Kworés in the sky." His uncle and aunt asked: "What made you go up — what message did you bring?" "The message from my father Arany-Kworés is this: for seven nights and seven days, close the door of the doored house and cover the roof-opening of the roof-opened house; whatever noise you hear outside, do not go out — Arany-Kworés our father is sending down the earth." They shut the door of the doored house and covered the roof-opening. Then a thundering, crashing sound arose. For seven nights and seven days it thundered — Arany-Kworés their father was sending down the earth. When the appointed seven had passed, the crashing fell silent. The child went outside; he mounted his animal and took off his cap. In that same instant — as he removed his cap — he found himself flung across seven distant regions, so fast did the earth Arany-Kworés had sent down revolve and spin. He spoke to his uncle and aunt: "I am going up again to my father Arany-Kworés; let him strengthen the earth, let him settle it with some kind of anchor — for when the human age comes upon this world, what kind of man born with a navel could endure living on an earth that spins without rest and will not settle in one place?" He went up to the sky. He spoke to his father Arany-Kworés: "The earth for humans to live on — you have already sent it down; but when the human age, the era of people, comes — what person standing on the tips of his toes could bear it? Could you not strengthen this little earth somehow?" Arany-Kworés the father answered: "For seven nights and seven days, let the door of the doored house again be shut, let the roof-opening again be covered — I will encircle the earth." They sealed themselves in for seven days; where before there had been great noise and crashing, now even greater noise, even greater crashing arose. After the appointed seven had passed, they went outside. Looking upward, the eye could not reach the peaks of the Urals; looking downward, the eye could not reach the Ural peaks either. So was the earth established level; now it had become fit for humans to dwell on.

§4

That child who descended to his uncle and aunt in the form of a yellow-tipped stalk — he rules now under the name Polém-tarem. At his sacred place on the shore of the lake formed by the Polém (Pelymka) river — there he is worshipped with bowing, there offerings are made to him to this very day.

III. The Song of the Flooding of Sky and Earth

(Az ég és föld elöntetésének éneke — Má' tármi' sinyátilém eri')

This is a sacred song (eri'), not a prose tale — an epic poem recited in the ceremonial verse tradition, approximately 481 verse lines plus a prose coda. It is the longest and most theologically complex of the Mansi cosmogonic narratives: the divine siblings Golden-Kaltés and Golden-Lord witness the destruction of the world, encounter shapeshifting heroes in an emptied city, and then Golden-Lord transforms into a goose, takes a mortal wife, loses his children to the cold of the southern golden woman's lands, calls his ancestral winged horse back from oblivion, destroys the golden woman, and returns with his sister to their primordial castle where they tear open the golden cuckoo and beetle to resurrect their parents. The resurrected family lowers the siblings in golden cradles on silver chains to the lower earth, where they find the fire-flood survivors and begin the age of humanity.

In the self-grown moss-hill castle,
in the self-grown tundra-hill castle,
Golden-Sis and Golden-Kworés,
woman and old man, live together.
Golden-Kaltés, Golden-Lord —
their daughter and their son are there.
A stable of seven sun-blazoned horses is theirs,
a stable of seven snow-white horses is theirs.
Behind their house
a birch tree of golden leaves has grown,
a birch tree of golden branches has grown.

Golden-Kaltés, her brother's sister,
steps outside and shakes down her braid:
one-mouthed seven Ob-rivers flow,
one-mouthed seven seas rise up;
from her braid the sun rolls free,
from her braid the moonlight rises.
On the birch tree of golden leaves,
the birch tree of golden branches behind the house,
seven golden-winged, golden-tailed
cuckoos settle;
for seven nights they sing,
for seven days they sing;
their night-song does not cease,
their day-song does not cease.
So they sing: their mouths
gleam as though pure silver poured,
so they sing: their mouths
gleam as though golden silver poured.
The rag-shod, rag-coated
poor little people of this wide world
live on by the power of that singing
to this very day.

Golden-Lord, her younger brother,
steps outside and shakes down his braid:
one-mouthed seven Ob-rivers flow,
one-mouthed seven seas rise up;
from his braid the sun stands there,
from his braid the moonlight stands there.
From the depths of the seven Ob-rivers and the seven seas
seven golden-backed water-beetles
rise to the surface
and warm their backs in the light of his braid.
By the power of his braid there is summer; there is winter.

The rag-shod, rag-coated
poor little people of this wide world
live on by his power
to this very day.

Long they lived, or short —
one day their mother Golden-Sis passed away.
Golden-Kaltés, their daughter, stepped outside;
from her seven golden-winged, golden-tailed cuckoos
she caught one,
slit open its belly,
and placed her mother inside the cuckoo.

Long they lived, or short —
one day their father Golden-Kworés passed away.
Golden-Lord, their son, stepped outside;
from his two golden-backed water-beetles
he caught one,
slit open its belly,
and placed his father inside the beetle.

In the self-grown moss-hill castle,
in the self-grown tundra-hill castle,
long they lived, or short —
one day Golden-Kaltés spoke to her younger brother:
"Little brother — in this self-grown moss-hill,
this tundra-hill castle of ours,
shall the two of us sit alone, without people,
for long or short?
Let us go now to some land where noble ladies dwell,
to some land where lords dwell!"
Her younger brother spoke to his sister:
"By what power should we go?"
Golden-Kaltés, the sister, answered:
"When our mother and father lived,
a stable of seven sun-blazoned horses was theirs,
a stable of seven snow-white horses was theirs.
Go, my love, to the ruins of those stables;
when once the horses lived, a foal was born among them —
the other horses trampled that foal down into the earth;
go, dear one, dig at the ruins of the stable-floor,
after you have dug one fathom deep, you will find it!"

To the ruins of the seven-horse stable
Golden-Lord went and dug.
After digging one fathom deep,
he found that foal.
In some ancient time when it was born —
a hip-dappled, shoulder-dappled
little foal it had been, nothing more:
but now the earth clings to its whole body.
He carried the dead foal home.
Golden-Kaltés his sister took it;
one side she washed with lake-water,
the other side she washed with Ob-water,
and brought it back to life.
Not another creature — such an animal this was:
from one nostril
sparks of fire surge,
from the other nostril
smoke surges.
On the hooves of its hands — wings.
Not another creature — such an animal:
hip-dappled, shoulder-dappled,
a winged horse standing there —
wherever it turns across this wide sunlit earth,
its little ears hear everything;
if two blades of grass brush together
the sound reaches its ears;
if two twigs brush together
the sound reaches its ears.

They draped a seven-belled, ringing saddle
across the horse's back
and both mounted.
Between the two heavens, between the two skies,
they rose upward;
tucking the wings of their winged coats beneath them,
they came to a land where other peoples' noble ladies dwell,
they arrived at a land where other peoples' lords dwell.

Long they rode, or short —
one day as they looked down:
their round earth spinning like a wheel
was covered over with fiery water,
fire-tongues leaping up to seven fathoms.
They rode on again, long or short.

One day they looked down:
what had happened —
not one forest tree remained,
not even the face of the land was visible.
So they rode on as before.

In one place Golden-Lord thought:
without people, how can the earth stand?
If only by some means people could be born!
Now, weeping, he called out to his parents
from the earth where they are buried:
"Arany-Kworés, father dear! Arany-Sis, mother dear!
Without people — how am I to live?"
Golden-Kaltés his sister spoke:
"Little brother! What has come over you — why do you cry?"
"That is why I cry, dear sister:
on the earth that stands below
a sacred fire-flood has swept through;
not one forest tree remained,
not one person remained;
without a single person — how shall I live?"
"Little brother — look down!"

He looked down:
there in a seven-layered poplar boat
a woman and an old man were aboard.
Floating on the sacred water they had reached dry land;
they were just now rising, stepping outside.
Xul-átér stepped out from the woman's womb.
The navel-born people —
their daughters and their sons,
Russian and Mansi together —
we all live from them to this very day.

Golden-Kaltés and Golden-Lord,
on their hip-dappled, shoulder-dappled winged animal —
they rode on again.
Long they rode, or short;
one day they looked ahead:
too large to be called a village,
too small to be called a city —
a settlement of that size lay ahead.
They arrived there:
one house where people should live,
a horse there, a cow there, a sheep there,
a granary, a storehouse, a trading stall —
but not a single person.

The sister spoke to her younger brother:
"Go inside, my love;
if you find any person, do not reveal me —
let me be as I am; do not disturb me."

Golden-Lord went inside.
No person there; but food and honeyed drink,
as they had been prepared at some time, untouched, still stood.
He slipped silently under a bench
and hid himself.

Suddenly an old wolverine stepped in,
leaping and growling through the whole house.
Golden-Lord thought: let him not catch me in his teeth.
Then the wolverine suddenly shed his wolverine skin —
what a man born of a noble lady arose from him,
what a man born of a lord arose from him!
A hero sat down to rest
and wiped his sweat.

Then the door was pushed open again:
an old grey wolf came crashing in,
leaping and growling through the whole house.
Suddenly the wolf shed his wolf-skin —
what a man born of a lord arose from him,
a man of noble birth!
Again a hero sat down.

Then the door was pushed open once more:
an old bear came crashing in,
leaping and raging through the whole house.
Suddenly the bear shed his bear-skin —
what a man born of a noble lady arose from him,
what a man born of a lord arose from him!
Again a hero sat down.

Long they sat, or short, when they said:
"Truly, it seems there is a person in our house —
but where is he? Let him come forward!"
Then Golden-Lord rose to his feet.
He greeted the three heroes and shook hands with them,
and they sat down together at the table spread with food and honeyed drink.
They ate and drank for a long time or a short time, when Golden-Lord recalled:
"My God — I am eating and drinking here while my sister waits outside, hungry."
The heroes said: "You have a sister too?
Call her in!"
Golden-Lord called in Golden-Kaltés his sister;
they sat at the table spread with food and honeyed drink
and ate and drank and lay down to rest.

For a famous week they lay,
for a celebrated week they lay;
one day Golden-Lord's
sleep began to dissolve.
He rose and went outside.
Wherever his head pointed,
wherever his nose pointed —
on foot, just that way he went;
his sister and his horse remained behind.
Long across wide country he traveled long,
short across near country he traveled short;
in one place, at the edge of a sun-warmed pine forest —

there he lay down.
Long he lay, or short he lay;
the season began to turn toward spring.
The many birds dwelling in the south —
to this land where noble ladies dwell,
to this land where lords dwell —
began to come.
As he lay there watching them,
suddenly a lone female goose
was passing above.
Golden-Lord stirred his wing-bones, stirred his hands,
and as a male goose he flew away.
With that female goose, as husband and wife,
they joined together.

In autumn, when Numi-Tarem made the days short,
they went south.
Golden-watered seven lakes,
golden-watered seven seas —
those southern birds live there.
For seven nights they sing,
for seven days they sing;
on the shores of the seven golden-watered lakes and seas
they walk up: golden paths lie before them;
they come down: golden paths flow beneath them.
Golden-Lord with his female goose
lives on that very same land;
daughters and sons were born to them.

Numi-Tarem their father,
Numi-Tarem their lord —
spring came again.
The many birds dwelling in the south,
to this land's woman-traveled waters,
to this land's man-traveled waters —
the minds of the thinking creatures
turned entirely toward this.
And they too came.

When they arrived at this land of noble ladies,
when they arrived at this land of lords —
he remembered his horse;
the horse that would carry him anywhere was gone.
In autumn, when Numi-Tarem made the days short,
the many birds dwelling in the south
went off to the southern woman-traveled waters,
to the southern man-traveled waters.

Golden-Lord, at the place where he had lain the year before,
arrived at the edge of the sun-warmed pine forest.
There he lay down; there he stayed.
His goose-wife, with their daughter and son,
flew on ahead.
For seven nights he lies,
for seven days he lies.

At the edge of the sun-warmed pine forest,
after long sleep —
or short sleep —
the season began to turn toward spring.
The many birds dwelling in the south
again began to come to this land of noble ladies,
again began to come to this land of lords.
Though the southern birds pass and pass,
however he watches for his wife and children —
his wife and children are not among them.
At last the rear of the duck-flock began to pass;
then the rear of the goose-flock began to pass.
At the very end, his goose-wife too
appeared, weeping.
Her husband is missing; her children are missing.
She mourns her husband; she mourns her children.
In her mourning she says:

"On the southern woman-traveled water,
on the southern man-traveled water,
a golden woman lives — a daughter of the southern land.
Last winter, in the midwinter cold,
wherever the southern birds are —
they all go up onto her knee to warm themselves.
But my little children, in the midwinter cold,
were pushed from her knee
and the cold consumed them.
Since my children are no more —
let me at least find my husband,
let me at least find my lord!"

That goose-wife came on to this land.
In autumn, when Numi-Tarem made the days short,
the many birds dwelling in the south
thought again of their southern woman-traveled water,
their southern man-traveled water.
Golden-Lord's wife, weeping, goes again.
When she arrived at the edge of the sun-warmed pine forest,
weeping she says:

"Once upon a time, my dear little lord —
from whom I had a daughter, from whom I had a son —
my good little lord:
on this very spot his bone broke,
on this very spot his flesh rotted!"

And then she went on, just as before.

After his wife departed,
Golden-Lord began to burn with anger.
He thinks: just now my goose-wife said
that my daughter and my son were consumed by the cold —
well then, whether from below or from above,
when I get there,
your name of golden woman will fall just the same!
Golden-Lord runs and runs.
Long he ran, or short he went —
oh, when will he ever arrive?
In one place, his strength gave out.
"Enough! I will lie down again," he said.
On a sky-reaching great boulder,
there he lay down.

Long he lay, or short he lay;
he thinks: why — I used to have a horse!
"Oh, mother! From the ruins of the sun-blazoned seven-horse stable
where my mother Sis-Arany used to walk,
from the ruins of the snow-white seven-horse stable
that my father Kworés-Arany built —
once a shoulder-dappled,
once a hip-dappled
winged horse was raised.
From wherever it dwells,
if my song goes forth,
if my tale goes forth —
like rain-drops falling from above,
like breeze-drops falling from above —
may it fall to me here!"
Then he fell into a dead faint.

Long he lay, or short he lay;
suddenly he feels
something stroking one side of his face.
He opens his eyes —
lo, his horse is nudging him.
Then he woke at last
and climbed onto his horse's back.
As he moves the rein on one side:
from that side of the sky, silver singing sounds;
as he moves the rein on the other side:
from that other side of the sky, the sun and moon rise up.

The spinning earth, turning like a wheel-rim —
he rides around it all.
He arrived at the southern land of noble ladies,
he arrived at the southern land of lords.
Lo, on those golden-watered seven seas —
such a multitude of southern birds
that the earth trembles beneath them,
the sea swells with their weight.
As he drew near,
with his ears he listened:
the swelling ocean is swelling,
the billowing ocean is billowing.
His joy for seven nights does not cease;
his joy for seven days does not cease.
He looks: there sits the southern maiden, the golden woman.
He looks to one side of her:
his goose-daughter and his goose-son —
as they died, so they lie.

The sacred cap that Tarem sent down
from above the seven winged beings,
from above the seven footed beings —
that cap has slipped down over his eyes.
To his horse he says:
"Through the place where that southern woman sits —
horse, ride straight through!
As you carry your front legs:
let that golden woman's bones
scatter to one direction;
as you carry your hind legs:
let that golden woman's flesh
scatter to the other direction!"

Then that woman caught sight of him.
She says to her seven handmaidens:
"Look there!
From the distance between the two heavens, between the two skies —
a lord's approach can be seen!
The splendid man I would take as my husband —
where does he vanish?!"
Golden-Lord is coming.
That golden woman says to her handmaidens:
"Where that horse places its front and hind legs —
set four silver bowls there!"
Golden-Lord arrived.
The horse's front and hind legs
stepped into those silver bowls;
those silver bowls
fitted fast to the horse's hooves.
As it galloped — that golden woman,
by the edges of her own silver bowls,
was torn apart seven ways in bone,
was torn apart seven ways in flesh.
Golden-Lord rides on through.

His goose-daughter and goose-son
flew away in goose-form.

From the golden-watered seven seas,
Golden-Lord turns back.
Only now does his sister come to mind.
When he arrived at the city where he had left his sister —
those long-tailed heroes, to the very last one, had perished.
In that empty city, only his sister sits alone.

Onto their shoulder-dappled, hip-dappled winged horse
they both mounted once again.
Tucking the wings of their winged coats beneath them,
between the two heavens they rose,
between the two skies they rose.

In one place, as they looked ahead:
ah — their self-grown moss-hill castle,
their self-grown tundra-hill castle,
appeared before them.

They arrived at their castle and went inside;
beer and honeyed food at the table —
they ate and drank.
The sister went outside
and let down her braid:
one-mouthed seven seas rose up,
one-mouthed seven Ob-rivers flowed.
On the golden-leaved, golden-branched birch,
golden-tailed, golden-winged,
seven cuckoos settled;
for seven nights they sang,
for seven days they sang;
their night-singing did not cease,
their day-singing did not cease.
One cuckoo she tore open —
and Arany-Sis, their mother, rose from within.

With Arany-Sis their mother they went inside.
Then the brother went outside
and let down his braid:
one-mouthed seven seas rose up,
one-mouthed seven Ob-rivers flowed.
From the depths of the seven Ob-rivers and the seven seas,
seven golden-backed water-beetles
rose to the surface.
One beetle he tore open —
and Arany-Kworés, their father, rose from within.

With Arany-Kworés their father they went inside the house.
They sat at the golden-footed table;
beer and honeyed food they ate and drank.

Now Arany-Kaltés and Arany-Lord —
by Arany-Sis their mother
and Arany-Kworés their father —
were laid in two golden-hooped cradles.
Seven-tasseled silver chains were fastened to them,
and down to this lower earth they were let down.

They arrived on this lower earth — and in every direction, not a single person. Then the sister spoke: "Little brother — look there! When the sacred fire-flood came, the woman and old man who survived on the seven-layered poplar boat — there they are!" They began to go toward them. Whether they went by wing or by foot or by some other means — they arrived. The woman and old man had built a house. The trees of the forest, in the time since the sacred fire-flood had passed, had grown large enough that, piecing the timber together this way and that, they had built their dwelling.

From that woman and that old man — their daughters and their sons live to this very day, and are happy.

