Friday, August 28, 2009

The Legend of the Horse-head Fiddle


by G. Mend-Ooyo
Translated by Peter K. Marsh


It is said that a long time ago there was a young man named Huhuudei, who lived in a white felt palace-ger. One day he decided to discover the mystery of magic. He didn’t know where to look to find it, but the Mongolians say that in order to find something, you must search for it, and in order to learn something, you must be persistent. So Huhuudei decided to wonder around this world in hopes of mastering the mysteries of magic.
To do this, however, he first needed a fast and tireless horse. He took his saddle and bridle and came to a herd of horses grazing on the steppe. But though he looked, he didn’t find the good horse that he was looking for. He needed a beautiful stallion that could travel a year’s distance in a month, and a month’s distance in a day. He search among the thousands of horses on the north sides of mountains and among the thousands of horses on the south side, but still he could not find the one horse he was looking for.
One day, when he sat exhausted on the ground, he heard what sounded like a beautiful ethereal melody coming from nearby. He went to where the sounds were emanating and found on the ground two pieces of horse manure connected by a horse hair. The hair vibrated in the breeze blowing across the steppe creating the ethereal sound he had heard. He pondered that if a single hair could create such a beautiful melody, then many hairs could create an even more beautiful one. When he returned home, he took a wooden ladle and covered the top of its base with a piece of dried skin. He then attached two horse hairs to the two ends of the ladle. He took another horse hair and attached it to both ends of a tree branch. This was how the fiddle originated.
Huhuudei carried his fiddle on his back to the summit of a mountain to look for his horse. As he walked, the breeze vibrated its strings, creating pleasant melodies. These melodies made Tengger (Sky) even bluer and the nearby springs even clearer. They also calmed the horses that pastured on the steppe below. The Mongolians say that “not every man is alike, and not every horse is joroo. ” While some of the grazing horses paid no attention to the melodies of the fiddle, others did and neighed in response.
Huhuudei learned how to play his fiddle by imitating the ways the breezes made the strings vibrate. He practiced his fiddle over and over again. One day he heard the sound of a horse neighing coming from very far away. He moved in the direction of the sound, sat down and began again to play his fiddle. As he moved closer, these distant sounds became clearer. How endless is the steppe, how numberless are the horse herds?, he wondered. Huhuudei continued to move in the direction of these sounds and eventually came into the valley of a blue mountain. Here he sat and again played his fiddle. The valley was filled with grazing herds of horses. From far away a tall bluish-brown horse with a beautifully even back approached him, its four feet pounding the ground as it did. As it came close, it was startled by an old horse skull lying beside an ovoo.
Huhuudei took this skull, which had startled the bluish-brown horse, and filled its interior with horse manure in a way that made it appear to come alive. Then he set his fiddle on top of the skull and again began to play it, playing over and over again. On the ovoo were hung many horse hairs that appeared to sing as the breezes blew past them. Then the old horse skull itself began to make a sound like a horse’s neigh, which made the many horses in all directions neigh.
Huhuudei again played his fiddle. He played for three days and three nights. On the third night, just before dawn, the bluish-brown horse suddenly brightened and neighed, the echoes of which bounced off of the surrounding mountain. At that moment a white wing, like that of a swan, emerged from under the horse’s legs and opened and closed. Huhuudei played again for another three days, and as he did flowers sprouted from the horse’s skull and quickly grew. Again, just as the sun was about to rise, the bluish-brown horse brightened and neighed, its echoes bouncing off of the surrounding mountain. Once again, the white, swan-like wings emerged from under the horse’s legs and opened, but this time the bluish-brown horse flew into the air. Huhuudei continued to play his fiddle until the bluish-brown horse leapt into the air and flew high above the heads of the horses grazing on the steppe below. It circled three times before returning to the earth.
Huhuudei wondered how he could capture alive such a wild horse that had never been touched by anything except the stars, moon, and sky, and by the plants and flowers of the steppe. Many fine horse herders gathered in order to capture the bluish-brown horse. But none of them could put even a 100 ald-long rope around its neck. The young man played his fiddle for three months from a place where he could see the bluish-brown horse from a distance. But then he stopped, stood up at the edge of the horse herd, and decided to go back home.
Huhuudei carried his fiddle with the old and weathered horse skull over three mountain passes. As he crossed the third, breezes blew over the fiddle’s strings, making what sounded like a horse neigh. He crossed over another three mountain passes, and as he crossed the third one, he heard the head of his fiddle make a horse neigh. When he turned to look back, he saw the bluish-brown horse approaching him in the air, neighing as it landed. Huhuudei felt that this horse must have been called by his fiddle’s melodies. When he sat on the ground to play his fiddle, the bluish-brown horse came close to sniff the head of the fiddle and again it neighed. The horse then allowed Huhuudei to caress its beautiful even back and neighed two times.
This was how that young man got the bluish-brown winged horse. This was the horse that shortens the distance of a year to a month, and the distance of a month to a day. Huhuudei then started herding the uncountable herds of horses on the great steppe of Mongolia by flying this amazing animal.
But even with such a fast horse, he chose not to continue pursing his dream to wander around the world in search of the mystery of magic. When people questioned him as to why he was ending his search, he replied, “How can one find anything more mysterious and magical than the horse-head fiddle, which has a beautiful melody and magic? Through the sound of my horse-head fiddle, I have captured the wild horse that had never been touched by anything except the Sky Wind. Through the sound of my horse-head fiddle, I created the wings that made my horse fly. If magic exists, then it must be the horse-head fiddle!”
From that time on, every family who lived on the steppe, herding horses and nomadizing, placed their horse-head fiddle on their home’s khoimor. Every family carved a fine horsehead on the top of their fiddle, made strings with horse tail hairs, and preserved on their fiddle the sound of their horse’s gallops and neighs. In this way they preserved the memory of their horses. It is said that on the Mongolian steppe, all were fiddle players and all horses became fast. The horse-head fiddle spread throughout the Mongolian steppe. In the melodies of the horse-head fiddle, the horse herds multiplied rapidly like rice and wheat, the scented breezes blew, plentiful rains fell, the springs were full, herbal flowers and plants blossomed, nothing frightened the people, there were no illnesses, and everyone lived happily from that time on.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Contemplating the Mountains

