Page 160 [160]
RACHEL MIKos
Lama Yandag came holding his yaguur
Lama Dondog came holding his flint
— doing up a (Mongolian-style) button
In this riddle, two lamas meet, one bearing flint (Khal. yaxuyp), and the other bearing
a ‘yaguur’. In terms of the logic of the riddle, one lama is, metaphorically speaking,
the round, knotted part of the button, the moeu, whereas the other is the long wun63, or
‘limb’ (the longish loop that is placed around the moez to hold the front of the garment,
i.e., a Mongolian deel, in place). Flint, in a traditional Mongolian flint-and-steel set,
was carried in small quantities in a small leather pouch with a semi-circular steel edge
(used to strike the flint). The leather pouch, which also held small amounts of tinder
material, such as dried roots, was hung from the belt or sash (6yc) by a decorative chain.
It is a little unclear — due to the lexical uncertainty of the word aeyyp (see below) —
what exact simile is at play in this riddle. For example, if the chain holding the yaxuyp
is meant to be the equivalent of the button loop, then what would be the knotted part
of the button? One possibility is that zevyp actually refers to the eaauc, the Mongolian
long-stemmed traditional pipe (which men usually tucked into their boots when not
smoking). In this case, the pipe itself would be the equivalent of the long loop, and the
small concave disc located at the top of the chain of the yaxuyp would be the ‘button’;
they ‘meet’ like the two lamas, when the kindling material is placed inside the rounded
desk near the pipe bow] and the flint and steel are struck to ignite the tobacco.”
Both of the lama’s names, Angzar and JIoHnor, are based on Tibetan names: /lonnor
seems to be the Mongolian version of the Tibetan name for Amoghasiddhi (Tib. don
grub). Sayar is also surely based upon a Tibetan name, possibly yang dag (‘actual,
real, the very...’).** The two names were clearly chosen because of the rhyming second
syllable (-dag, -dog, which also strangely correspond to the frequentative converbial
ending -dag*in Mongolian). To a Mongolian ear they conjure up a playful image of
the two lamas ‘embracing’ each other or otherwise meeting.
The word seyyp is unattested in all of the dictionaries I have been able to consult.
The closest lexically and phonetically word I have been able to locate is aeup (‘very
hard, hard like bone’, ‘to have a quarrelsome nature [of men and animals’ ]; zeup aeup
xuux ‘to make a a sound like whetting on iron’).*° Concerning the first definition, hard¬
ness certainly would certainly describe a quality of the steel to strike the flint with, and
* Lubsandorj, consultation 2016.
Bypxo9, b. — Suxtep, b. (eds.): Teed moneon mono. Mouron YııcbIn Ux Cypryyıs, Yııaau6aatap 2009.
[Tibetan-Mongolian Dictionary], p. 247. For the phonetic changes that occur to Tibetan words adapted
into Mongolian, see Lubsangdorji, J.: Buddhist Lamas and Mongolian. In: Mongolica Pragensia "02,
Linguistics, Ethnolinguistics, Religion and Culture, Prague 2002, pp. 101-128.
34 Chandra-Das, S.: A Tibetan-English Dictionary, p. 1126.
Cyann-9paona, I. (gen. ed.): Moneon xannuü xyyuun yeuün mono. Moucynap, Yıaau6aarap 2013. [Dic¬
tionary of Old Mongolian Words], p. 719; Bong, JI. et al. (ed.): Moneon xannuü Oaneapaneyü maüundap
mon, Vol. 5, p. 3247.
33
158