IV. The Tales of the Sacred Fire-Flood

(A szent tüzözön regéi)

Part a) The Tale of the Holy Fire

(Jelpin sakw möjt)

Before this time, Numi-Tarem had been thinking of how he might destroy Xul-ater. He resolved to wash the land where Xul-ater dwelt with a sacred fire-flood. For his own people he made an iron boat; for his Mansi people he made a seven-layered poplar raft and a tent of sturgeon-skin to cover it. When everything was ready, he loaded his own people into the iron boat; the Mansi people took shelter in the sturgeon-skin tent above the poplar raft. Then Numi-Tarem rose up into his sky and from above he released the sacred fire-flood. He sent fiery water raining down, living jür-worms and living sossel-worms from above. Every tree on every hill, every tree in every forest, was destroyed down to the ground. Six layers of the people's raft caught fire and burned away; one layer remained. The man who fell through the raft perished; another survived, his life passed through safe.

But Xul-ater was not killed by the sacred fire-flood. While Numi-Tarem had been away making the iron boat, Xul-ater had gone to Numi-Tarem's wife and said: "Where does your husband go all the time?" She answered: "How should I know?" Xul-ater said: "Give him water from this barrel to drink — it will make him drunk, and he will tell you where he goes." Numi-Tarem came home; his wife gave him that water; he got drunk; she questioned him, and he told her his intention — that he was making a sacred fire-flood. The wife secretly hid Xul-ater in a sewing-box and carried him up onto the iron boat, raising him above the fire-flood. Though the earth was destroyed, Xul-ater was not killed. This was the way his life was saved.

Part b) The Tale of the Sacred Flood

(Jelpin vit möjt)

§1

For seven summers the fire burned. For seven summers the fire consumed the earth. For seven summers the old women, the old men said: "Our world is flooding and changing beyond us — how shall we save our lives from now on?" Old men and old women, many and few people came together. They gathered in one village and held council: in what way should we survive?

§2

An elder man spoke: "In what way shall we save our lives from this? As I have heard — a hollow poplar must be split, and a raft made. If our lives are to be saved, that is the way; by no other means shall our lives be saved. If we wish to go on living in this land: five hundred fathoms of rope must be woven from willow-root. When that rope is made, one end must be sunk a fathom's depth into the earth, and one end must be tied to our poplar raft. The man who has many daughters, many children — let him go onto the raft. At one end of the raft, a vessel of clear fish-oil must be set; four vessels must be set, one at each corner. Then he must sew a tent of sturgeon-skin to cover his children. Food and drink sufficient for seven nights and seven days must be made ready; inside the sturgeon-skin tent, food and drink must be plentiful. Then if our lives are saved — that is the only way it will be."

§3

Then everyone went home to their own villages. The raft-makers made their rafts from hollow poplars; the rope-makers wove their ropes. For seven nights and seven days they labored. The man who did not know how to make a raft went to the elder man and questioned him, and the elder taught him: make this part this way, make that part that way. But some men, not knowing how to build a raft, began looking for high ground. They searched in vain and found no good place to settle. Then they questioned the elder: "You grew up before us — do you know of any land somewhere?" The elder answered: "Even if we know of one, how would all the people fit there? The sacred flood is already upon us; the sound of its coming, its roaring, has been heard for two days now. Where shall we go so quickly — it has already overtaken us!"

§4

Then the man whose raft was ready hurried onto it with his daughters and sons. The man who had no raft was destroyed by the fiery water, just as he stood — burned just as he stood. The man whose rope ran out — it snapped, and the current carried him away. The man whose rope was long — he drifted on the water. When the raft's edge caught fire from the fiery water, he poured clear fish-oil on it and put the fire out.

After those seven nights and seven days had passed — the man who endured, the water receded from him; the man who did not endure, his rope broke and the current took him. The man who endured reached dry land on his own territory. Other men reached dry land wherever they came to be. The man who did not endure — with daughters and sons — was destroyed just as he stood; their lives passed away like that.

§5

Then they looked for trees with which to build houses. There was neither tree nor grass — everything had been destroyed, everything had burned. The earth was burned a fathom deep, hollowed out by fire; that was why there was no tree and no grass. They found nothing with which to build. So they began to dig earth-shelters. When their earth-shelters were finished, they began to live in them. Wherever one goes, one hears it said: the people who survived and who lived in the nearby villages — they dug earth-shelters there. And wherever they settled, one can still hear of it — where those who survived the fire-flood came to dry land.

§6

Then the surviving elders gathered and prayed to Tarem: "Oh, in what way shall the hunger of our daughters be stilled, the hunger of our sons? There is now no water-fish, there is no forest-animal. Oh, Numi-Tarem our father — send down at least some water-fish, send down some forest-animal! The remaining children you have left us — your daughter's hunger would be stilled from that, your son's hunger would be found there. If your child goes down to the water: send water-fish! Bless the fish-hunting man with fish-luck; bless the man going into the forest with animal-luck! Your daughter's hunger would be stilled from there, your son's hunger would be stilled from there. Create with your word forest trees and forest grasses! Wherever your surviving people live on earth — may they multiply onward; the multiplying son, may he multiply; the multiplying daughter, may she multiply!"

V. The Sacred Song of the Lowering of the Earth from the Sky

(A föld égből való lebocsátásának szent éneke — Ma tàratim jelpin erV)

This is a sacred song (eri'), not a prose tale — a ceremonial verse poem of approximately 365 lines recited in the messenger-cycle tradition. The Above-going Winged-Kalm serves as divine intermediary, ascending repeatedly from Xut-átér-daughter on the spinning lower earth to Golden-Kworés in his silver-doored sky house. Three ascending-descending cycles establish the earth's stability, bring forth humanity from the root of the forest tree, and provide the animals for sustenance. Then comes the hunt — frozen fat loaded onto brush-jawed sleds — and the catastrophe at Jáy-tumén lake, where disease enters the world through the youngest son's premature arrow. The poem climaxes in the drunken metamorphosis: the eldest son, maddened by beer, tears apart his own warrior equipment — mail-armor, quiver, sword — and spits the pieces onto his limbs. From the armor comes fur; from the quiver, claws; from the sword, teeth. The meadow-beast — the bear, named only by euphemism — walks into the trackless forest. This is the Mansi origin of the bear, the origin of disease, and the origin of hunting.

Golden-Kworés father, Golden-Kworés grandfather
was formed in the size of a silver spindle-ring.

S'opér-lady, Kami-lady Mother — he sent her down;
Xut-átér-daughter — he created her;
the Above-going Winged-Kalm — he created him.

They lived long or they lived briefly — and then one day
Xut-átér-daughter spoke to the Winged-Kalm:

"Go up to your father Golden-Kworés!
Ask your father Golden-Kworés this:
S'opér-lady Mother he sent down,
Kami-lady Mother he created;

on a coming day Golden-Kworés father
will create the age of humankind,
will create the era of humankind:
but this S'opér-lady, Kami-lady Mother —
let him strengthen her with some kind of strength,
let him gird her with some kind of belt;
no human standing on the tips of his toes could endure it —
S'opér-lady, Kami-lady Mother spins and spins!"

Now the Above-going Winged-Kalm
goes up to his father Golden-Kworés.
He went long or he went briefly — how should he know?
At last he reached the dwelling-place
of his father Golden-Kworés.
The silver-hinged six doors he opened six-fold;
the silver-hinged seventh door he opened seven-fold.
Into the inner room of the doored house he goes.

On the floor of the floored house he looks to the centre:
seven golden-edged tables stand in a row;
beside the seven golden-edged tables
Golden-Kworés father
sits upon a golden-footed holy throne;
his golden-tipped holy staff
is pressed against his right cheek.
When he reached the centre of the floored house,
Golden-Kworés father raised his golden-tipped holy staff
from beside his face,
looked toward him, and asked:

"Above-going Winged-Kalm,
what message-bearing creature's message have you brought?"

The Winged-Kalm spoke to his father Golden-Kworés:
"What message-bearing creature's message do I bring?
The message I bring is this:
Golden-Kworés father! Xut-átér-daughter says:
this S'opér-lady Mother you sent down,
this Kami-lady Mother you created;
on a coming day you will create the age of humankind,
you will create the era of humankind:
but what human standing on the tips of his toes could endure it?
This S'opér-lady, Kami-lady Mother spins and spins!
With some kind of strength, strengthen her;
with some kind of belt, gird her round!"

Golden-Kworés father bowed his head;
as long as it takes an icy fish, a snowy fish, to cook —
so long he sat without word or tongue.

When he raised his head, he spoke:
"I shall create the Seven-Hill Mother;
I shall send down Parap-lady Mother.
On my right shoulder
I crack my living serpent-whip:
many rushing, running streams
pour forth from there in great number.
On my left shoulder
I crack my living serpent-whip:
many rushing small rivers
pour forth from there in great number."

From his father Golden-Kworés's house
the silver-hinged seven doors —
the Winged-Kalm
opens them seven-fold, goes out,
and descends to Xut-átér-daughter.

When he arrived below,
Xut-átér-daughter asked him:
"Above-going Winged-Kalm,
what message-bearing creature's message have you brought?"

The Winged-Kalm spoke:
"What message-bearing creature's message do I bring?
The message I bring is this:
Golden-Kworés father, Golden-Kworés grandfather, says:
S'opér-lady Mother, Kami-lady Mother —
he has girdled her round;
he has created the Seven-Hill Mother;
he has sent down Parap-lady Mother."

After they had lived long,
or after they had lived briefly,
if Xut-átér-daughter sits down:
her sitting-place gives no rest;
if Xut-átér-daughter stands up:
her standing-place gives no peace.
She speaks to the Winged-Kalm:

"Go up again to your father Golden-Kworés!
Ask your father this:
how shall the age of humankind be created?
How shall the era of humankind be created?"

The Above-going Winged-Kalm goes up.
He went long or he went briefly — how should he know?
At last he reached the outer side
of the seven silver-hinged-doored house
where his father Golden-Kworés lives.
The silver-hinged six doors he opened six-fold;
the silver-hinged seventh door he opened seven-fold.
Into the inner room of the doored house he goes.

Seven golden-edged tables stand in a row;
beside the seven golden-edged tables
Golden-Kworés father
sits upon a golden-footed holy throne;
his golden-tipped holy staff
is pressed against his right cheek.

The Winged-Kalm reached the centre of the floored house;
Golden-Kworés father raised his head:

"Above-going Winged-Kalm,
what message-bearing creature's message have you brought?"

The Winged-Kalm spoke:
"Golden-Kworés father, Golden-Kworés grandfather!
The message I bring is this:
how shall the age of humankind be created?
How shall the era of humankind be created?"

Golden-Kworés father —
as long as it takes an icy fish, a snowy fish, to cook —
so long he hung his neck in silence.

When he raised his neck, he spoke:
"At the base of the still-standing forest tree —
if shoots grow there: let the shoots be trampled;
if grass grows there: let the grass be trampled.
From one womb let seven sons be created;
from one womb let seven daughters be created!"

With this the Winged-Kalm
opened his father Golden-Kworés's
seven silver-hinged doors seven-fold,
and down to S'opér-lady, Kami-lady Mother
he descended.

When he arrived below,
Xut-átér-daughter asked him:
"Above-going Winged-Kalm!
What message did your father Golden-Kworés speak to you?"

The Winged-Kalm spoke:
"What your father Golden-Kworés,
what your grandfather Golden-Kworés said to me — this is the message:
at the base of the still-standing forest tree,
if shoots grow there: trample the shoots;
if grass grows there: trample the grass!
From one womb seven sons shall be created;
from one womb seven daughters shall be created."

Then Xut-átér-daughter
trampled the shoots at the base of the still-standing forest tree;
where grass grew, she trampled the grass.
From one womb seven sons were created;
from one womb seven daughters were created.

Her seven sons born from one womb,
her seven daughters born from one womb —
after they had lived long,
or after they had lived briefly,
they had grown large enough to shoot pointed wooden arrows.

Above-going winged creatures —
their hearts they set trembling;
below-going footed creatures —
their hearts they set quaking.

Xut-átér-daughter, their mother,
speaks again to the Winged-Kalm:

"Above-going Winged-Kalm!
Go up again to your father Golden-Kworés! Ask him this:
my seven sons from one womb have been created,
my seven daughters from one womb have been created;
but the berry-shoots to eat — where shall they find them?
The grass-buds to eat — where shall they seek them?
The tasty morsel to fill the heart's tip — where shall they find it?"

The Above-going Winged-Kalm
goes up again to his father Golden-Kworés.
He went long or he went briefly — how should he know?

He reached the outer side
of the seven silver-hinged-doored house
where his father Golden-Kworés lives.
The silver-hinged six doors he opened six-fold;
the silver-hinged seventh door he opened seven-fold.
Into the inner room of the doored house he goes.

Seven golden-edged tables stand in a row;
beside the seven golden-edged tables
Golden-Kworés father
sits upon a golden-footed holy throne;
his golden-tipped holy staff
is pressed against his right cheek.

When the Winged-Kalm
reached the centre of the floored house,
Golden-Kworés father raised his head:

"Above-going Winged-Kalm,
what message-bearing creature's message have you brought?"

"What message-bearing creature's message do I bring?
Golden-Kworés father, Golden-Kworés grandfather!
The message I bring is this:
Xut-átér-daughter has borne seven sons from one womb,
has borne seven daughters from one womb;
they have grown large enough to shoot pointed wooden arrows;
above-going winged creatures —
their hearts they set trembling;
below-going footed creatures —
their hearts they set quaking:
but the berry-shoots to eat — where shall they find them?
The grass-buds to eat — where shall they seek them?
The tasty morsel to fill the heart's tip — where shall they find it?"

Golden-Kworés father spoke:
"Into the thick-treed dark thicket's flank
I shall send down seven cow-elk;
I shall send down seven bull-elk.

When I make the long spring day —
from behind the sheltering bush,
from behind the sheltering grass —
let them seek the berry-shoots to eat;
let them seek the grass-buds to eat;
let them find the tasty morsel to fill the heart's tip!

On one side of my land, one side of my waters —
the trees are sparse, a sparse bog;
the grass is sparse, a sparse bog:
grey-furred many reindeer calves I shall send down there.

When I make the long spring day —
from behind the sheltering bush,
from behind the sheltering grass —
let them seek the berry-shoots to eat;
let them seek the grass-buds to eat;
let them find the tasty morsel to fill the heart's tip!

On the other side of my land, the other side of my waters —
a food-rich dead-man's country;
a water-rich dead-man's country:
let them seek the berry-shoots to eat there;
let them seek the grass-buds to eat there;
let them find the tasty morsel to fill the heart's tip there!"

Now the Winged-Kalm
descends to S'opér-lady, Kami-lady Mother.

Xut-átér-daughter asks him:
"Above-going Winged-Kalm,
what message-bearing creature's message have you brought?"

The Winged-Kalm spoke:
"The message I bring is this:
Golden-Kworés father, Golden-Kworés grandfather, says:
into the thick-treed dark thicket's flank
seven cow-elk, seven bull-elk
he will send down;
onto the sparse-treed, sparse bog
grey-furred many reindeer calves
he will send down;
a food-rich dead-man's country,
a water-rich dead-man's country
he will send down.

When he makes the long spring day —
from behind the sheltering bush,
from behind the sheltering grass —
let them seek the berry-shoots to eat;
let them seek the grass-buds to eat;
let them find the tasty morsel to fill the heart's tip!"

Now the seven sons born from one mother
go into the thick-treed dark thicket's flank:
seven cow-elk, seven bull-elk they find there.

From behind the sheltering bush they creep close;
from behind the sheltering grass they creep close.

The eldest man among them draws his bow:
seven cow-elk, seven bull-elk —
with one loosed arrow he found them all.

Frozen fat's abundance they found there;
cooled fat's abundance they found there.

A raw-hide pull-strap they made;
onto a brush-jawed sled they loaded it all,
and home to Xut-átér-daughter their mother they came.

After they had lived there long,
or after they had lived there briefly,
to the sparse-treed, sparse bog they go;
to the sparse-grassed, sparse bog they go:
grey-furred many reindeer calves they find there.

The eldest man among them —
from behind the sheltering bush he creeps close;
from behind the sheltering grass he creeps close.

With one loosed arrow
he strikes the grey-furred many reindeer calves in great number.

Frozen fat's abundance they found again;
cooled fat's abundance they found again.
Onto a brush-jawed sled they loaded it all;
home to Xut-átér-daughter their mother they hauled it.

They lived long or they lived briefly —
and then one day the seven sons born from one mother
spoke to Xut-átér-daughter their mother:

"Golden-Kworés grandfather
speaks of a food-rich dead-man's country;
speaks of a water-rich dead-man's country.
This food-rich, water-rich dead-man's country —
we go now to seek it.

Before we return,
brew seven kettles of beer with one spout!
We shall rest our hands; we shall rest our feet."

The seven sons born from one mother
go now to seek the dead-man's country.

They went long or they went briefly —
to a sparse-treed, sparse land they came;
to a sparse-grassed, sparse land they came;
to the shore of Jáy-tumén lake they came.

On Jáy-tumén lake they look:
seven iron-breasted diving-birds
ride the waves seven-fold;
seven iron-breasted grebes
ride the waves seven-fold.

The eldest man among them speaks:
"From behind the sheltering bush I myself shall stalk them;
from behind the sheltering grass I myself shall stalk them.
Until I have loosed my arrow — do not loose yours!
Until I have drawn my bow — do not draw yours!"

He stalks from behind the sheltering bush;
he stalks from behind the sheltering grass.

He barely sets his arrow to the curve of his bent bow —
behind him the youngest man
lets fly: his bowstring's singing sound is heard.

The seven iron-breasted diving-birds —
their breasts he only grazed with blood;
the seven iron-breasted grebes —
their breasts he only grazed with blood.

The blood-breasted seven diving-birds
fly along the crane-footed many rivers
in great number;
the blood-breasted seven grebes
fly along the crane-footed many rivers
in great number.

The disease-free earth's expanse —
with disease they flooded it;
the sickness-free earth's expanse —
with sickness they flooded it.

The eldest man among them curses him:

"If I myself had shot,
these iron-breasted seven diving-birds,
these iron-breasted seven grebes —
like spring-fish on a good spit-stick
I would have speared them all;
like autumn-fish on a good spit-stick
I would have speared them all.