The mountains, burdened by deep thoughts, abide,
Languorous in the looming mist.
As if reminiscing of days bygone,
At times they sigh with long, long winds.

Like tears shed in moments of light sorrow,
Blue beads of dew glimmer on each leaf;
Clearing the mist and casting away their woes
The mountains regard me in their wise repose.

With the slightest swaying of the tree branches
Tears of heaven drop gently from the drenched limbs.
As specks of water from the clearing fog sparkle in the air,
A golden-tipped sun brush paints every color.

Threads of rain knitting the sunrays like string
Form skillful stitches on the brownish green robes of the stately mountains.
Vibrant flowers adorn its slopes,
And weave patterns at its feet.

Birds of all feathers, appointed to perch on every branch,
Conduct a melodic ensemble of the winged.
Each majestic tone in tune with others,
Each stone, each blade of grass, form the lyrics of the song.

The mountains hear my young son’s voice,
And record it deep in their mahogany-colored rocks.
The song of the cuckoo—the zither of the great khangai ,
Resounds with the joy of the mountains.

When even a single withered leaf lying on its slopes
Could tell hundreds of stories of life on this earth,
We cannot fathom the deep thoughts of the great mountains
In but a mere moment of this ancient world.

Amid the blue-green mass of familiar grass
A fresh new flower has been born!
Is this not a work of art long nurtured by the mountains
That found its form today and sprang to life?

Contemplating the Mountains

The mountains, burdened by deep thoughts, abide,
Languorous in the looming mist.
As if reminiscing of days bygone,
At times they sigh with long, long winds.

Like tears shed in moments of light sorrow,
Blue beads of dew glimmer on each leaf;
Clearing the mist and casting away their woes
The mountains regard me in their wise repose.

With the slightest swaying of the tree branches
Tears of heaven drop gently from the drenched limbs.
As specks of water from the clearing fog sparkle in the air,
A golden-tipped sun brush paints every color.