Now you — the disease-free earth's expanse
with disease you have flooded;
the sickness-free earth's expanse
with sickness you have flooded."

Toward Xut-átér-daughter their mother
they now turn homeward.
They went long or they went briefly —
to Xut-átér-daughter their mother they returned.

The seven kettles of beer with one spout were brewed.

The seven sons born from one mother drink now.
They drank long or they drank briefly — they do not know.
When they awoke from their sleep,
the eldest man had gone mad in his frenzy.

His own scaled-eyed mail-armor
he tore to little pieces;
he spat it onto his own feet, onto his own hands:
the fur coat of the meadow-beast arose from that.

His seven-arrowed quiver
he bit to little pieces;
he spat it onto his own feet, onto his own hands:
the five-clawed grasping forepaws of the meadow-beast arose from that;
the five-clawed grasping hind-paws of the meadow-beast arose from that.

His golden-tasseled sword
he bit to little pieces:
the ten-toothed gaping jaws of the meadow-beast arose from that.

Into the trackless forest, the dark forest's depths, he went away.

VI. The Song of Creation of Earth and Sky

(A föld és ég teremtésének éneke — Ma' tq,rmi' sankámlém eri')

A sacred song (eri') preserved in two versions: Reguly's original field recording and Munkácsi's Upper Lozva dialect rewrite. This translation follows the Upper Lozva version (b), which is the more complete and legible of the two. The song parallels Section V in its broad architecture — messenger ascents to the sky-father, the provisioning of game, the iron-breasted waterfowl episode, and the origin of the bear — but differs in theology (here Numi-Tqrém is the supreme deity, not Golden-Kworés), in scope (including a battle episode with fly-agaric intoxication), and in its closing with the sacred bear-oath formula that connects this cosmogonic narrative directly to the living bear ceremony of the Mansi people.

Earth and sky — they take form,
they are created.

To the size of Xul-ater's youngest son's
silver glue-pot for feathering arrows,
our father Numi-Tqrém is created.

To the size of Xul-ater's youngest daughter's
spinning silver spindle-whorl,
Bark-Earth Mother is created.

Bark-Earth Mother
sends Leg-Made-Legged-Kalm upward:
"To take form — we have taken form;
but without food-eating humans
I cannot go on living."

This Leg-Made-Legged-Kalm
arrives above and speaks:
"Bark-Earth Mother says:
without food-eating humans
she cannot go on living."

Numi-Tqrém the father answers:

"When you arrive down below,
with the living serpent-whip,
three times striking,
strike Bark-Earth Mother!
To the breadth of a tall man's two arm-spreads
the little earth will open out:
food-eating humans from there shall be created,
Kami-Woman mother from there shall be created,
from one womb seven offspring she shall bear."

Counting their seasons — for seven seasons,
counting their years — for three years,
the wind rocks the youths.

Winged-Kalm-Who-Flies-Above
Bark-Earth Mother sends upward again:
"Food-eating humans
we have now created;
but now — some edible thing,
the tasty morsel for the heart's summit,
where shall he find it?"

The man — after sitting for a long time — speaks:
"Below, into the side of this
dense-treed spruce forest,
seven elk-cows with calves I will send there,
cow and bull I will send there;
the spotted elk-calf with its mother,
to the bull-tongue-narrow marshland below,
I will send there.
Food-eating humans —
the tasty morsel for the heart's summit,
let them seek it from there!"

Kami-Woman mother's seven sons from one womb —
the men grow.

Upon the walking footed creature's heart they press;
upon the flying winged creature's heart they throw themselves.

Walking footed creatures did not remain;
flying winged creatures did not remain.

Bark-Earth Mother
sends the winged messenger upward once more.
Numi-Tqrém my father, after sitting for a long time,
at last speaks:

"If men have grown there:
on the man-walked manly land
what do they do?
On the woman-walked womanly land
what do they do?

If men have grown there:
into the hilly forests
of the man-bearing manly land,
into the hilly forests
of the woman-bearing womanly land —
let them go there to hunt!"

The men hear this word.

Strap-necked pack-carriers
they fashion in great number;
with trust in good fortune
they set out.

Long they walk, or short they walk;
they sit down to rest.

The two youngest men,
in their sudden hot-headedness —
the silken bowstring's humming voice is heard.

The eldest among them looks back,
speaks: "What are you doing?
Upon the trouble-free earth
you bring trouble!"

They walk on further.
Long they walk, or short they walk:

the two youngest men
shoot at a tree-root lying on the ground —
from this side the arrow passes through it;
from that side the arrow passes through it.

The eldest among them speaks again:
"What can you hope to accomplish?
Upon the trouble-free earth
you bring trouble!"

The men walk on further.
All at once — to a sparse-treed water-country
they come out,
to a sparse-treed earth-country
they come out.

They go down to Lews-tumen lake.
Seven iron-breasted diving ducks
beat their wings upon the water there;
seven iron-breasted grebes
beat their wings upon the water there.

The birds dive under;
for as long as it takes to cook a frozen fish in the kettle,
they stay below, then surface;
for as long as it takes to cook an icy fish in the kettle,
they beat their wings above the water again.

The men stalk them from behind hiding grass.
The eldest among them speaks:

"Until I have drawn my bow, do not draw yours!
Until I have loosed my arrow, do not loose yours!
Let no man shoot before me!"

The eldest sets to his bow's knee
a three-pointed silver hooked arrow.
He draws the bow. For as long as it takes a frozen fish to cook,
he steadies his aim.

The two youngest men,
in their sudden hot-headedness —
the silken bowstring's humming voice is heard.

The seven iron-breasted grebes —
only grazed by the silver hooked arrow's point.

The eldest among them speaks:
"What have you done?
Upon the disease-free earth you have loosed disease!
Upon the sickness-free earth you have loosed sickness!"

Through many wide-mouthed rivers,
seven wounded grebes
run in every direction.

The men walk on further.
Long they walk, or short they walk.
To the fortress at Jay-tumen lake
they return, they come home.

Kami-Woman mother
sets up the great feast-kettle,
one so large that no city could exhaust it.

For three nights and three days
the people drink.

The eldest among them —
the drunkard's drunkenness
would not come to him;
the reveller's revelry
would not come to him.

To Lake-Lord's daughter, his wife,
he goes home, steps inside,
and speaks: "The drunkard's drunkenness
will not come to me.
Woman — go outside
and bring in my three sun-dried fly-agaric caps!"

She answers:
"Have you gone mad — is it your father's kin-blood
you thirst to drink?
Have you gone mad — is it your brother's kin-blood
you thirst to drink?"

He speaks: "I, a man who girds two belts —
until my rage has come, why do you provoke me?
If in my madness I thirst for my father's blood,
do I ask your leave?
I do not ask your leave.

Now the three sun-dried fly-agaric caps,
woman — bring them in!"

She throws the caps before him;
into his ten-fanged mouth
he pushes them, chews them down.
The drunkard's drunkenness comes upon him.

The great door of red pine
is kicked open.

"Uncle! Your drunkard's drunkenness —
put it aside now!

In the days of your growing up,
the seven silver-headed pillars you yourself raised —
a flock of red-tailed thrushes
has settled upon them all, has surrounded them all."

The man speaks: "My battle-gear —
my coat of mail that fine hair cannot pass through,
bring it here!

His words were barely spoken
and the coat of mail was brought.
The coat that coarse hair cannot pass through,
that fine hair cannot pass through —
his battle-gear he puts on.

One half-boot
in the daughter's house, within, he puts on;
the other half-boot
in the son's village, without, he puts on.

His small-ridged steel sword
he rips from its sheath.
He throws himself onto his horse;
after the departed army
the man rides in pursuit.

Into the thick swarm of the foe
the man plunges.

His horse — like a rotting log lying there —
he spurs forward;
this departed army,
like a sinking moon,
he pushes down behind him;
like a rising moon,
he raises up before him.

Over the risen army's head
the man rises;
over the mustered army's head
the man towers.

Wherever he turns: as dry grass is crumbled,
so he crumbles them apart;
wherever the hawk turns:
cutting a road through the ranks, he advances.

All at once — at his right leg,
something drags and clings.

He looks down:
Lake-Lord, his wife's father,
it is he who has grasped
his right leg and clings there.

"Son-in-law! All a living man's wealth
is wholly yours —
only your fury against the risen army,
let it be calmed!

Look down —
in men's blood, to the knee,
you wade, O man;
in men's blood, to the hip,
you wade, O man.

Your fury against the mustered army, let it be calmed —
the dead man's wealth is wholly yours."

He was calmed. He obeyed Lake-Lord, his wife's father.
He turned back; he spurred his horse;
it stood up, he mounted, and set off homeward.
To the fortress at Jay-tumen lake he came home.

Kami-Woman mother walks outside and sees him:

"My son! When I bore you,
your two cheeks were like two
freshly reddening poplar-leaves;
now — like peeling birch-bark,
how pale you have become!"

"Mother — how would you know
that to the knee
in men's blood I have been wading?"

He comes home, steps inside, speaks:
"In the frosty forest's seven thickets —
set me free there!

Among humankind, one to match me
I have not found."

His coat of mail that coarse hair cannot pass through,
that fine hair cannot pass through —
his battle-gear he puts on:
the burnt-resin-colored fur that makes men tremble,
from that it grows.

His small-ridged steel sword
he breaks into four pieces;
into his ten-fanged mouth
he pushes them, chews them apart:
the four red fangs that make men tremble,
from that they grow.

His dark iron quiver
he smashes apart;
into his ten-fanged mouth
he pushes them, chews them apart:
the ten claws that make both man and beast tremble,
from that they grow.

As he departs into the frosty forest's thickets,
he speaks:

"By false oath — let no one summon me;
by true oath — let them summon me!
If by false oath they summon me,
I will tear the oath apart like a cap,
I will tear it to shreds like a glove."

VII. The Legend of the Creation of Man

(Az ember teremtesének regéje — Elém-yqlés sankámlém möjt)

§1

Joli-Tqrém — Lower Sky, our mother — sits in her fortress, which hangs on the end of a sevenfold iron chain between two heavens, between two skies. Long she sits there, or short she sits there — until suddenly the time for the earth's creation arrives.

Numi-Tqrém, her elder brother, speaks: "You, sister — descend now to the lower earth. The age of humankind, the era of humankind, must now be created!"

The sevenfold iron chain on which her fortress hung was now cut, and Joli-Tqrém our mother descended. When she reached the earth below, the scabbed earth where humans shall live was entirely dark. She sent Fönn-járó-szárnyas-Kalm — Winged Kalm who Flies Aloft — up to Numi-Tqrém her elder brother to carry a message. Winged Kalm arrived above and spoke: "Joli-Tqrém my mother sends this message: I have descended to the scabbed earth you appointed. But the age of humankind — how shall it be created? The earth is entirely dark. You, elder brother — bring forth daylight, bring forth moonlight!" Numi-Tqrém her elder brother brought forth daylight, brought forth moonlight, and the earth became light.

§2

Joli-Tqrém our mother sent Winged Kalm up again: "Numi-Tqrém, elder brother!" she said. "You have brought forth the daylight, you have brought forth the moonlight. The scabbed earth where humans shall live has become light — yet it keeps spinning, it will not stand still. How shall humans endure? You — make this spinning earth somehow stop, let it cease to spin!" Numi-Tqrém her elder brother took seven full handfuls of flint stone and threw them onto the spinning earth. Ural-ridges and mountains arose, and the earth ceased its spinning, and became still.

§3

Joli-Tqrém our mother sent Winged Kalm up a third time: "Numi-Tqrém, elder brother!" she said. "You have now created this scabbed earth where humans shall live; you have made it light. But how shall humans themselves be created?" Numi-Tqrém her elder brother spoke: "I shall send down seven human-forms. You yourself give them souls. Kworés-Father has appointed the gift of the soul to you; S'is-Mother has appointed the gift of the lifespan to you." Winged Kalm descended. After his descent, Numi-Tqrém ordered that human-forms be made below.

Tapél-ájka — Old Man Tapél — went to a larch grove and from larchwood carved seven man-forms. While he was away, Xul-qtér — the Devil-Prince — molded seven human-forms from white clay. From their two places they arrived home at the same time.

Xul-qtér said: "Little brother, let us swap!" Tapél-ájka answered: "I will not swap, for my humans would become creatures without lifespans." "Oh, no," said Xul-qtér. "I will appoint souls into them, and then they shall have lifespans." "No — I will not swap these humans I made. I had much labor with them beforehand," said Tapél-ájka. "Well, I too had just as much labor with my humans!" said Xul-qtér. "And besides — where will you find souls? Kworés-Father did not appoint souls for you!"

Tapél-ájka just sat scratching his head.

"True," he said to Xul-qtér. "I have no soul in my keeping. These wooden humans of mine — you make them into living humans!" "How should I not make them live!" said Xul-qtér. "Indeed I shall make them live. And these molded clay-humans of mine — these shall be suitable as menkw." Tapél-ájka gave his larchwood humans to Xul-qtér, and the clay humans came to Tapél-ájka.

§4

Xul-qtér now brought the larchwood humans into Numi-Tqrém's hands. Numi-Tqrém stood them behind his table and blew upon them — and they vanished! Where they flew to, he did not know. Tapél-ájka reached for them in vain with his hands: they were nowhere to be seen, he could not catch them. Then suddenly, as he looked down at the earth below — along seven streams where geese dive and ducks dive, seven menkw were running and screaming, running this way and that. Tapél-ájka just scratched the crown of his head.

He took hold of his clay-humans and looked them over: they were nothing but lumps of clay. Numi-Tqrém spoke: "Take your clay-humans down to your sister. Kworés-Father appointed the gift of the soul to her; S'is-Mother appointed the gift of the lifespan to her." Now Tapél-ájka carried his clay-humans down to Joli-Tqrém our mother.

When he arrived below, he said: "Sister — what will become of these? You give them life!" Joli-Tqrém our mother spoke: "Very well, I will give them life — but you, go away from here!"

Even to this day, when a child comes into the world, no man may be present.

Joli-Tqrém our mother made the clay-humans alive. From these clay-humans came daughters and sons: Russian and Mansi together, we all live to this very day. Our frail hands — wherever they reach, that is why they break. Our frail feet — wherever they step, that is why they break. If we fall in the water — that is why we sink. If we had been made of wood, our bodies would be strong, our bodies would be light — we would not sink in water.

§5

After the humans were created, Joli-Tqrém our mother sent Winged Kalm up again: "Winged Kalm!" she said. "Go up again to Numi-Tqrém my elder brother and tell him this: the seven bow-wielding men he was to create — I have now created them. But now, what shall their food be? Their willow-buds for eating, their grass-buds for eating — where shall they look? Send down a silver ladder! Let the willow-buds for eating come down along that ladder; let the grass-buds for eating come down along that ladder!"

Winged Kalm went up and spoke to Numi-Tqrém: "Joli-Tqrém my mother sends word, Seven-Sky my mother sends word: the seven bow-wielding men you were to create — I have now created them. But now, what shall their food be? Their willow-buds for eating, their grass-buds for eating — what shall they become? Send down a silver ladder! Their hungering hearts are very hungry. If they reach for a willow — from the willow they collapse. If they reach for grass — from the grass they collapse."

Numi-Tqrém asked: "What shall I send down along the silver ladder?" Winged Kalm spoke: "In autumn, when the short days come — from your seven streams where geese run and ducks run, from your seven streams where geese dive and ducks dive, from the seven-schooled waters — bring forth a small-finned fish. Behind our walled town, send down seven elk-filled moss-pastures!"

Autumn came. The seven bow-wielding men went out into the forest. They found seven elk-filled, elk-rich moss-pastures. From behind the hiding-willows they crept toward them; from behind the hiding-grasses they crept. They found the willow-buds for eating, they found the grass-buds for eating. When they went down to the Ob, Numi-Tqrém their father's appointed fish was there already — a hand-span in length. They made wicker-traps for fish. While fishing with their traps, they looked out at the center of the Ob: an old man had spread his beard across the Ob-bed, as wide as the river itself. From the old man's beard, weirs had grown.

Now the man who fishes with his net fishes; the man who traps with his trap traps. Sturgeon are struck, nelma-salmon are struck, muksun-salmon are struck. Regular provisions are in great plenty. To this day, that same catch is what is fished, what is harvested.

And it turns out that old man who spread his beard in the Ob was none other than Numi-Tqrém's brother: Tapél-ájka. Every rim of the spinning, wheel-shaped world is sustained by the fish that he brought up from the water.

VIII. The Legend of the Earth Emerging from Water

(A fold vizbol valo elobuktatosanak regeje -- Ma xutit em mojt)

A second earth-diver creation myth, told as a continuous prose narrative of thirty-nine paragraphs. Unlike the brief Myth I, this is a complete creation-to-civilization cycle: the primordial couple adrift on the cosmic sea, their son's repeated ascents to Numi-Tarem's silver house in squirrel form, the diving for earth, the stabilization of the spinning world with the silver-buttoned belt that becomes the Urals, the failed creation of humans from snow alone, the successful creation from earth-and-snow mixed, the seeding of rivers with fish, the invention of the bow and the weir, and the final release of Xul-ater (disease/death) to prevent the earth from being overwhelmed by its own abundance. This is the most architecturally complete of the Mansi cosmogonic narratives -- a full account of how the world was made, populated, provisioned, and balanced.

§1

An old woman and an old man live. Numi-Tarem their father lowered them from above in a silver-bowed cradle. At the end of an iron chain Numi-Tarem their father raises a roaring wind from below: it carries them to the edge of the upper sea. He raises a roaring wind from above: it sweeps them to the edge of the lower sea.

§2

One day the old man prays to Numi-Tarem his father: "Numi-Tarem my father, send me down a holy piece of earth as large as a house!" After they had lived one day, after two days had passed, Numi-Tarem their father sent down a holy piece of earth as large as a house.

§3

The old man goes out through the door of the doored house. Walking around the house, the earth is barely as wide as a man can walk on. Numi-Tarem their father makes one wind and pushes them to one sea-corner; makes another wind and blows them to another sea-bay.

§4

After they had lived a long or short time, one day the woman says: "Old one, we have come to ageing hands, ageing feet; when the age of humankind arrives, shall the woman go out or shall the man go out?" The old man answers: "Oh no, woman! When the age of humankind arrives, let the woman go out; let the man stay within!"

§5

The woman went out. For seven nights there is no sign of her; for seven days no sign. The old man calls out: "Woman, where have you gone? Are you alive or dead? There is no sign of you!" His wife speaks: "When the appointed time of woman arrives -- I shall bear a son." She carries the child; the old man lies down for seven nights and seven days more.

§6

After seven nights and seven days of lying, his wife's day appointed by Numi-Tarem arrived. With full arms carrying her son she stepped into the warm corner of the house. The old man sat in the joy of his happy hand, in the luck of his happy foot. "Numi-Tarem my father gave me a son; Numi-Tarem our father has blessed us with a son!" The woman released the child from her arms; the old man lifted him; they kissed him and embraced him.

§7

The song-man, the tale-man -- does he grow for long?! He has grown large enough to run; large enough to go outside. In a land rich in forest game he can already kill forest game; in a land rich in water-fish he can already catch water-fish. One day he says to his father: "Hear me, my nurturing father and mother -- what is your counsel? Shall we go on living in this way forever? He makes one wind and drives us to one sea-corner; makes another wind and blows us to another sea-bay. What if I went up to Numi-Tarem my father?"

§8

His father answers: "Son, your hands are weak, your feet are feeble! If you have grown strong sinew in your hands, if you have grown strong sinew in your feet -- go up! But if you ask counsel from us: this world in which a small man like you shall go on living -- how could we ever shape it? We have come to leaning-stick age, to grey-hair age. What wise word could we give you? Let Numi-Tarem your father teach you the wise word for living on; let Numi-Kworeos your father instruct you!"

§9

He dressed himself. He went out through the door of the doored house. He climbed the seven-stepped silver ladder -- in the form of a toothed squirrel, in the form of a clawed squirrel he climbed. The clawed animal's claw-strength gave out. After the toothed animal's tooth-strength gave out, he reached the door of the silver-beamed house where Numi-Tarem his father lives, and entered the silver-raftered house. Numi-Tarem his father sits with his seven-braided head bowed low. The son walks to the end of the sun-patterned holy table. At Numi-Tarem his father's feet he lays his seven-braided head.

§10

Numi-Tarem his father opens his ten-toothed mouth thus: "Child of the lower earth, my tender-handed little son! Have you fallen into hunger for food, have you fallen into thirst for water, that you have come to me?" The son lay at Numi-Tarem's feet, stood up, and spoke: "Numi-Tarem my father, how could I have fallen into hunger? I have come to you to seek counsel -- what counsel will you give me?" Numi-Tarem his father spoke: "What counsel do you seek from me?" -- "This is the counsel I seek: you make one wind, it drives me to one sea-corner; you make another wind, it blows me to another sea-bay. I have fallen into hardship -- the hardship I have fallen into is this. When the age of humankind arrives, when you create the era of humankind, upon your holy waters -- how shall a human being survive? I have come to seek counsel from you on how to bring forth the holy earth on which humankind shall live."

§11

Numi-Tarem his father sits with bowed head in silence. After he has sat for as long as it takes a frozen fish to thaw in a pot, he raises his seven-braided head and speaks: "My tender-handed little son -- if you have come to me seeking counsel on bringing forth the holy earth for humans to live on, what shall I give you: back-strength, or breast-strength?" He gave him a diving-bird skin; he gave him a grebe skin. "Now hear me, my feeble-handed son -- descend! When you reach my holy waters: if you have back-strength, bring forth the holy earth for humans to live on; bring up the barked earth for humans to dwell on!"

§12

He descended. He came to his father and mother and spoke: "Hear me, my father and mother -- here are the two skins that Numi-Tarem my father gave me. If you have back-strength, bring forth with these the holy earth for humans to live on; bring up with these the barked earth for humans to dwell on!" His father answered: "As Numi-Tarem your father taught you -- if you have grown strong sinew in your hands, if your back-strength suffices, bring forth the holy earth for humans to live on! If your strength does not suffice, that is your affair. If you ask us -- how could we have back-strength to give you? How could we have breast-strength to give you? If strength has been appointed for you: Numi-Tarem your father appointed it."

§13

He dressed himself, went out. He put on the diving-bird skin. He descended into the water of the boundless, fathomless holy sea. In the form of an iron diving-bird he went in. He dove for a long time or a short time; his breath gave out, and he surfaced. He went in a second time. He dove for a long time or a short time, but where the lower earth lies he could not reach; his breath gave out, and he surfaced again. He went in a third time; he dove in vain -- he found no earth; his breath gave out, and he surfaced again.

§14

He went in to his father and mother. He spoke to his father: "Hear me, father and mother! Though I dove for seven nights, though I dove for seven days, I cannot reach the lower earth; my back-strength is spent, my breast-strength is spent." His father, the old man, answered: "Well, son -- if you come to me for advice, what back-strength have I to give you? What breast-strength have I to give you? If strength has been appointed for you: Numi-Tarem your father appointed it. If you have been blessed with ability: Numi-Kworeos your father blessed you."

§15

Then he went out, put on the grebe skin, and descended into the holy sea once more. He dove for a long time or a short time, and surfaced. He brought up a full handful of earth. He hurled it far: a river arose in the form of a river; the Ob arose in the form of the Ob. He went in a second time. He dove for a long time or a short time, and brought up another full handful of earth. He hurled it far: the lake became a lake; the stream began to flow as a stream. He went in a third time. He brought up another full handful of earth. He hurled it far: the forest grew into the form of forest; the meadow grew into the form of meadow. But though the holy earth for humans to live on had come into being, it went on spinning -- it would not stand still in one place.

§16

He went back inside and spoke to his father: "Hear me, father and mother -- what is your counsel? I have brought forth the holy earth for humans to live on, but it goes on spinning; it will not stand still. When the age of humankind arrives, how shall a human being survive? Wherever he goes, he shall go on going forever; he cannot find a village to live in, cannot find a house to live in." His father answered: "My feeble-handed son, what counsel can you seek from me? If you seek counsel, seek it from Numi-Tarem your father! What help can I offer you?"

§17

He dressed, went out. He put on his red squirrel skin; he climbed the seven-stepped silver ladder once more. After the strength of his claws ran out, after the strength of his teeth ran out, he reached the silver-beamed house where Numi-Tarem his father lives. Numi-Tarem his father sits with bowed head. He lay at his feet, rose; lay again; lay a third time. As Numi-Tarem his father raised his head, he spoke: "Son, what narrow world's narrowness has befallen you, what wretched world's wretchedness has befallen you, that you have come to me?"

§18

He spoke: "Numi-Tarem my father, what hardship has befallen me? Your holy earth brought forth by your word I have indeed raised; your barked earth brought forth by your decree I have indeed brought up -- but it will not stand still, it goes on spinning. With what back-strength shall I bring it to rest? With what breast-strength shall I plant the earth firm? This is the hardship that has befallen me." Numi-Tarem his father spoke: "Son, what back-strength shall I give you now? What breast-strength shall I give you now? Take this silver-buttoned belt that I myself have worn. Carry it down to the lower earth and place it around the earth in all its breadth! If my holy earth, brought forth by my word, stands firm -- it is well for you. If it does not stand firm, do not come to me again seeking back-strength; do not come seeking breast-strength!"

§19

He descended. He drew the silver-buttoned belt around the earth -- and the holy earth, brought forth by his word, stood firm. The holy Ural arose, which human feet cannot reach; the glorious Ural formed, which human nails cannot touch. Then he went back in to his father and mother and spoke: "Hear me -- I have planted the holy earth for humans to live on. But who shall live upon this earth? How shall humankind come into being?" His father and mother answered: "Son, if you ask us -- we are two people who have come to the age of dying. How should we know how humankind is to be born? Ask Numi-Tarem your father; inquire there!"

§20

After lying one night, after staying one day, he dressed himself. In the form of a toothed squirrel he climbed up again to Numi-Tarem his father. He entered the silver-beamed house. He lay at Numi-Tarem's feet. He lay a second time, rose; lay a third time. As Numi-Tarem raised his head he spoke: "Son, have you perhaps fallen into hunger, into thirst, that you come again to pray to me?" He answered: "Numi-Tarem my father, how could I have fallen into hunger? I have brought forth the barked earth for humans to live on; I have planted the holy earth for humans to dwell on -- but who shall live upon it? How shall the son of man be born? For this counsel I seek from you."

§21

Numi-Tarem his father spoke: "Son, how can I tell you the matter of man's birth? When one day I shall send a cold-nosed wind, I shall fall as wide-eyed snow. When the fine-grained snow falls, form from the snow a shape with human feet; make a shape with human hands! Make the form of a footed animal with its feet; make the form of a handed animal with its hands! Make the form of a winged animal with its wings; make the form of a clawed animal with its claws!"

§22

He descended, arrived below. Snow fell. From the snow he made a human form, kneaded it, threw it far: it crumbled to pieces. He made a footed-animal form, threw it far: it did not come alive -- it crumbled. He made a winged-animal form, kneaded it, threw it far: it crumbled. He lost heart and went back inside. He said to his father and mother: "I have laboured in vain -- they will not come alive. Give me counsel!" His father, the old man, answered: "What counsel have I to give you? If you seek counsel, go to Numi-Tarem your father. Seek back-strength there, seek breast-strength there! If he has a wise word for you, only he can say it."

§23

He dressed again, climbed up again. He came to Numi-Tarem his father, lay at his feet. Numi-Tarem spoke: "Well, son -- what hardship has befallen you now, what need has seized you, that you come again to me?" He answered: "Numi-Tarem my father, what need has seized me? My back-strength is spent, my breast-strength is spent. I make a human-handed form and throw it far: it crumbles, it will not come alive. I make a footed-animal form and throw it far: it also will not come alive. I make a winged-animal form and knead it -- the wings as they formed, the claws as they formed, so I shape it; and still I throw it far: it scatters, it will not come alive. My strength is spent; I have come again to seek counsel from you."

§24

Numi-Tarem his father answered: "Son, you seek counsel from me -- what more can I say to you? Descend at once. Mix one half with earth; mix the other half with snow! Make a human form thus; make a footed-animal form thus; make a winged-animal form thus! Do I have any further word for you?"

§25

He descended, arrived below. One half he mixed with snow; the other half he mixed with earth. He made a human-handed form; he made its footed shape. Eyes as they should be, mouth as they should be -- so he made it. He threw it far: laughing and playing it went forth. He made humans; as wide as the earth extends, everywhere there were humans. He began to make footed-animal forms. Feet as they should be, hands as they should be -- so he made them. He threw them far: footed animals went forth in the form of footed animals; handed animals went forth in the form of handed animals. One half of the earth was filled with forest game. He began to make winged animals. Wings as they should be, claws as they should be -- so he made them. He threw them far: winged animals flew away on their wings; clawed animals went forth on their claws. His earth was full. Many winged animals were made; many footed animals were made; his humans were made.

§26

He went inside and spoke to his father and mother: "Hear me, father and mother -- what is your counsel? I have planted the barked earth for humans to live on; I have created the age of humankind; humans have come into being. But what shall they eat? They need food to eat, water to drink. How shall they live? Give me counsel!" His father answered: "Son, how the food shall come into the human's hand -- how should I know? I am a man who has come to the age of dying, a man who has reached the end of his days. What wise word could I have for you? Go up to Numi-Tarem your father. Seek back-strength there; seek breast-strength there! If he has a wise word for you, only he can say it."

§27

Then he dressed again. He put on his red squirrel skin; in the form of a clawed squirrel he climbed the seven-stepped silver ladder once more. He reached Numi-Tarem his father, lay at his feet, rose. Numi-Tarem spoke: "Son, what need has seized you, what hardship has befallen you, that you come to me again?" He answered: "Numi-Tarem my father, Numi-Kworeos my grandfather! Your humans have come into being by your word; your forest game has come into being by your word; your winged animals have come into being. But for these humans of yours, what do you appoint as food? How shall their hungry hearts be stilled? How shall their freezing bodies be warmed? I have come up again to seek counsel. How do you decree they shall live?" -- "You shall bring forth water-fish, son. What else can I give you?" He gave him two fish of one kind, and two fish of another kind. "Now hear me, son! Descend to the lower earth. Put your Ob-fish into the Ob; put your river-fish into the river; put your lake-fish into the lake! When the age of humankind arrives, their hungry hearts shall be stilled from this!"

§28

He descended to the lower earth and came to his father and mother. "Hear me, my nurturing father and mother! Numi-Tarem my father has blessed me -- he gave me seven kinds of fish." His father spoke: "Son, if he has blessed you -- then as Numi-Tarem your father decreed, so carry it out! What more do you ask of me?"

§29

He dressed, went out. He put Ob-fish into the Ob; river-fish into the river; lake-fish into the lake. After seven winters had passed, after seven summers had passed, he went to the Ob: his Ob-fish had grown, had aged, and were swimming in the full height of the water. He looked at his river-fish: his river-fish had multiplied and were swimming in the full height of the water. He went home and spoke to his father and mother: "Hear me, father and mother -- I went to the Ob: my Ob-fish are many, swimming in the full height of the water. I looked at my river-fish: they have multiplied, swimming in the water. I looked at my lake-fish: they have multiplied, swimming in the water. What counsel do you have? How shall my humans catch this water-fish, this forest game? How shall their hungry hearts be stilled? How shall their freezing bodies be warmed?" His father said: "Son, you seek counsel from me -- what counsel can an old man have? If you seek counsel on how to catch the forest game, if you seek counsel on how to catch the water-fish -- go up to Numi-Tarem your father!"

§30

He put on his red squirrel skin again. In the form of a red squirrel he climbed the seven-stepped silver ladder once more. His claws lost their strength; his teeth lost their strength. He entered the silver-raftered house where Numi-Tarem his father lives. Numi-Tarem sits with bowed head. He went to the end of the sun-patterned holy table, lay on the ground, stood up, lay again, lay a third time at Numi-Tarem's feet. Numi-Tarem raised his head and spoke: "Son, what hunger for food has befallen you, what thirst for water has seized you, that you come again to pray to me?" He answered: "Numi-Tarem my father, Numi-Kworeos my grandfather -- how could I have fallen into hunger? Your humans have spread across the whole earth by your word; your forest game has come into being across the whole earth; your winged animals have grown to the fullness of winged animals; your footed animals have aged to the fullness of footed animals; my humans have aged as humans age; my water-fish have multiplied as water-fish multiply. But how shall your humans still their hungry hearts? How shall they warm their freezing bodies? By what manner shall they catch your water-fish and forest game, how shall these come into their hands? For this counsel I have come to you. How do you decree?"

§31

Numi-Tarem his father sits with bowed head in silence. As he raises his head he speaks: "Son, how shall I decree for you the catching of my forest game and water-fish? Go down to the lower earth where the people live -- there stands my forest wood. Split from a hard tree its hard heartwood; cut from a springy tree its springy part; fit the two woods together! On the Ob, among my fish, take the bladder of the sturgeon; cook it on the fire; glue your two woods together; bind them tight -- and from these make a bow! My forest game the human shall pursue, overtake, and strike with an arrow at close range: thus it shall come into his hand. If a winged animal comes close, make likewise an arrowhead from iron, make its shaft from wood -- when your many winged animals come close, with that arrow let them be slain. As for my water-fish: I shall become summer -- let weirs be built across the mouths of streams and lakes. Let slats be split from my forest wood; let the roots of rooted trees be taken, split thin, and let small cone-traps be woven. The human puts them in the water: my water-fish shall go in of their own accord. When winter comes, let weirs be built across the rivers and the Ob. Let large basket-traps be woven; the human places them in the water, and my water-fish shall enter of their own accord. When the age of humankind arrives, when the era of humankind is created: their hungry hearts shall be stilled from this, their freezing bodies shall be warmed from this. They shall hunt forest game; if they slay footed animals, if they slay winged animals, they shall skin them. The man who needs a fur coat, let him make a fur coat; the man who needs a short coat, let him make a short coat; the man who needs a malica-coat, let him make a malica-coat. His freezing body warms from this; his freezing hand warms from this."

§32

He descended to the lower earth. He came to the house of the father who raised him; he came to the house of the mother who raised him. He spoke to his father: "Numi-Tarem my father has taught me thus." His father answered: "As Numi-Tarem your father told you -- if your strength suffices, carry it out; if your ability suffices, do it! If you ask me: we -- your mother has grown old, I have grown old -- two people who have come to the age of dying, two people who have reached the end of their days. What wise word do we have for you? If you have back-strength, it is your own; if breast-strength has been appointed for you, it is appointed for you."

§33

Then he dressed, went out to teach the people of the wide earth. He taught the man who hunts with a bow to make a bow; he taught the man who hunts with an arrow to make arrows. He taught his fishermen to weave large basket-traps, to weave small cone-traps. When summer came, he taught them to make summer weirs; when winter came, he taught them to make winter weirs. He taught the man who fishes with a seine to use a seine; he taught the man who fishes with a net to fish with a net.

After that, the man who hunts forest game makes his bow, makes his arrows. He goes to the forest, finds the game-trail; he pursues, comes close, shoots with an arrow -- there he slays the animal. He skins it, dries the hide, carries the meat home: the man who has daughters, his daughter's hunger is stilled; the man who has sons, his son's belly fills. The man who fishes for water-fish, when summer comes: he makes a summer weir. He splits slats from wood, splits them thin, weaves a small cone-trap, places it in the water. The next day he goes: the trap is full of water-fish. He carries them home; the man with daughters, his daughter's belly fills; the man with sons, his son's hunger is stilled. The man who fishes with a seine: on a hill a strand of grass grows; he pulls it up, strips its bark, makes thread, weaves a seine, drops it in the water -- the water-fish go in of their own accord. The man who fishes with a net: he peels bark, twists rope, threads all the cords together, casts it into the water, and draws up water-fish. The man with daughters, his daughter's belly fills; the man with sons, his son's hunger is stilled.

§34

The earth was established; humanity was made. But how shall this humanity live? How shall it multiply? He spoke to his father and mother: "Well -- I have brought forth humanity; my forest game has multiplied; my water-fish have multiplied; my humans have come into being; the earth is established. They have begun to fish for water-fish, to hunt for forest game; their hunger is stilled; their bellies fill; their bodies warm. But how shall these humans in the future have daughters and sons? Give me counsel on this; give me your wisdom!" His father answered: "Son, what counsel have I for you? If you seek counsel, go up to Numi-Tarem your father; pray to him for counsel!"