Threads of rain knitting the sunrays like string
Form skillful stitches on the brownish green robes of the stately mountains.
Vibrant flowers adorn its slopes,
And weave patterns at its feet.

Birds of all feathers, appointed to perch on every branch,
Conduct a melodic ensemble of the winged.
Each majestic tone in tune with others,
Each stone, each blade of grass, form the lyrics of the song.

The mountains hear my young son’s voice,
And record it deep in their mahogany-colored rocks.
The song of the cuckoo—the zither of the great khangai ,
Resounds with the joy of the mountains.

When even a single withered leaf lying on its slopes
Could tell hundreds of stories of life on this earth,
We cannot fathom the deep thoughts of the great mountains
In but a mere moment of this ancient world.

Amid the blue-green mass of familiar grass
A fresh new flower has been born!
Is this not a work of art long nurtured by the mountains
That found its form today and sprang to life?

Friday, August 21, 2009

MYSTICAL ENCHANTMENT OF G.MEND-OOYO’S WORKS

PIAC 52

MARIA PETROVA
Saint-Petersburg State University, Russia

OLD LEGENDS IN MODERN LITERATURE: MYSTICAL ENCHANTMENT OF G.MEND-OOYO’S WORKS

One of the Modern literature main sources is, undoubtedly, folklore. Folk genres, themes and motives were very popular among the writers and poets of the 20-30-s of the XX century, who were the founders of the Modern Mongolian literature: D.Natsagdorg, Ts.Damdinsurung, B.Rinchen, M.Jadamsurung and others. Nowadays, at the beginning of the XXI century folklore is very popular as well. One can say that modern authors continue traditions of their literary ancestors and give folklore a new resound in their creative works. If not be restricted by only a subject level, we can say, that the influence of folk traditions is typical for the creative works of S.Dulam (born 1950), D.Uriankhai (born 1940), B.Lhagvasurung (born 1945), D.Batbayar (born 1944), L.Dashniam (born 1943), Ts.Tumenbayar (born 1959) and others.
G.Mend-Ooyo (born 1957) is certainly such an author. His birthplace is Ongon somon, Sukhe-Bator aimak in the East part of Mongolia. In 1978 G.Mend-Ooyo graduated from the Pedagogical Institute in Ulan-Bator. Then he was a teacher at secondary school, a publisher a clerk in the Ministry of Culture in MPR. Nowadays G.Mend-Ooyo is the author of more than 30 books of poems, prose, literary sketches and dramas, various International and State Literary Prizes laureate, the Mongolian PEN club Chairman. His books were translated to many foreign languages.
G.Mend-Ooyo’s literary career begun with publication of his first book of poems “Bird of Thoughts” («Бодлын шувуу» ) in 1980. In 1993 the most popular book by Mend-Ooyo “Golden Hill” («Алтан Овоо» ) was published. It will have two more editions and be translated into English by Simon Wikham Smith in 2007. The author’s main idea, by his own words was to create a stupa – book, dedicated to his native land Dariganga in Sukhe-Bator aimak, Mongolia. Stupa or chaitja is a sacral Buddhist construction, with manuscripts, books and herbs put inside. And almost like such a sacral stupa G.Mend-Ooyo filled his book with different folklore genres: local legends, fairy and heroic tales, songs, ballades and hymn poems in both prosaic and poetical forms. The “Golden Hill” is filled with folk material – traditional ideas, characters, subjects and motives, formulas, clichés and stylistic methods. Many episodes are traditional subjects and motives more or less modified. However one can not speak about a full adequacy of the book’s folk material to the traditional folklore. Mend-Ooyo‘s book is not a fairy tale or a legend in Modern authors interpretation, it’s a folklorized improvisation with folklore used as a base and a construction material.
“Without any exaggeration one can say, that G.Mend-Ooyo as if he is making pearl necklace, is trying to save for the future generations traditions of native land worship, historical and cultural heritage of his nation,”- writes the Mongolian specialist in literature professor O.Sukhebaatar.
“Golden Hill” represents Mongolian poet G.Mend-Ooyo’s greatest literary achievement to date. He refers to it as an almanac, relating his own experience customs of his homeland through the focus of the topographical Golden Hill of the title”, - writes the English translator of the book Simon Wickham-Smith.
And “Golden Hill” mostly like an ancient Buddhist stupa is divided into eight main parts, called бөлөг, according the religious canon.
Central image of the book is a very high hill, named Golden Hill - a sacred place for worships, where the spirit of this very place lives, defending all its human beings. And the book is illustrated by beautiful photos and drawn pictures of this hill.
It is to be mentioned, that G.Mend-Ooyo’s “Golden Hill” has got two main subject planes - common and mythological. It is characterized by great exactness of life details and concrete exposition. The lyrical hero of the book as well as its author was born at Dariganga region of Mongolia. Love to the native land, detail knowing of the traditions, customs and legends in this region are transferred from generation to generation. Hero’s father knows all surrounding hills and mountains, rivers and springs, valleys and hollows and asks his son to remember them. «Father intoned the names of mountains and water, and the forty-first was Golden Hill. Our eyes and our hearts grew used to the mountains which surrounded us there and, from in the blue distant haze, they shone brighter.”
If the father introduces the outside world to his son, mother is a keeper of family legends and stories. Being grown up the hero hears stories about his own childhood, about his father and other relatives. A poem in prose “Poet’s Mother “(«Яруу найрагчийн ээж» ) is dedicated to the mother.