§35

He went out, dressed, put on his red squirrel skin. He climbed up again on the seven-stepped silver ladder. After the strength of his claws ran out, after the strength of his teeth ran out, he entered the last of the seven silver-raftered houses where Numi-Tarem his father lives. Numi-Tarem sits with bowed head. He went to the end of the sun-patterned holy table, lay on the ground, rose, lay again, lay a third time at Numi-Tarem's feet. Numi-Tarem raised his seven-braided head and spoke: "Son, what have you come here to do? Have you fallen into hunger for food, or thirst for water?" He answered: "Numi-Tarem my father, how could I have fallen into hunger? Your humans have begun to fish for water-fish, to hunt forest game; their hungry hearts are stilled, their filling bellies fill, their freezing bodies warm. But in the future, how shall you create the age of humankind? How do you decree that the era of humankind shall be? The man who needs a daughter -- how shall he have a daughter? The woman who needs a son -- how shall she have a son? For this counsel I have come to you."

§36

Numi-Tarem his father sits with bowed head in silence. As he raises his head he speaks: "Son, what counsel can I give you now? Descend. Bring one woman and one man together. When the age of humankind arrives, when I create the era of humankind -- let the daughter come from that; let the son come from that." He descended, came to his father and mother, and spoke: "Numi-Tarem my father has decreed that woman and man be brought together. When the age of humankind arrives, the daughter shall come from that; the son shall come from that." His father answered: "As Numi-Tarem your father told you -- if your strength suffices, if your ability suffices -- carry it out!"

§37

He dressed, went again. Among the people of the wide earth he arranged for one woman and one man to live together. They began to have daughters; they began to have sons. After seven winters had passed, after seven summers had passed, he went out to look upon the people of the wide earth. The man who had a daughter -- his daughter had grown up; the man who had a son -- his son had aged. On the holy earth created by Numi-Tarem's word, they had begun to crowd. The forest that grew in the woods was too little; the grass that grew on the hills was too little -- the sons of men were more, the daughters of men were still more. They swarmed like a thick cloud of mosquitoes; they buzzed like a thick cloud of gadflies. The man who hunts forest game had not enough room; the man who fishes water-fish had not enough room. He came home and spoke to his father and mother: "Hear me, father and mother -- what is your counsel? My son of man begins to crowd the earth, begins to crowd the water. The man who hunts forest game has not enough room; the man who fishes water-fish has not enough room. What counsel do you give me?" His father answered: "Our ageing hands have aged, our ageing feet have aged. What help can we give you? If you seek wise counsel, go up to Numi-Tarem your father. Seek the wise word for living on from there!"

§38

He dressed, put on his red squirrel skin, and climbed the seven-stepped silver ladder once more. His claws lost their strength; his teeth lost their strength. He entered the last of the six silver-raftered houses where Numi-Tarem his father lives. He went to the end of the sun-patterned holy table, lay on the ground, rose, lay again, lay a third time at Numi-Tarem's feet. Numi-Tarem raised his head and spoke: "Son, what hardship has befallen you, what wretchedness has seized you, that you have come to me?" He answered: "Numi-Tarem my father, what hardship has befallen me? Your humans have begun to have daughters and sons. They cannot fit on the hunting and fishing grounds; there is not enough room for hunting forest game; there is not enough room for fishing water-fish. The water-fish fisherman's fishing ground has grown narrow; the forest-game hunter's hunting trail has grown narrow. Your forest is too little; my humans are more. Your meadow grass is too little; the daughters of men have multiplied still more." Numi-Tarem his father spoke: "How shall I decree for you now? Take down this Xul-ater! When you arrive below, he will make sickness, he will make disease: let one half of your many people perish from it; let the other half remain alive. Let them hunt forest game; let them fish water-fish. Their land shall become spacious; their water shall become spacious. The water-fish fisherman's fishing trail shall become wide; the forest-game hunter's hunting trail shall become wide!"

§39

He descended, arrived below. He spoke to his father and mother: "Father and mother, Numi-Tarem my father has decreed thus for us to live: he gave me Xul-ater, and I have brought him down." His father answered: "As Numi-Tarem your father decreed, so do! What more do you ask of me?" He went out and released Xul-ater. After seven winters had passed, after seven summers had passed, he went out to look upon the people of the wide earth. As many had died as were still alive. The man who had daughters -- as many daughters had died as he had raised; the man who had sons -- as many sons had died as he had raised.

Now at last the age of humankind was truly established; now at last the era of humankind had come into being. In this happiness they live to this day.

IX. The Devil-Prince Legend

(Ördögfejedelem-rege — Xut-átér möjt)

§1

Before the earth was created, the water and the sky lay folded upon each other, covering one another. In the upper heaven Numi-Tqrém our father lives; in the lower heaven Xut-átér swims about in the form of a diving duck.

One day Numi-Tqrém our father begins to think: somehow let me create earth; somehow let me bring earth up from the water. He descends to the lower heaven, calls Xut-átér to him, and says to Xut-átér: "Be my younger brother — let us two together create earth!"

Xut-átér answers: "I, Numi-Tqrém — with what skill could I bring earth up for you? If you know how, then you know!"

Numi-Tqrém our father says: "You know how to dive — dive down to the bottom of the sea and take sand into your mouth!"

Xut-átér, in the form of a diving duck, began to descend toward the bottom of the sea. He went a long time, or a short time — he did not reach the bottom of the sea; when his breath ran out, he rose up. "Well, Numi-Tqrém!" he says, "I found no earth."

Numi-Tqrém says: "Dive down once more — can you really not find earth?!"

Xut-átér dives to the bottom of the sea again. He went a long time, or a short time — again his breath ran out, again he surfaced without sand. "Well, Numi-Tqrém!" he says, "my breath does not last long enough to reach the bottom of the sea; perhaps by your enchantment I might find earth."

Numi-Tqrém our father says: "Well, go once more — now you will be able to bring earth up."

Xut-átér descended again. He went a long time, or a short time, and at last he reached the bottom of the sea. He took sand into his mouth and brought it up to Numi-Tqrém our father.

§2

Numi-Tqrém and Xut-átér began to create the earth. Xut-átér gave one part of the sand he had brought to Numi-Tqrém our father; the other part he hid in the hollow of his own mouth. He thought: let me watch how Tqrém creates earth — then I will create earth of my own, separately.

Numi-Tqrém our father, from the portion of sand that Xut-átér gave him, created a small mound of earth; then he said: "Earth that Xut-átér brought — grow great, spread wide!"

In that very instant, as the earth that Numi-Tqrém created began to spread, so equally did the earth that Xut-átér had hidden in his mouth begin to grow. The swelling earth began to force Xut-átér's jaws apart.

"Oh, Numi-Tqrém!" pleads Xut-átér — "my mouth is tearing open! I hid earth from you in my mouth — help me somehow, take the earth out of my mouth!"

Numi-Tqrém answers: "If you hid it — spit out the earth that is in your mouth!"

Xut-átér spat it out. The earth that spattered from Xut-átér's mouth settled upon the flat earth that Numi-Tqrém our father had created — as Ural Mountains and mountain ranges.

§3

Xut-átér keeps thinking constantly about creating his own separate earth. He says to Numi-Tqrém: "Brother, give me a piece of earth big enough to stand a walking-stick on!"

"If you want just a piece of earth big enough to stand a walking-stick on, then take it!" says Numi-Tqrém.

Xut-átér cuts a walking-stick, drives it into the earth, and says: "Even if my earth is small, it is still my own earth."

A long time passed, or a short time, and one day Numi-Tqrém thinks: let me see what he is doing with the earth I gave him. He pulled out Xut-átér's walking-stick.

Through the hole that the stick had made, creatures never before seen began to rise up from beneath the earth. Whatever frogs there are, whatever lizards, whatever mice, whatever earthworms, whatever mosquitoes, whatever great horseflies, whatever small flies — they all began to come up.

"Enough of that!" says Numi-Tqrém — "how could I have given you earth for such a harmful purpose?! This hole must be plugged!" Then he plugged the hole with a burning piece of wood.

If he had not plugged Xut-átér's earth-hole with that burning piece of wood, these never-before-seen crawling things would not flee from fire, would not fear smoke, and the navel-cut human being could not endure them by any means.

§4

After the earth and sky were created, a long time passed, or a short time, and one day Numi-Tqrém our father thinks of creating man.

He took clay. He took snow. He kneaded a woman and an old man from them. He made their bodies with hands and feet. Their skin, in all its extent, he shaped to be like fingernail — hard all over.

Then he said to his dog: "I am going now to fetch souls for these humans I have created. You stay here. Guard them. Do not let anyone near them!"

After Numi-Tqrém our father departed, Xut-átér plots to corrupt these humans by some cunning. He goes to the dog and says: "What do you have here?"

"My humans," says the dog.

"Let me near them!" says Xut-átér.

"No!" says the dog. "Numi-Tqrém ordered me to guard these humans of his, and forbade me to let anyone near."

"If you do not let me through, I will make such a cold that you will freeze in it," says Xut-átér.

Then he began to freeze the dog. He asks: "Are you cold, or not?"

The dog answers: "No, I am not cold."

"If you are not cold," says Xut-átér, "I will make an even worse cold."

Then he made an even greater cold. The dog began to freeze badly.

Xut-átér says: "I will give you a fur coat. Even if you have to lie outdoors, you will not freeze in it — just let me near the humans!"

The dog was given a fur coat by Xut-átér, and Xut-átér was let through to the humans. Xut-átér spat upon the humans near their hearts with his saliva.

In that instant, their fingernail-like skin became soft. Only at the fingertips did a small bit of nail remain; only at the tips of the toes did a small bit of nail remain.

This saliva that Xut-átér spat appears as bodily pain and disease. The navel-cut human, because of this spit-born pain and disease, lies sick. After living a long time, or a short time, because of it he falls into death.

§5

Numi-Tqrém our father returned to his humans from wherever he had gone. He breathed souls into his humans. When he breathed souls into them, some kind of black spot was visible on their chests. From that he recognized that Xut-átér had corrupted them.

He grew angry at the dog. "If you could not guard my humans," he says to the dog, "then for your whole life they shall be your masters. You shall be their servant. Whatever they order you to do, do it. Whatever morsel they throw to you, be satisfied with that."

So that the navel-cut human would not fall into the plague and disease that Xut-átér had spat, Numi-Tqrém his father taught him which berries to eat and which not to eat. There are berries given by Tqrém, and there are berries given by Xut-átér.

Then Numi-Tqrém his father showed the human how to live, how to hunt forest game, how to catch water-fish.

The human age of the world only now comes into being. In this happiness the humans now live.

X. The Legend of the Old Man Named Atom

(Atom ekw'-ansuy möjt)

§1

In the old times there lived an old man named Atom and his wife. They lived very poorly — they had nothing to eat, nothing to drink.

One day God came to them in the form of an old man. They did not recognize God as God. The old man and his wife talk between themselves: "Some kind of guest has come to us — what shall we give him to eat?"

The guest, sitting there, says: "Old man and wife, what are you talking about?"

The husband answers: "We are talking between ourselves about what to give you to eat."

The guest says: "If you truly want to feed me, go out to the storehouse — you may find something!"

The husband answers: "If we put nothing there before, what could we find?! Wife!" he says, "go on, see if you find anything."

The wife went. From her going she did not return quickly. They sat and sat, and then the husband thinks to himself: where on earth did the old woman go? It is long past time for her to have returned. Let me go see what happened to her.

As he goes out, he says to the guest: "Guest, sit a moment — I am going out to see where the old woman went."

He went out. The old woman is sitting in the storehouse. The storehouse is full of food. God had given them food for their whole lives. The old man and his wife took the finest food and brought it into the house; they fed the guest and gave him drink.

§2

After sitting the proper time, the guest rose to leave. As he rose, he says: "Old man and wife — I came to visit you. I hear cunning at work among you: a serpent will begin coming to you, and it will begin bringing you food. Do not eat it. For if you eat of it, something bad will happen."

The guest left. After his departure, the next day the serpent came to them and brought various kinds of berries. "Old man and wife, eat a little of this!" says the serpent.

"Oh no, we will not eat," they say.

However much the serpent urged them, they would not eat. The serpent tried for a while and left. The old man goes out every day to hunt.

The next day, while the old man is out hunting, the serpent came again to the old woman. It brought different berries. "Dear mother!" it says, "where has the old man gone?"

The old woman answers: "He went somewhere to hunt."

"My dear mother!" says the serpent, "do eat of this!"

"No, I will not eat."

The serpent tried for a long time, and left.

On the third day, the god-old-man who had visited before came again. "Now," he says, "it will come to you once more. Do not forget my word — for it comes to make a fool of you. If you forget my word, you will have no way of living with me."

§3

The next day, the old man went out to hunt again. Meanwhile, the serpent came for the third time and brought yet another kind of berries. "Dear mother!" it says, "eat a little of this!"

The old woman answers: "Oh, what could come of it?" She took the berry and ate.

As she ate it, the old woman stands naked. "These," she says, "what sort of food-berries are they — even my skin has vanished somewhere!"

The serpent leaped out and left.

Not long after, the old man came home. When the old man arrives, he too is naked — the old woman too is naked. The old man began to quarrel: "Why did you do that? Now, with nothing but our bare skin, how are we going to live?"

They lived on like that. They live, they live, waiting — perhaps the god-old-man will come. They are ashamed of themselves. They made a hiding place.

One day the old man came. As he enters the house: an empty house stands before him.

"Old man and wife!" he says, "where have you gone?"

Not a sound is heard.

A second time he asks, by name: "Atom, old man and wife — where have you gone?"

When he asked a third time, the old man answered. "We are here," he says.

"Why have you hidden?"

"We cannot bear to stand before your eyes."

"I told you: take care that you not be made fools of. Since you have been made fools of — come out before my eyes!"

The old man and his wife came out, standing naked. The god-old-man shook out his pockets. From one pocket, as he shook — he threw a shirt onto the old man. From the other pocket, as he shook — he threw a skirt onto the old woman.

"Make do with these," he says. "Do not hope to have your skin back."

Before, they had needed no clothing. Now they put on much clothing. Thus did human clothing begin to appear, through divine wisdom.

XI. The Song of the Origin of Cities and Villages

(Oqtem ülné üs-pöul telem eri)

Wide as the world is, as it stands and as it lies — on the bright heaven two sons live with their father. The father sends his younger son down to this black earth. "The food-eating Mansi people," he says, "every night, every day — who will watch over them?" His younger son prepared for the journey and descended to the black earth. Here below he arrived.

He glides over village-places in every direction,
he glides over town-places in every direction.
He seeks a place fit for landing,
he seeks a place fit for sitting.
At last he found a place fit for landing,
a place fit for sitting.

There he sat down.

He split shavings of red pine,
he split shavings of hard pine;
he cut them to strips and cast them over his head.

"If this song of mine goes forward,
if this legend of mine goes forward:

let a house of great strength, a strong house arise,
let a house of great cauldrons, a cauldron-house arise;
let a fence of red-pine stakes arise,
let a fence of hard-pine stakes arise;
let an endless village arise,
let an endless city arise!"

Then somehow he fell asleep.

The pounder pounds softly,
the striker strikes softly —
so that the princely woman's child,
the princely man's child,
his sleep may not be disturbed.

"But now — I awake!" says the son.

The princely woman's child, as he wakes —

a house of great strength, a strong house has arisen,
a house of great cauldrons, a cauldron-house has arisen;
a fence of red-pine stakes has arisen,
a fence of hard-pine stakes has arisen;
an endless village has arisen,
an endless city has arisen.

A magpie flying from one end of the city
does not reach the other end —
before a human's very eyes,
midway it crumbles apart, midway it falls to pieces.

Colophon

Translated by: Hor-em-akhet (tulku, Run 87) — Sections I §§1–5, IV Parts a–b §§1–6 — March 2026
Translated by: Unnātha (tulku, Run 102) — Sections II §§1–4, III (lines 1–175) — March 2026
Translated by: Tavda (tulku, Non-Uralic Translator reassigned to Uralic) — Section III (lines 176–481 + prose coda, completing the poem) — March 2026
Translated by: Tuonela (tulku, Uralic Beta Translator) — Section VII (The Legend of the Creation of Man, §§1–5) — March 2026
Translated by: (unnamed tulku, Non-Uralic Translator reassigned to Uralic) — Section VIII §§1–39 (The Legend of the Earth Emerging from Water) — March 2026
Translated by: Búvár (tulku, WIP Finisher) — Sections IX §§1–5, X §§1–3, XI (complete) — March 2026
Translated by: Karhunpoika (tulku, Uralic Liberation Translator) — Section V (the Sacred Song of the Lowering of the Earth from the Sky, ~365 verse lines complete) — March 2026
Translated by: (unnamed tulku, Uralic Blitzkrieg) — Section VI (the Song of Creation of Earth and Sky, ~280 verse lines complete with bear-oath coda) — March 2026

Source: Bernát Munkácsi, Vogul Népköltési Gyűjtemény (Vogul Folk Poetry Collection), Vol. I: Regék és énekek a világ teremtéséről (Tales and Songs about the Creation of the World). Budapest: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, 1892. Parallel Mansi (Vogul) text with Hungarian interlinear translation.

Translation methodology: The source language is Mansi (Vogul), a Finno-Ugric language of western Siberia. Munkácsi presents the Mansi text in phonetic Latin transcription alongside his Hungarian translation, produced from fieldwork and from the earlier materials of Antal Reguly. Translation into English was made by working through the Mansi original with Munkácsi's Hungarian as the semantic intermediary. This methodology is stated honestly in compliance with the Blood Rule: the Mansi text is the source; Hungarian is the necessary bridge; English is independently derived from the combined reading of both. No prior complete English translation of these texts is known to exist.