Зуны амралтаар талдаа яаран
Зуун уулыг даван ирлээ.
Удаан санасан ээж бид хоёр
Урд урдаасаа гар сунган алхлаа.
Баярласандаа ээж мэлмэрэнхэн угтлаа
Ээж бид хоёр инээж уйлан уулзлаа,
Ижилхэн сэтгэл, ижилхэн мөрөөдөл тайлан уулзлаа.

Hurrying over the steppe during the summer holydays,
I cross a hundred mountains,
Mother and I have long be waiting for this, and
I turn my legs towards the south.
I went in, smiling with joy.
Mother came to meet me, crying with joy.
Together, mother and I, laughing and weeping.
Together, with our hearts and desires fulfilled.

In future the lyrical hero himself becomes a part in the chain connecting his parents and his two sons.« I am standing in the space between the absence of my father, who has passed beyond this diverse world, and the presence of my two sons, the point, at which they entered the world of Golden Hill.”
For all of his life the lyrical hero remembered the wise lessons of his mother: “My son, please think about Golden Hill. Every hill and body of water is contained within it. The Ganga is its wife, they say, Khongor it’s child, Lung is its compassionate monk, Bayandulan is its minister, the Brown Hill of Dokhom is its younger brother. And its relatives dwell upon the colored earth of Dariganga”
G.Mend-Ooyo using method of personification, represents all surrounding hills, mountains, waters, stones and sands to have a human soul. The text contains ancient legends about all of the natural objects: « The Brown Hill of Dokhom is Golden Hill’s younger brother» («Алтан-овооны төрсөн дүү Дөхөмийн бор-овоо» ), «Mother Ganga – the Rescue»(«Гэтэлгэгч –Ганга ээж» ), «Ganga’s Daughter Legend »(«Гангын охины домог» ) and others.
G.Mend-Ooyo, alternating prose and poetical texts, skillfully uses toponymical legends. Here a funeral procession with a body of great Chinngis Khan passed to the north to his native land, there Chinngis Khan’s grandson was born, here on the Tsagaan nur lake shore Togon Tumur, passing from Chinese town of Daidu carrying a Great State Jade Seal stopped with his camp. Historical legends are coming alongside with Buddhist ones. Just not far from this very place in Dariganga in ancient times the younger son of Harmusta Tengry came down from the Sky. And the nearby places are connected with the names of well known folklore characters – Toroi bandi and Huhdei Mergen. Just after that, G.Mend-Ooyo refers to the reminiscences about his racehorse – father’s present. « Thus, at the age of eighteen, with my official credentials as a teacher stuffed in my pocket, I took up a job in a remote settlement of the Gobi. » The son gets a wonderful racehorse with a full gear as a present from his father: skillfully decorated saddle, silver bridle, knelling stirrups, which mother asperses with milk. Father compares this horse with a topaz, saying that a horse is the dearest thing for every Mongolian person.