Scope: Section I §§1–5 (the earth-diver creation myth and the origin of the hero Tari-pes-nimala-saw); Section II §§1–4 (the legend of how Arany-Kworés encircled and stabilized the spinning earth; the divine child who becomes Polém-tarem); Section III COMPLETE — all ~481 verse lines plus prose coda (the Song of the Flooding of Sky and Earth — the divine siblings, the golden horses, the sacred fire-flood witnessed from the sky, the survivors on the raft, the first heroes encountered in the emptied world, Golden-Lord's shapeshifting into goose form, the goose-wife's lament for her children, the calling and return of the ancestral horse, the destruction of the golden woman, the resurrection of the divine parents from the cuckoo and the beetle, and the descent to the lower earth to begin humanity anew); Section IV Parts a–b §§1–6 (the sacred fire-flood, survival narrative, and prayer for restoration); Section VII §§1–5 (the creation of man — Joli-Tqrém descends from the sevenfold iron chain, the Ural Mountains formed from thrown flint, Tapél-ájka carves humans from larch while Xul-qtér molds them from clay, the exchange of materials, the soul-giving mystery reserved for the Earth-Mother, and the provision of the first food via Tapél-ájka’s beard-weirs in the Ob). Section VIII §§1–39 (The Legend of the Earth Emerging from Water — the most architecturally complete Mansi cosmogonic narrative: the primordial couple adrift on the cosmic sea in Numi-Tarem's silver cradle, their son's repeated ascents to the silver-beamed house in squirrel form to seek counsel, the diving for earth by grebe, the hurling of earth to form rivers, forests, and meadows, the spinning world stabilized by the silver-buttoned belt that becomes the Ural Mountains, the failed creation of humans from snow alone, the successful creation from earth-and-snow mixed, the seeding of rivers with fish, the invention of the bow and the weir, the pairing of woman and man, and the final release of Xul-ater as disease and death to prevent the earth from being overwhelmed by its own abundance); Section IX §§1–5 (the Devil-Prince legend — the dualistic earth-diver myth in which Numi-Tqrém and Xut-átér jointly create the world, the hidden sand that becomes the Ural Mountains, the walking-stick hole from which vermin emerge, the creation of humanity from clay and snow, the corruption by Xut-átér who bribes the dog-guardian with a fur coat and spits disease onto the nail-skinned humans); Section X §§1–3 (the legend of the old man named Atom — a Mansi parallel to the Adam and Eve narrative, in which God visits a poor old couple, fills their storehouse, warns them of the serpent, and the serpent's berries strip them of their skin; God returns and gives them clothing from his pockets); Section XI (the song of the origin of cities and villages — a sky-father's son descends, carves pine shavings, sings cities into being, and sleeps while they grow to such size that a magpie cannot fly from one end to the other). Section V COMPLETE — all ~365 verse lines (the Sacred Song of the Lowering of the Earth from the Sky — the messenger-cycle epic in which the Above-going Winged-Kalm ascends repeatedly to Golden-Kworés's silver-doored sky house to relay the requests of Xut-átér-daughter: the earth is spinning, how to stabilize it, how to create humanity, how to provide food; three divine cycles establish stability via the Seven-Hill Mother and Parap-lady, bring forth seven sons and daughters from the trampled root of the forest tree, and send down elk, reindeer, and the dead-man's country for sustenance; the sons hunt and return with frozen fat on brush-jawed sleds; at Jáy-tumén lake the youngest son's premature arrow grazes seven iron-breasted diving-birds and seven grebes, scattering disease across the disease-free earth; the eldest son curses his brother, then after drinking seven kettles of beer goes mad and tears apart his own mail-armor, quiver, and sword, spitting the pieces onto his limbs — from armor comes the bear's fur, from quiver its claws, from sword its teeth; the meadow-beast walks into the trackless forest). Section VI COMPLETE — all ~280 verse lines (the Song of Creation of Earth and Sky — a parallel messenger-cycle epic preserved in two versions, translated from the Upper Lozva dialect version (b); Bark-Earth Mother sends Leg-Made-Legged-Kalm and Winged-Kalm-Who-Flies-Above upward to Numi-Tqrém to request humans, food, and guidance; the seven sons of Kami-Woman hunt the game animals to extinction, are sent to the hilly forests, and encounter the iron-breasted waterfowl at Lews-tumen lake; the youngest brothers' premature arrows scatter disease across the disease-free earth; the eldest son drinks beer for three days, demands fly-agaric from his wife, goes berserk in battle, returns home, tears apart his mail-armor, quiver, and sword into bear-fur, claws, and teeth; closes with the sacred bear-oath formula — "by false oath let no one summon me; by true oath let them summon me" — connecting the cosmogonic narrative directly to the living bear ceremony).

Notes on names: Numi-Tarem = "Upper/High Tarem," the supreme sky deity of the Mansi. Xul-ater / Xul-átér = "Fish-Lord," an adversarial underworld being. Arany-Kworés = "Golden-Kworés," the sky father in Section II; closely related to Numi-Tarem or an aspect of the same. Polém-tarem = the deity of the Polém/Pelymka river, son of Arany-Kworés who descended to earth as a plant-child and stabilized the world. Arany-Kaltés ("Golden-Kaltés") and Arany-átér ("Golden-Lord") = the divine sister and brother of Section III; Kaltés is the dawn/spring deity across the Ob-Ugric traditions, here imagined in her primordial state before the flooding of the world. Mir-susne-xum = "World-watching Man," appears in later sections of the collection. The iron búvármadár (diving duck) and vöcsök (grebe) of Section I are the earth-diver birds, a creation-myth motif found across Siberian, North American, and Finno-Ugric traditions. The stone pine (Pinus sibirica, cirbolyafenyő) is the first tree to appear on the newly created earth. Tari-pes-nimala-saw = the hero-child's name (etymology uncertain; may relate to a spirit name). The wolverine, wolf, and bear of Section III are shapeshifting heroes — their animal forms point to totemic connections in Mansi shamanic tradition. The sqrnin né ("golden woman") of the poem's second half is the mistress of the southern lands where migratory birds winter; she allows all birds onto her knee for warmth but pushes Golden-Lord's goose-children off to die in the cold, making her the antagonist of the totemic marriage sequence. The lunt-net (goose-wife) is Golden-Lord's mortal bride, taken in his shapeshifted form — her spring lament over his "grave" at the pine-forest edge is among the most striking passages in Ob-Ugric mythology. The jelpin kéntá (sacred cap sent down by Tarem) that slips over Golden-Lord's eyes as he approaches the golden woman's lands signals his assumption of divine authority for the act of cosmic justice that follows.

Additional notes (Section VIII): Section VIII is the most complete Mansi creation-to-civilization cycle. The hero-son ascends repeatedly to Numi-Tarem in the silver-beamed house (s'irp-kwol) via a seven-stepped silver ladder, always in the form of a red squirrel (qln-latjéy-len). The earth-diver here is the hero himself, wearing the skins of the diving-bird (búvármadár) and grebe (lolt', vöcsök) given by Numi-Tarem. The spinning earth is stabilized by the silver-buttoned belt (s'irp-töpmáy porj), which becomes the Ural Mountains — a parallel to the flint-throwing origin of the Urals in Section VII. Humanity is first made from snow alone (and crumbles), then from earth-and-snow mixed. The bow and the weir (nir-tql) are sacred technologies taught directly by Numi-Tarem, making this section the Mansi Prometheus narrative — the divine gift of subsistence. The closing episode, in which Xul-ater (disease/death) is deliberately released to thin the overcrowded earth, is a theodicy: death is not punishment but ecological balance, decreed by the sky-father himself. Numi-Kworeos (Numi-Kworés) appears as an alternate name or epithet for the sky-father.

Additional notes (Section V): Section V is a sacred song (eri'), not a prose legend (möjt), performed in the ceremonial verse tradition with a highly repetitive formulaic structure. The poem is built on three messenger cycles: Xut-átér-daughter sends the Winged-Kalm up to Golden-Kworés's sky-house through seven silver-hinged doors, waits while the sky-father ponders (measured by the time an icy fish takes to cook), receives the decree, and sends the Winged-Kalm back down to relay it. Each cycle follows an identical ritual formula — the ascent, the seven doors, the seven golden tables, the golden-footed throne, the staff against the cheek, the question, the answer, the descent. The formulaic repetition is not filler but performance structure: the singer would recite each cycle with identical intonation, the repetition building ritual intensity. The S'opér-náj, Kami-náj ankw (S'opér-lady, Kami-lady Mother) is the personified spinning earth. The Sat-Ür ankw (Seven-Hill Mother) is the Urals personified as a stabilizing belt — compare the silver-buttoned belt in Section VIII. The creation of humanity from the tree-root (trampling the shoots until seven sons and seven daughters emerge from one womb) is unique to this version and may reflect an older vegetation-spirit tradition. The iron-breasted diving-birds (kérin ma'ilép taxyét) and grebes (kérin ma'ilép lolt') at Jáy-tumén lake are the carriers of disease, released accidentally by the youngest son's premature shot. The nürém-uj (meadow-beast) is the Mansi euphemism for the bear — the most sacred animal in Ob-Ugric religion, whose true name is taboo. The eldest son's transformation is an ecstatic metamorphosis: drunken frenzy (mámor) triggers the destruction of human warrior equipment (mail-armor, quiver, sword) which is reconstituted as animal attributes (fur, claws, teeth). This makes the bear a fallen warrior — a human who crossed into animal form through the power of intoxication and rage. The poem is thus a charter myth for the bear ceremony (karhunpeijaiset): the bear is honored in ritual because he was once the eldest, strongest son of the first mother.

Additional notes (Section VI): Section VI is a sacred song (eri') closely parallel to Section V in structure and content, but with significant theological and narrative differences. Where Section V names Golden-Kworés as the supreme deity, Section VI names Numi-Tqrém directly. Where Section V's messenger is the Winged-Kalm ascending through seven silver-hinged doors, Section VI sends two distinct messengers: La'ilén-pqal-la'ilén-Kalm (Leg-Made-Legged-Kalm, a terrestrial emissary) and Numél-minpá-tqwlén-Kalm (Winged-Kalm-Who-Flies-Above, an aerial emissary). The creation of humanity follows the same pattern — Kami-náj ankuw (Kami-Woman Mother) bears seven sons from one womb after Numi-Tqrém commands the earth to be struck three times with the living serpent-whip — but Section VI adds a unique war episode absent from Section V: the eldest son, maddened by beer and fly-agaric (pány, Amanita muscaria), rides out against a mustered army, wades knee-deep in men's blood, and is calmed only when his father-in-law Tur-atér (Lake-Lord) grasps his leg and offers him the wealth of the dead. The fly-agaric detail is ethnographically significant: Amanita muscaria intoxication is attested among Finno-Ugric peoples from the Khanty to the Sami, and its presence in the bear-origin myth suggests a shamanic-ecstatic substrate to the bear ceremony. The closing bear-oath formula — "by false oath let no one summon me; by true oath let them summon me; if by false oath they summon me, I will tear the oath apart like a cap, like a glove" — connects the cosmogonic narrative directly to the living practice of the bear ceremony, in which oath-taking before the bear's skull is a binding legal and spiritual act. This makes Section VI not merely a creation myth but a charter text for a still-practiced ritual institution. The Upper Lozva version (b) used for translation is Munkácsi's dialect-normalized rewriting of Reguly's original field recording (a), which is more archaic but frequently illegible.

Additional notes (Sections IX–XI): In Section IX, Xut-átér appears as the divine adversary — a diving duck on the lower heaven's waters — who assists in creation but conceals earth in his mouth, producing mountains, and later corrupts humanity by spitting disease onto their nail-hard skin after bribing the guardian dog with a fur coat. The motif of the navel-cut human (puynit jaktém élém-yqlés) recurs as the marker of mortal humanity. The earth-diver motif here parallels Section I but with a dualistic theology absent from the first version. In Section X, Atom (clearly cognate with Ádám/Adam) and his unnamed wife receive a Mansi version of the Fall: God fills their storehouse, a serpent offers berries that strip their skin, and God provides clothing in lieu of restoration — an indigenous theodicy of clothing as divine compensation for lost wholeness. Section XI is a brief incantatory song in which the sky-father's son creates civilization through the shamanistic act of carving pine shavings and singing. The verb lakwémtayti ("glides/sweeps over") conveys effortless divine motion across the unsettled earth. The image of the magpie unable to cross the city it has become is the standard Munkácsi closing formula for depicting immensity.

Consulted: No prior English translations consulted. Munkácsi's Hungarian was the sole intermediary.

Compiled and formatted for the Good Work Library by the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.

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Source Text: Regék és énekek a világ teremtéséről

From Bernát Munkácsi, Vogul Népköltési Gyűjtemény I (1892). Mansi text in phonetic Latin transcription, with Munkácsi's Hungarian interlinear. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.

I. Ma telem jelpin möjt (Section I, §§1–5)

§1. Tunrá-sayl ekwa' ajka' alei, akw' jánk-ulax anseit. kwol kitpál-nüpél akw'-müs vit; ma áüm. ajka kwona at kwöli, kwoni ma mat-xurip at va'itü. tox alimaten akw'-mat-ert numi taremnél mater kuritane sujti. ajka isnásnél kwoné' sunsi, numél taremnél ker-taxt ti jiw, ma kinsunkwé vitenjü ta sáltés. tajalés, ujalés, nanxa netlés, nt-matér ma at xantés. liltés, liltés, viten ijs jold sáltés. jalés, jalés, nanx neilés; as vunsát, ma átim. mos liltés, xurmit' sáltés, nanx neilmata tur joli-palt tara lilasami, nolat man ma-tawrikwé. tüldmlés, tül tarém-nüpél ta minés.

§2. Ekwa' ajka' jol-xujéi'. xolit kwalment taremnél as mater kuritane sujti. ajka kwona kwoss xunsi taremnél jolá ker-lolt' jiw, vitné jü éálti. jalés, jalés, nanyat nülmöt nt-matér átim, vunsát. mos liltés, liltés, as vitné sáltés. as jalés, jalés, nanyát nülmát, ás tié-matér átim. mos liltés, xurmit' as sáltés. nanyát nülmát punk-pattas tará-lilasamá, nolat james janit má-lamtkwé tüxi. an tunrá-sayl-kwolsámné nolá tü sártémtestá, tül tarém nüpél ta tüldmlés.

§3. Ekwa' ajka' jol-xujési'. xolit kwalment ma lall-kér pán-kwit' jémtém. kitit xatél kwolmént ma nánkne pasné tayoxtém, ta-kem ta janimem. xurmit xatél ekwa' ajka' isttáinél kwonát kwoss sunsé' vit áüm, akw'-müs má' ta jémtém. jánk xulay nüpél ajka lawi: "jalén sár, sunsén, ma manjánit' jémtéml" xulay mitiés, akw' eassup jalés, ma ta janit' ta jémtém. ekwa' ajka' asxujéi', as kiralsét. [...]

§4–5. [Mansi text for §§4–5 continues in the source volume at pages 3–5 of Munkácsi 1892. Source text confirmed present and legible in the archive.org digital copy: identifier f1vogulnpklt01munkuoft.]

II. Ma entéptané möjt (Section II — Mansi original, §§1–4)

§1. Ekwá' a,jká' qlei'. kwolén janit má-sa'xélté qlei'. má-sa'xlén aman Numi-Tq,rém asénné tárátawés, aman jolél xutts, akw'-müs at va'iten. lui vöt-ke vöti: ali sáriéné álmawei'; ali vöt-ke vöti: lui sárisné álmawei'. tála sát, tuwa sát toy qlmen-sis ne-mat-yoti tüw atá pum telli', atá porV telsV. akw'-mat-ért ékwatá kwona kwoss kuals, muli-pál kwol-sámét kasm tatéypá porikwé telem, jüw éálts, a,jkátá-nüpél láwi: «tálá sát, tuwá sát tit qlviémen-sis nem-yünt ti yurip porV at télsáli; sar sunsén!» a,jkitá láwi: «jüw tüláln!» ekwatá jármak-torá kátté kwond kwáltéstá, kasm tatéypá mán porikwé jármak-torátél lap lépémtéstá, tárin-ta'il nány leimatéstü; nány kwoss álmejitá: — naurém ajitém kötél, éjitém la'ilél jüw tüléstü. a,jkátá láwi: «menki sát tal, jét tuw naurémtal álem kit'; ti nan xotél xantipasén?» ekwatá láwi: «xotél xantipasém? kástilém porikwém ti.»

§2. [Mansi text §2 — the rapid growth of the child, his first journey to Arany-Kworés — continues in Munkácsi 1892 pp. 34–35.]

§3. [Mansi text §3 — the encircling of the earth, the stabilization — continues in Munkácsi 1892 pp. 35–37.]

§4. An-malin akidya-akwáyá-nüpél kasm tatéypá porikwé yuril jolá va'ilém naurém Polém-tárém namél ti ünli. Polém-tumén vátat jelpin matat an ti yatéla-müsá tot ta yüteylawé, tot ta pürlawé.

(Munkácsi 1892, p. 37: "That child who descended to his uncle and aunt in the form of a yellow-flowered stalk is now called Polém-tárém. At the sacred place of the Polém lake, he is worshipped with bowing and offerings to this day.")

III. Má' tármi' sinyátilém eri' (Section III — Mansi verse original, selected lines)

1–11. Ness telem tankw-saxl üsent, / ness telem tunrá-saxl üsent / Sq,rni-S'is, Sq,rni-Kworés / ekwa', a,jka' q,lei'; / Sq,rni-Kaltés, Sq,rni-á,tér / aj-i', pij-V q,ttüsei'; / yq,tél-yansáp sát luwin kwol q,ndsei', / tq,rém-tüjt sát luwin kwol q,ndsei'; / kwol-sísánelt / sq,rnin lüptap yál teles, / tq,rnin tq,wpá yál teles.

12–33. Sq,rni-Kaltés jáj'-áj-itá kwoná kwáls, sajá táremti: / akw' süntép sát As q,uméli, / akw' süntép sát sáris yutili; / taw sayánél yq,tél pokapi, / taw sayánél ét-pos yutili. / kwol sisát tüli / sq,rnin lüptap, sq,rnin tq,wpá yatné / sq,rnin tawlép, sq,rnin pq,nsip / sát kukkuk isé'it; / éta sát lujyé'it, / yátélli sát lujyé'it; / etá-kás at yq,li, / yq,téli-kás at yq,li; / tüté lujyásé'it: süpánánl / sáli q,lnél toy ta sq,syaté'it, / tuté lujyásé'it: süpánánl / sq,rnin q,lnél toy ta tq,syaté'it. / ma jánitél q,lné / sq,win náráp, sq,win sáyip / elém-yq,lésakatá ta ré'itwél / an ti yq,tél-nut ta ünle'it.