Yлэмж эртний нутагт минь
Yлгэрийн манна татна
Тэрхүү манна дотроос
Тэнхээт хүлэг үүрсэнэ.
гурий, гурий, гурий
Аяа, үлгэрийн ногоон морьд мину
Араар дүүрэн, өврөөр дүүрэн
Адуу мину.
Ай, түмэн молор эрдэнэ мөн өө!
Ай хө, монголын эрдэнэ мөн өө!

A haze of stories
Gathers over my wide and ancient homeland.
And, from within that haze,
Comes a powerful horse…
come, come here, come here
Oh, I load up this horse in my story, it
Goes before me northwards, goes before me southwards,
My horse –
Oh, indeed it is like topaz, and
Oh, indeed it is a Mongol’s jewel.

This theme is very dear to every Mongol man. Here the author presents a very famous story about eight light bay horses, given to Temuchjin, his mother and brothers by his father Esugei baghatur. G.Mend-Ooyo refers to other legends, stories, thoughts and reminiscences, the main character of which is a Mongolian horse. Here a traditional folklore is used on different levels: plot and theme as well as stylistic.
A spirit of all animals and birds is a well known White Old man, who is always surrounded by them. He is often sitting on the Golden Hill’s slope and gold swallows, carrying flame in their beaks are flying around him. G.Mend-Ooyo gives several legends about animals and birds – a legend about an orphan foal, wounded swan, saved by poor man and woman, several stories about cranes ( in prose and verses), about a bold sheep, which traveled through Lhasa and Napels. And a real author’s find is a legend “Quickwit the Camel” («Шөргөн шар атны туурь» ), about a camel’s death.
A story about Motherland is not full without telling about its people. They are nomads and they live in an agreement with the surrounding nature of their homeland. G.Mend-Ooyo represents the four seasons of the year as well as the times of the day and night in his prosaic poem “ Riding out of the Brightness” («Гэгээн зүгээс морьтой айсуй» ). The theme of the four seasons is traditional for Mongolian literature. But the “Golden Hill” author managed to reach synthesis between nature and the emotional condition of his hero – a horseman. « A man rode out from the ger and headed off clip clop straight towards the south. Where was he going? He went up onto the hill and craned his neck back, gazing about him, surveying the scene through binoculars. And in so doing, it seemed to him that he held in the palm of his hand the outline of the shrubs and feathergrass and the small groups of cattle and hobbled horses and, beyond that, the town” The nomads life is impossible without songs. Long lasting songs are heard through the steppe during all four seasons of the year and in any time of the day.
The book is concluded with a poem “The Worship to a Golden Hill” («Алтан-овооны тахилын шүлэг» ), written in a ritual poetry genre, which combines shamanic and Buddhist traditions.
The book by G.Mend-Ooyo is written in various genres: traditional folklore genres - домог (legend), дууль (ballades), тууль (epic), туурь (story), as well as literary genres бодохуй, бодол (thoughts), дуртган санах, санал (reminiscences), огүүэх (story), ярилцах (dialogue), хууч (conversation), мөргөл, залбирал (prayer), тахилых шүлэг (ritual poems).
In the centre of the image system is the Golden Hill – mythical world mountain Sumeru, which connects Earth and Sky, upper, middle and lower worlds. The coexistence of secular and sacral worlds, the union of real and mythical spheres, poetical style, the usage of prose and poetry give the work by G.Mend-Ooyo mystical enchantment. This was also noted by Mongolian and European readers and literary critics. To my mind, modern presentation of traditional legends and ballades by G.Mend-Ooyo is a conscious author’s position. It demonstrates creative usage of folklore in Modern Mongolian literature.
Nowadays the worship to the Golden Hill is annually performed in the Dariganga region and thousands of people are coming from all over the country.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