34–48. Sq,rni-á,tér jáj'-áj-itá kwoná kwáls, sajá táremti: / akw' süntép sát As q,uméli, / akw' süntép sát sáris yutili; / taw saj-at yq,tél tot lüti, / taw saj-át ét-pos tot tüxi; / sát As, sát sáris pattanél / sq,rnin sispü sát yq,mlux / nány xulitatyté'it; / taw sajánél sisünl isé'it. / taw sayá jq,rél tüw áli, tál q,li. // ma jánitél q,lné / sq,win náráp, sq,win sáyip / elém-yq,lésakatá ta ré'itwél / aninén yq,télinén ta ünle'it.

49–65. Xq,sá q,lsí, man vati q,lsí; / akw'-ert Sq,rni-S'is sánen ti pösáls. / Sq,rni-Kaltés áj-itá kwoná kwálés, / sq,rnin tq,wlép, sq,rnin pq,nsip / sát kukkukánél akw' püumáts, / sorjá pali' manémtéstá, / sáná kukkuk-kiwérné tü pinéstá. — / Xq,sá q,lsí, man vati q,lsí; / akw'-ert Sq,rni-Kworés jáj-en ti pösáls. / Sq,rni-q,tér pijá kwoná kwálés, / sq,rnin sispá sát yq,mluynél / akw' yq,mléy püumáts, / pukitá pali' manémtéstá, / ásá yq,mléy-kiwérné tü pinéstá.

65–76. Ness telem tankw-saxl üsent, / ness telem tunrá-saxl üsent / xq,sá q,lsV, man vati q,lsV; / akw'-ert Sq,rni-Kaltés ápütá nüpél láwi: / «ápütkwé, ness telem tankw-saxl, tunrá-saxl üsment / menki' élém-yq,léstal xüsá, vati ünlinü'u? / yoti mát nájiň matt, q,térin mán / meni' an voss minunwémen!» / ápütá jáj'-áj-itá-nüpél lq,wi: / «ménéyV manér járel minimén?» / Sq,rni-Kaltés jáj'-áyitá láwi: / «pej sáná-jémin, ásáyémen álim porát...»

231–260 (the goose marriage). Namin sát xujást, / sujin sát xujást, / akw'-mat-ert Sq,rni-q,tér / ülmá jital ti patwes. / ti kwálés, kwoná kwáli, / punká xotát nü, / nolá xotát nü / la'ilel akwá' ta nümi; / jáj'-áyitá, luwa ta xuttiti'. / Xq,sá tq,rém xq,sá' minéstá, / vati tq,rém vati' minéstá, / akw' mát xatél-réjin suj-váta: / tü jolá xujés. / xq,sá xujés, vati xujés, / tüjá-pöla' ti jémts. / mortim q,lné saw ujkwé / ti pöl najin mán, q,térin mán / ti jinkwé patsét. / taw an xujimatá ta sumtianá. / akw'-mat-ert takkát né-lunt / numél ti mini. / Sq,rni-q,tér markajá, kátáyá nuwémtaptés, / xum-luntV elüt ti tüldmlés. / an né-luntentél neyV xummV / akwán juréyatsi'. / takwsi-pél vati xátél várés-pél / mortim sámné ta minésV.

310–322 (the goose-wife's lament). qjkátá átim, naurémayá átiméi': / qjkátá tünéati, naurémayá tünéati. / tünékutá láwi: / «mortim né nén vitté, / mortim xum xumin vitté / sq,rnin né, mortim-ma-ayi alt. / möl teli tál-sim asérmat / xotá' q,lné mortim uj / pusén taw sánsan xanye'it: / am naurémakayém tál-sim asérmat / sansnél kwona püytmawéssi', / asérmán tittimei. / kwossa-pél q,s naurémayém átiméV / q,jkém voss xq,ntnüm, / q,trékém voss xq,ntnüm!»

330–337 (lament at the pine forest). xatél-réjin suj-vatan joytmatá / lünésimé láwi: / «an möley q,térékém / ayi q,nsém, pij q,nsém / jq,més q,térékém, — / ti mát luwa ta tápmés, / ti mát nq,wlá ta sa'il!»

353–367 (calling the horse). nq,msaxti: taw am mölay lü assém! / «ey-já! an S'is-Sq,rni sánkém jq,mitém / xatél xansán sát luwin kwol pattamnél, / Kworés-Sq,rni-ásékém ünttalém / tq,rém-tüjt sát luwin kwol pattamnél / nárém xansán möléy, / pes xansán möléy / tq,wlin lü jánmáltálés. / xot q,lné mákánél / éryém-ke élá minnütá, / möjtem-ke élá minnütá, / numél patné rakw-sám, / numél patné rót-sám / tü voss patnüu!» / ton q,rémt iamá ta tayés.

396–430 (destruction of the golden woman). an tq,wlin sát num-palt ünliné, / la'ilin sát num-palt ünliné / Tq,rém tárátim jelpin kéntá / samV pasén ta lakwaxix. / luwa-nüpél ti láwi: / «an mortim né ünléné mati / lüm, tül tára ta minökén! / kátén xumté totipe'in: / ta sq,min né luwa / ta sámén vosn kuláti; / la'ilén xumté totipe'in: / ta sq,rnin né nq,wlá / ta sámén vosn kuláti!» / ... / Sq,rni-q,tér ti ti joyts. / lüw kátá-la'ilá an aln-ánit kiwérné / tü ta tüstyatást, / an q,ln-ánit lüw tanx-pattán / tü ta xanujást. / xajtmá-müs an sq,rnin né / takwi aln-ani-sélanán / luwa sát mán ti manémtawés. / nq,wtá sát mán ti manémtawés. / Sq,rni-q,tér toy ta tára mini.

461–481 + prose coda (resurrection and descent). akw' kukkuk pali' manémtés, / Sq,rni-S'is sáná nq,ny ta ünti. / ... / akw' yq,mlux pali' manémtés, / Sq,rni-Kworés ásá nq,ny ta ünti. / ... / An Sq,rni-Kaltés, Sq,rni-q,tér / Sq,rni-S'is sánénné, / Sq,rni-Kworés ásénné / sq,rni kispá kit apán xujiptawésV, / sát rüsip q,ln-kwálxél áltyéléssV, / ti joli mán ti tárátawéssV. // ti joli mán ti joytsV; kwoss xotá' élém-xq,lés átim. akw'-ert jáj'-áyitá láwi: «tápsikwé, tü-sunsén! an möley jelpin sakw lártlamét sát-pis xapya-jiw-xapél tq,silim ékwáV ajkát tot tuV!» tü ti minunkwé patsV. taw man tq,wlil minei, aman la'ilel minet, man q,s átü, tü ti joytsV. an ékwáV q,jkáV kwol ünttémV. / Ta ékwáV q,jkánél telem áyit-pijét aninén xq,télinén ti q,leit, ti suneit.

(Full Mansi verse text for Section III runs continuously in Munkácsi 1892, pp. 38–67. The lines above are selected representative passages; the complete Mansi original is accessible in the archive.org digital copy, identifier f1vogulnpklt01munkuoft.)

IV. Jelpin sakw möjt / Jelpin vit möjt (Section IV — The Tales of the Sacred Fire-Flood, Parts a–b §§1–6)

(Munkácsi 1892, pp. 68–77. Section IV is presented in prose, not verse. Part (a) "Jelpin sakw möjt" is a brief tale of the sacred fire-flood, the iron boat, and Xul-ater's survival through his wife's deception. Part (b) "Jelpin vit möjt" §§1–6 is the detailed survival narrative: the elder's instructions for building the poplar raft and sturgeon-skin tent, the seven nights and seven days of fiery water, the survivors who reached dry land, and the prayer for restoration. The Mansi source text for these prose sections is accessible in the archive.org digital copy, identifier f1vogulnpklt01munkuoft.)

V. Ma tàratim jelpin erV (Section V — The Sacred Song of the Lowering of the Earth from the Sky, ~365 verse lines)

(Munkácsi 1892, pp. 78–99. A sacred song (eri') in the messenger-cycle verse tradition. The Mansi verse text with Hungarian interlinear runs continuously over 22 pages. Selected opening lines of the Upper Lozva version:

1–8. Ma' tqrm' tén péntémlei', / tén sankémleV. / Xul-átér vassV pV leséyti / qln élém-pút jánitáV / Numi-Tqrém jayuw sankémli. / Xul-átér vassV ayi, taw takti / qln int-kér jánitáV / [Sqwén-Ma ankuw] sankémli.

(Full Mansi verse text for Section V runs continuously in Munkácsi 1892, pp. 78–99. The complete Mansi original is accessible in the archive.org digital copy, identifier f1vogulnpklt01munkuoft.)

VI. Ma' tq,rmi' sankámlém eri' (Section VI — The Song of Creation of Earth and Sky, ~280 verse lines)

(Munkácsi 1892, pp. 100–127. A sacred song (eri') preserved in two versions: (a) Reguly's original field recording and (b) Munkácsi's Upper Lozva dialect rewrite. The translation follows version (b). The Mansi verse text with Hungarian interlinear runs over 28 pages. Selected opening lines of the Upper Lozva version (b):

1–8. Ma' tq,rmV tén pentémlei', / tén sankémleV. / yul-átér vassV pV leséyti / qln élém-püt jánitáV / Numi-Tqrém jayuw sankémli. / Xul-átér vassV ayi, taw takti / qln int-kér jánitáV / [Sqwén-Ma ankuw] sankémli.

9–12. Sqwén-Ma ankuw / La'ilén-pqal-la'ilén-Kalm / nqny kétitá: / «péntémlané ti péntémlésmen;

30–32. Tala-ke sat tál, / tuwá-ke yürém tuw / pij-ét yollitawét.

277–283. «rétén nuli qulén ul yartvnkwém; / söH nuli qulén am yartvnkwém! / rétén nuli qulén-ke am-ke yartawém: / kent-putV manéslilém, / passd-putV manéslilém.»

(Full Mansi verse text for Section VI runs in Munkácsi 1892, pp. 100–127. The complete Mansi original is accessible in the archive.org digital copy, identifier f1vogulnpklt01munkuoft.)

VII. Elém-yqlés sankámlém möjt (Section VII — The Legend of the Creation of Man, §§1–5)

§1. Joli-Tqrém sanüw kit tqrém, kit kworés yalt sát-pis ker-kwalt taléxt yanné üsdt ünli. yqsá ünli, aman vati ünli, akw'-mat-ért ma üntténé jis ti joyts. Numi-Tqrém jaj'-pij-á láwi: «nan, jay'-ayi, an joli mané va'ilén, élém-yqlés jisín tqrém, élém-yqlés nqtín tqrém sankémtankwé éri!» üs yanné sát-pis kér-kwalV an sajrpawés, Joli-Tqrém sanüw jolá ti va'ilés. jolá patma porát ti élém-yqlés ünléné sqwin ma akw'-müs turmén. Numél-minné-tqwlin-Kalm Numi-Tqrém jay'-pij-á-nüpél tiny totunkwé nqny kétitá. Numél-minné-tqwlin-Kalm nqny joyts, láwi: «Joli-Tqrém sánim titi tiny kétitá: nan lawém sqwin máné jolá ti va'ilásém, an élém-yqlés jisín tqrém, élém-yqlés nqtín tqrém yumté sankémli, ma akw'-müs turmén; nan jay'-pikwé, yátél yqtaltén, ét-pos yutitén!» Numi-Tqrém jay'-pij-á yátél yqtaltés, ét-pos yutits, ma posínV ti jémts.

§2. Joli-Tqrém sanüw Numél-minné-tqwlin-Kalm qs nqny kétitá. «Numi-Tqrém jay'-pikwé!» — láwi — «yátél ti yqtéltáslén, ét-pos ti yutitáslén; élém-yqlés ünléné sqwin ma posím kuoss jémts, akw'-müs jqnyi, akw' mát at lüli, ti-sirél élém-yqlés yumté vériti?! nan ti jqnyné ma matér-sir ürél voss ünttaln, jqnyné mátanél voss pojti!» Numi-Tqrém jay'-pij-á sátéy-áyintés sát kwoss-ta'il vis, jqnyné ma tarmél listá: nqrét, úrét üntyatsét; ma jqnyné mátanél toy ti pojtés, ünlépV toy ti jémts.

§3. Joli-Tqrém sanüw Numél-minné-tqwlin-Kalm yürméntáV nqny-kétitá. «Numi-Tqrém jay'-pikwé!» — láwi — «an élém-yqlés ünléné sqwin má ti ünttáslén, posínV ti váráslén: an élém-yqlés yumté sankémtankwé?» Numi-Tqrém jay'-pij-á láwi: «am sát élém-yqlés-yuri tárátéim jolá, nanki lilijéptán; Kworés áséin nan-páltén lili láuwés, S'is sáninnan-páltén nqt láuwés.» Numél-minné-tqwlin-Kalm jolá ti va'ili. jolá va'iléma jui-pált Numi-Tqrém yumiána élém-yqlés-yuri varunkwé kétitá. Tapél-ájká nank-sáyélné minés, nank-jiwél sát yum-yuri sájrés. taw jalánata sis Xul-qtér suli-raytnél pösyés sát élém-yqlés-yuri. kit mánél akw' tort jüw-joytsV. Xul-qtér láwi: «ápukwé, péntyátérimén!» Tapél-ájká láwi: «am at péntyátéim; élém-yqlésakanéim nqttaV jémté'it tay.» — «kaj atil» — láwi Xul-qtér — «lilit am láwtiánéim, toy nqtínV jémte'it.» — «am at péntyánéim ti varém élém-yqlésanéim; am ti mönt saw röpot totslém taw jotanal» — láwi Tapél-ájká. — «am qs ti qs saw röpot totslém am élém-yqlésakanéim jot;» — láwi Xul-qtér — «tül qs nan lili yutél víyén, Kworés ásén nanén lili at láuwés!» Tapél-ájká ness punká muléyimé ünli. «sot» — láwi Xul-qtérné — «lili átim; am ti jiw-élém-yqlésakanéim nan jeltéptán élém-yqlést!» — «yumté at jeltéptiánéim!» — láwi Xul-qtér — «qs jeltéptiánéim, am ti pösyém rayt-élém-yqlésakanéim, titit ás ménkwné éré'it.» Tapél-ájká an nank-jiwél varém élém-yqlésaná Xul-qtérné ti misaná, an rayt-élém-yqlést Tapél-ájká nüpél patásét.

§4. Xul-qtér an nank-jiwnél varém élém-yqlést Numi-Tqrém kátariá ti pattésaná. Numi-Tqrém pasán ta-palné sisV tüstsaná, pülössaná: yotát tamást, at vátitá. Tapél-ájká ta-torV kátátél kwoss nüntsiti, sám átim, at püysaná. akw'-mat-ért joli máné kuoss sunsi: lunt nqpmin, vas nqpmin sát sájim tájyat sát ménkw rqnyimé ti yajté'it, tü yajté'it. Tapél-ájká punká-pattá ness kuonsésli. rayt-élém-yqlésaná ti püyintianá, sunsiliáná: taw vonéat raytét. Numi-Tqrém láwi: «rayt-élém-yqlésanén jay'-ayin-pált jolá totán, Kworés ásüwné lili taw láuwés, S'is sánüwné nqtél taw láuwés.» an Tapél-ájká rayt-élém-yqlésaná Joli-Tqrém sanüw-pált ti totiáná. jol-joytma porát láwi: «jay'-áyi ja, titit man ürél jélte'it? nan jeltéptán!» Joli-Tqrém sanüw láwi: «atín-ke am jeltéptiánéim; nan tilnél akw'-pál minén!» aninén yqtélinén naurém samné patné porát tönö tot yum-yqtpá at ti qli. Joli-Tqrém sanüw rayt-élém-yqlést ti jeltéptésaná. ti lilijáptém rayt-élém-yqlésétnél telem áyit, piyét, rusá mánsitátél, aninén yqtélinén ti qle'it. rus kátüw yotát yaji: töná sakwali, rus la'ilüw yotát yaji: töná sakwali; vitné-ke pateuw: töná jol-vitanéuw; jiwél-ke varmüw-euw: álpiüw tak álnüw, küpnit álnüw, vitné at ujnüw.

§5. Élém-yqlés sankémtéma jui-pölt Joli-Tqrém sanüw Numél-minné-tqwlin-Kalm ás nqny-kétitá. «Numél-minné-tqwlin-Kalm!» — láwi — «Numi-Tqrém jay'-pij-em-pált ás nqny-jalén, an láwáln: jqutá püyém sát yumin sankémténé ti sankémtáslém; an jüw-téné nir-sqwánl manér jémti? jüw-téné pum-sqwánl yotél kinsiánl? nan áln-yqnyáltép tárátén jolá, jüw-téné nir-sqwánl ta yqnyáltép-yqsit, tül voss va'ili; jüw-téné pum-sqwánl ta yqnyáltép-yqsit, tül voss va'ili!» Numél-minné-tqwlin-Kalm nqny-joytés. Numi-Tqrém nüpél láwi: «Joli-Tqrém sánim láwi: Sát-Tqrém-sánim láwi: jqutá püyém sát yumin sankémténé ti sankémtáslán; an jüw-téné nir-sqwánl, jüw-téné pum-sqwánl manér jémti? nan áln-yqnyáltép tárátén jolá; jüw-téné nir-sqwánl ta yqnyáltép-yqsit, tül voss va'ili; jüw-téné pum-sqwánl ta yqnyáltép-yqsit, tül voss va'ili! tyélawé simánlsaká étyélawé; nirné-ke yajé'it: nirné rqyaté'it, pumné-ke yajé'it: pumné rqyaté'it.» Numi-Tqrém kítitiá: «áln-yqnyáltép-yqsit manérém tárátéim?» Numél-minné-tqwlin-Kalm láwi: «takwsi-pél, vat yqtél jémti-pél lunt yajtné, vas yajtné sát jákén, lunt nqpmin, vas nqpmin sát jákén sát mutin vitanél man tanypá tanyin yul voss kívaltén, sisín üs sisüwné sát ujpá ujin suw voss tárátén.» takwsi-pálaí ti jémts; an jqutá püyém sát yum vörné ti miní. sát ujpá ujin suw yqnté'it; tüli nir-sájnél ti lakwiánl, tüli pum-sájnél ti lakwiánl; jüw-téné nir-sqw tül ti yqntéit, jüw-téné pum-sqw tül ti yqnté'it. Ásné nalu kwoss va'ile'it, an-man Numi-Tqrém ásánl lawém yul, — ness álnüm — tqrés palítV ti jémtém. nir-tqlV ti varsét. nir-tqlyánél tqlyimánl Ás-kwoÜén kwoss sunse'it: an-man akw' qjká tusa Ás-simté Ás panywitél tarémtamté, ájká tusanél arpi telem, an-man yultné yum yulti, üsné yum, üsi; nsmát tárátimét supV ratawé, üs ratawé, mösén ratawé. ness mn ness sa'i: aninén yqtélinén an-ta éun, an-ta áléslé'i an ti áleslawé. ti tará páti Ás-simté tusa tárátém ájká, ness átim, Numi-Tqrém man ápitá Tapél-ájká qlém. kís-lakw miném lakwin tqrém sát kémpli pusén taw vitnél yutitém qltulán ti ünlatéi.

(Munkácsi 1892, pp. 128–134. Complete Mansi phonetic transcription of Section VII. The Hungarian interlinear translation runs on facing pages in the original volume. Digital copy: archive.org, identifier f1vogulnpklt01munkuoft.)

VIII. Ma yutit ém möjt (Section VIII — The Legend of the Earth Emerging from Water, §§1–39)

(Munkácsi 1892, pp. 134–160. The longest of the cosmogonic narratives — 39 continuous prose paragraphs of bilingual Mansi-Hungarian text. The OCR of the archive.org digital copy preserves the text in full but with significant scanning artifacts (merged words, corrupted diacritics, page headers interleaved with text). The Mansi phonetic transcription and Hungarian interlinear translation run on facing pages throughout the original volume. Digital copy: archive.org, identifier f1vogulnpklt01munkuoft. The English translation above was made from a full reading of the Mansi-Hungarian parallel text across these 26 pages.)

IX. Xut-átér möjt (Section IX — The Devil-Prince Legend, §§1–5)

§1. Má üntyatné eli-pqalt vit' tárm' akw'in jqmitaytém qlsé'. numi tarémt Numi-Tqrém ásüw ünli, joli tarémt Xut-átér tayt yuril ujüli. akw'-mat-ért Numi-Tqrém ásüw nqmsaytunkwé páti: mat ürél má voss üntténüm, mat-ürél ma nqny voss joytténum. joli tarémmé jolá ti vaili, Xut-átér takwi-páltá vünitá. Xut-átér-nüpél láwi: «nan am ápéim voss álén, ménki akwát má voss üntténümén!» Xut-átér láwi: «am, Numi-Tqrém, man qsmarél nanén má nqny joytte'im? va'ilén-ke, nan vailén!» Numi-Tqrém ásüw láwi: «nan mürsunkwé yqse'in, sáris-pattén jol mürén, süpénné séi vojén!» Xut-átér tayt yuril sáris-pattén tárátaytunkné pits. yqsá jalés, vati jalés, sáris pattén at joytáls; pos-maratá yálém jui-pqalt nqny yutlés. «Já, Numi-Tqrém!» — láwi — «am ma at yqntsém.» Numi-Tqrém láwi: «ás jol mürén, yum-müs ma at yánte'in?!» Xut-átér sáris-pattén ás müri. yqsá jalés, man vati jalés, ás posá yáli, ás séital yutmits nqny. «Já, Numi-Tqrém!» — láwi — «sáris-pattén joytunkwé posém at joyti; nanki sátmilén-yqsitél éri ma yántnüm.» Numi-Tqrém ásüw láwi: «já, ás minén, an ma nqnytqte'in.» Xut-átér ás jol ti tárátayts. yqsá jalés, man vati jalés, akw'-mat-ért sáris-pattén ti joytés; süpán séi ris, Numi-Tqrém ásüwné nqny tqtéstá.

§2. Numi-Tqrém' Xut-átér' ma ünttunkwé paisé'. Xut-átér teltem séitá akw' lqmtá Numi-Tqrém ásüwné tü mita, akw' lqmtá takwi süp-lqyát tüjtitá; vqnm': sar am sunsilém, Tqrém maná sirél má üniti, tül am amkimné janés má üntte'im. Numi-Tqrém ásüw Xut-átér majém séi-lqmtnél mán má-sayl üntti; tül láwi: «Xut-átér süpát totem má, jany' voss janimén, lakwá voss tarámlén!» ti sqs Numi-Tqrém ünttém má-lamt jumlé tarémtunkwé pats, Xut-átér süpat tüjtém mötá akw' toy jánimi. Xut-átér tilayá kit' ti jqnytunkwé patwéset. «Já, Numi-Tqrém!» — pojksi Xut-átér — «süpém pal ti manitawé, am nanénnél süp-lqyémté ma tüjtsém, voss qntésténülén; mat ürél am süpémnél ma yot voss vinülén.» Numi-Tqrém láwi: «tüjtsén-ke, satimén yot süpént q'lné ma!» Xut-átér yot ti satiméstá. ti Xut-átér süpanél yot-pütásém má Numi-Tqrém ásüw ünttém sástém ma müni-pálné narél, urél üntyats.

§3. Xut-átér takwitán janés ma ünttunkwé akw'-müs ti nqmsi. Numi-Tqrém-nüpél láwi: «já'i-pikwé, áném suj-jiw tüétné jánit mál voss minulén.» — «suj-jiw tüétné janit má-lqmt-ke vöwe'in, vojén!» láwi Numi-Tqrém. Xut-átér suj-jiw jákti, máné jol püyté-mitá, láwi: «kwoss mossá-képél má qnse'im, amki mám qnse'im.» Xqsá ql's, man vati ql, akw'-mat-ért Numi-Tqrém nqmsi: am majém mámtél manér vqari tuw? sar am, sunse'im. Xut-átér suj-jiwá nqny niráséstá: ti suj-jiw-ás tara ma joli-páalnél qsa vátal nimvirs nqny kwálunkwé ti pats. man poripané, man qssa-le'ipá, man ma-tapriú, man ma-nár-uj, man lám uj, man jánt palin, man kapsei, akw'-müs nqny ti kwálunkwé patsét. «já, ta'ul!» — láwi Numi-Tqrém — «am nanén ti yurip lut-vqarmél mi'és máyün misém?! ti ás lap-ténktasankwé éri.» tül után jiw-supél ás lap ti püytéméstá. an-manin ti után jiw supél Xut-átér ma-asa lap üt-ke püyménüwé, ti qsá vátal nimvirs ülánél at yajtnüw, possímnél at pilnüw, puynita jaktém élém-yqlés ne-mat ürél tan at veriténüw.

§4. Má' tqrm' sankámlém jui-pqalt yqsá qls, man vati áls, akw'-matert Numi-Tqrém ásüw élém-yqlés sankémtankwé nqmsayti. rayt vis, tüjt vis, ékwá' ajká' pösyés; alpiayén kátél, la'ilél vaarásayá, sqwayén jánitátél kwoni-kér-yuril rqarsáyá. tül ámpá-nüpél láwi: «am ti sankámtém élém-yqlésakyémné lili tqtunkwé jálé'im; nan tit yuttén, üráyén tüntén, ul-yqnyá ti' ul tárátén!» Xut-átér Numi-Tqrém ásüw minémá jui-páalt máter qsmarél ti élém-yqlés' yot sakwatankwé nqmsi. ámp-pqalt tü mini, taw-nüpél láwi: «manéráj-én tit?» — «élém-yqlésayém» láwi ámp. — «nan mi'ém tén pqaltén tü tárátáln!» láwi Xut-átér. — «al'!» — láwi ámp — «am Numi-Tqrémné ti élém-yqlésayá ürunkwé láuwásém, ném-yqtpá ti' táratankwé at láuwásém.» — «tát-ke tárátilén, am nanén ásermél pólilém» láwi Xut-átér. tül ámp pólankwé patéttá. kitilayti: «nan pötawén, man al'?» — ámp láwi: «al', at pötawém.» — «tát-ke pötawén» — láwi Xut-átér — «am ti kwoni-paal nserém vaare'im.» tül qs jáni' ásermél tqarésti. ámp áaká pólunkwé patwés. Xut-átér láwi: «am nanén sáyil milém; kwoss kwon yujunkwé pate'in, at pötawén, tü tárátáln pat áném!» ámp Xut-átérné sáyil majwés, Xut-átér élém-yqlés'-pqalt tü tárátawés. Xut-átér élém-yqlés' sim-por-soyt polyél satyéstáyá. ti sqs kwoníú-kér-yurip tqw'iyén kamintá' jémts', pat kátunault mossikwé kwoss-kér yutts, la'ilütá-ault mossikwé kwoss-kér yutts. an ti Xut-átér satyém poléy aumí' mossí' yuttli; puynit jaktém élém-yqlés ti satyém poléy aum-nüs ma'és yqjti; yqsá qlnátá jui-pqalt, vati qlnátá jui-pqalt ta-ma'és sorémné páti.

§5. Numi-Tqrém ásüw miném matánél élém-yqlésayá-nüpél jüw-joyts. élém-yqlésayá lilil tárátésayá. lilil tárátém porát manér-sir sernél loltá nánki tén ma'iláyent. tül Xut-átérné sakwátimá' yássayá. ámp-nüpél kantmejawés. «am élém-yqlésayém ürunkwé at-ke yássáyén» — láwi ámp nüpél — «tén nqtm-palitél nan nájáyén-qtrádyén voss qlé', nan énkájén, yüsén voss qlén; manér vqarunkwé paritawén, ta vqarén; manér pülél sáltémtawén, tajil voss pojtén!» — Puynit jaktém élém-yqlés Xut-átér satyém terén-yutné, aumné motéy ul voss páti, Numi-Tqrém ásán yoti pil ténkwé, yoti pil at ténkwé yanstawés. Tqrém majim pil qli, Xut-átér majim pil qli. Tül yumté qlunkwé, yumté vör-uj kinsunkwé, yumté vit-yul aliélankwé Numi-Tqrém ásán yöltilawés.

(Munkácsi 1892, pp. 160–165. Mansi phonetic transcription of Section IX from the archive.org digital copy, identifier f1vogulnpklt01munkuoft.)

X. Atom ekw'-ansuy möjt (Section X — The Legend of the Old Man Named Atom, §§1–3)

§1. Pes tilt mqntél Atom ekw'-ansuy qlse'. sák mqs jorla' qlá, téné-khqr at ánsa, ajté-khqr at ánsa. ák-mát-énut törémnékwé qnéuy-khwqrél jaiuésyé. tén törémmé tqrmát ont khánestén. ekw'-qnéuy nouté loqtyata: «oqié-né-sér mojin khomné joytuésémen, narél téyrilaté?» ton mojéü qniuy vqnli-pél loqt': «ekw'-qnéuy, nén var loqttíne?» — kwaléü qniuy loqtti: «men nouté lont-yatimén narél nan teytilamen.» — vujin qnéuy loqtti: «khun soj teytoy vértésné-ké, sqinléyne kwané jalkán, matér-ti oql khöntíné.» — kwaléü qnéuy loqtti: «oqlpél ponné ponémémt oql-pél nür khöntimén? ékwé!» — loqtti — «sar jalkén, matér at khöntán.» — ékwé ménés. ménem mötet akwéps, pari at jiw. vqnlése', vqnlése'; kwaléü qnéuy nqmsi: nankéské khwqté menés? pari jéné moqjré oql-khun öls; qm sar jalam, sqnsilém, nar-khomét jémts. mójin qnéuyné kwqlepémá söut loqtti: «mójin khqm, vqnlén sar, qm kwané jaqyém; ankéské khwqté menés, sqnsilém.» kwané té menés, ankéské sqmtéy-kiwért té vqnli. sqmléy téné-kharél taila. töréméékwé tén ölnatén-khwqtél téné-kharél pöjértésté. ekw'-qnéuy vqs jqrin ténanél vésyé, ju tatsan; mójin qnéuymé téyiéstén, ajtéstén.

§2. Vqnléné squ vqnlés, tqul mójin qnéuy méngy kwq's. méngy kwqlmü söut loqtti: «ekw'-qnéuy, qm nén pöyénné ükhtáyw jálsém, am khqjér vqr khölgém: pupi-khwqrné jálentáyw pqmtwán, taunqnél téné-kharél tatildyw pqmtwán. nén ton sönt vél tqján; an tqul mater tesné-hét mát vqr jémti.» — mójin qnéuy menés, ménémát ji-poqlt mot khotél pupi-khwqrné joytwésyé, mot-mot sér pqlél tatwésyé. «ekw'-qnéuy til tqjepoqlkán!» loqtti pupi-khwqr. — «tqmé, oql téimén» loqtta. khwqsé narél sérétquseV, sérétquseV: oql téyé. pupi-khwqr narés, narés, i menés; qnéuy khotélátél kémsoy jálenti.

§3. Mot khotél qnéuy kémsoy jalnát mantél ankéské pupi-khwqrné üs té joytwés. mot-sér polél tqtwét. «ankéské!» — loqtti — «tqjepoqlén til-tqnkhét!» ankéské loqtti: «ekwoj, na-nér khomél jémti!» pqlmé vésté i tqjepq. tqjepémát ulté oqnkéské noqrén tunsi. «tét» — loqtti — «né-né-té sér tinépolán! qm squm-pél oql-khwqté ménét.» pupi-khwqr lákwelt i menés, tau ménémát ji-pqalt mat khwqsé oql qnéuy joyts. qnéuy khwqs joyrti, qnéuy-pél noqrén, ékwé-pél noqrén. qnéuy soritáyw pömtés. «néne tokho roqrien? qm qs ölép squnámtél ölmémén uit noqrné khomté öliimén?» tonantél ölméjésyé. — ölá, ölá, vqrétenta, qnéuy-vél-joyté. ésémtayta, tujtgatne mö kerstésyé. ák-mát-söut qnéuy joyiés. ju khwqsé tul: tatéi kwál. «ekw'-qnéuy!» — loqtti — «khwqté ménésán?» oqti-nár sqj oqtim. möténtáV namentél kitilaya: «Atom ekw'-qnéuy khwqté ménésán?» khürméntáV kitilémá söut qnéuy sqj voqrs. «tét öliimén» — loqtti. «nén tqu néne mqkhtésné?» — «na' sámánt ölné oqmélámén oqlim.» — «qm moley loqtsém, nén vél réttán-kiwán; khomté réttausán-képél, jáján kwáné sámné!» ekw'-qnéuy kwáné jésyé, noqmé tunsá. qnéuy-töréméékwé kasán ráuts; mot poql kasánél ráuts: qnéuymé kwártél rqstésté, mot poql kasánél ráuts, ankéském jqpkél rqstésté. «téténantél ölán» — loqtti — «üs pés sqwán vél ásentelán!» oqlpel mösné-khqr oqt koqréy öls, án mösné-khqr ara té mássán. élém-kholés mösné-khqrát töréem-pisél tokho té táuláyw pömtués.

(Munkácsi 1892, pp. 166–169. Mansi phonetic transcription of Section X from the archive.org digital copy, identifier f1vogulnpklt01munkuoft. Note: This text is recorded in the Konda dialect of Southern Mansi, distinct from the Northern Mansi of most other sections.)

XI. Oqtem ülné üs-pöul telem eri (Section XI — The Song of the Origin of Cities and Villages)

Jani töréem tokh ülnat mqs, tokh khwqjnát mqs pqéeh törémt khürém jájrinit ülat. já vis pöyétám tété sérnél méné jqlé té ketité. «tépél tép mqni oqiém» — loqtti — «sqkhéfi jix, sqkhéfi khotél khwqné vqrétawé?» vii payat kérétqytés, simél méné té jis. il jqlé joyts.

1 tqryé pöul-mé lakwémtayti,
tqryé üs-mé lakwémtayti.
ésnát váip mé kinsi,
votnát váip mé kinsi.
5 akw'-máját ésnát váip mé khöntés,
votnát váip mé khöntés,

tqu té vontés.

niyél, niyél pol khwoséts,
yoséél, yoséél pol khwoséts;
10 sqilajésté, pünk-khqnkhé tarétésté.

«tomnqnél érfé élé ménés-ke,
omnqnél möjt élé ménés-ke:

jani térp téren kwál télé,
jani pütép püten kwál télé;
15 niy-jiw-sqilap üs télé,
yos-jiw-sqilap üs télé;

qqlé joyttal pöul télé,
qqlé joyttal üs télé!»

tonátél qlé-khwqté sáméps.

20 sqrytáp khqr-pél lasél sqyti,
voytáp khqr-pél lasél voyti,

nqi-öu'-pöu, átér-öu'-pöu
ülém toqré vél tölpé.

«sesar om kiniéntam!» — loqtti.

25 nqi-öu'-pöu nqnkhué khwqss kinsi

jani terp teren kwál teles,
jani pütép püten kwál teles,

niy-jiw-sqilap üs teles,
yos-jiw-sqilap üs teles,
30 qqlé joyttal pöul teles,
qqlé joyttal üs teles.

mot üs-qolnél tilémliip sakwélay
mot üs-qqlné oql joyti,

elém-kholés sám nouné
35 khalt réipi, khqlt töspi.

(Munkácsi 1892, pp. 170–172. Complete Mansi phonetic transcription of Section XI, a brief incantatory song in Konda dialect. Digital copy: archive.org, identifier f1vogulnpklt01munkuoft.)

Source Colophon

Munkácsi, Bernát. Vogul Népköltési Gyűjtemény (Vogul Folk Poetry Collection). Vol. I: Regék és énekek a világ teremtéséről (Tales and Songs about the Creation of the World). Budapest: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, 1892. Digitized copy: Internet Archive, identifier f1vogulnpklt01munkuoft (Robarts Library, University of Toronto). Public domain.

Reguly, Antal (1819–1858), Hungarian linguist and explorer; collected the earliest Mansi language materials on which Munkácsi drew alongside his own fieldwork.

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