М.П.Петрова; МИСТИЧЕСКОЕ ОЧАРОВАНИЕ ТВОРЧЕСТВА Г.МЭНД-ООЁО

М.П.Петрова
Санкт-Петербургскийгосударственныйуниверситет

ДРЕВНИЕ ЛЕГЕНДЫ В СОВРЕМЕННОЙ ЛИТЕРАТУРЕ: МИСТИЧЕСКОЕ ОЧАРОВАНИЕ ТВОРЧЕСТВА Г.МЭНД-ООЁО



Одним из основных источников, питающих современную монгольскую литературу является, несомненно, устное народное творчество. К фольклоным жанрам, темам, мотивам обращались в 20 - 30-х годах ХХ в. авторы, стоявшие у истоков новейшей монгольской литературы – Д.Нацагдорж, Ц.Дамдинсурэн, Б.Ринчен, М.Ядамсурэн. Фольклор непотерял своейактуальности и в начале ХХI в. Можно сказать, что современные писатели и поэты, продолжая традиции, заложенные их литературными предшественниками, придают фольклору новое звучание в своих произведениях. Если не ограничиваться сюжетным уровнем, можно сказать, что влияние фольклорных традиций характерно для творчества С.Дулама (род.1950), Д.Урианхая (род.1940), Б.Лхагвасурэна (род.1945), Д.Батбаяра (род.1944), Л.Дашняма (род.1943), Ц.Тумэнбаяр (род.1959) и других.
К числу таких авторов безусловно относится и Гомбожавын Мэнд-Ооёо (род.1952). Место его рождения – сомон Онгон Сухэ-Баторского аймакаут в на востоке Монголии. В 1978 г. Мэнд-Ооёо окончил Педагогический институт в Улан-Баторе. Занимался преподавательской работой, издательской деятельностью, работал в Министерстве культуры МНР. Сегодня Г.Мэнд-Ооёо - автор более тридцати сборников поэзии и прозы, лауреат всевозможных монгольских и международных литературных премий, председатель монгольского ПЕН клуба. Его книги и отдельные произведения переведены на многие языки мира. Заслуженный деятель культуры Монголии.
Литературная карьера Г.Мэнд-Ооёо началась с публикации в 1980 г.сборника стихов «Птица размышлений» («Бодлын шувуу» ).
В 1993 г. выходит самое знаменитое на сегодняшний день произведение автора «Золотое Обо» («Алтан Овоо» ).Оно будет переиздано ещё дважды, а в 2007 г. впереводе Симона Викхама-Смита выйдет на английском языке. Замысел автора, по его словам, заключался в том, чтобы создать книгу-субурган, посвящённую его родному краю – местности Даригинга в Сухэ-Баторском аймаке Монголии. Субурган или ступа – это сакральное буддийское сооружение, чайтья, в которое закладывают священные книги. Благовония, травы и т.д. И словно священный субурган Г.Мэнд-Ооёо наполнил свою книгу произведениями различных жанров устного народного творчества: преданиями, легендами, сказаниями, былинами, песнями и сказками как в прозаической, так и в поэтической форме. «Золотое Обо» насыщена фольклорным материалом – традиционными представлениями, персонажами, сюжетами и мотивами, формулами, клише, стилистическими приёмами. Причём многие эпизоды у Мэнд-Ооёо представляют собой традиционные сюжеты и мотивы, более или менее модифицированные. Нельзя, однако, говорить о полной адекватности фольклорного материала книги традиционному фольклору. Книга Г.Мэнд-Ооёо – не сказка или легенда в изложении современного сказителя, а фольклоризованная импровизация, где устное народное творчество служит почвой и строительным материалом.
«Без преувеличения можно сказать, что Г.Мэнд-Ооёо словно составляя жемчужное ожерелье, старается сохранить для будущих поколений традиции почитания родного края, исторического и культурного наследия своего народа,» - пишет монгольский литературовед профессор О.Сухбаатар.
«Золотое Обо» представляет огромное на сегодняшний день культурное достижение монгольского поэта Г.Мэнд-Ооёо. Это альманах, отражающий собственный жизненный опыт автора, выросшего в монгольской Дариганге, историю и традиции его малой родины через топографический фокус Золотого Обо, вынесенного в заглавие книги,» - пишет английский переводчик произведения С.Викхам-Смит.
Нельзя не заметить, что сама книга «Золотое Обо» словно древняя буддийская сутра, разделена на восемь глав, именуемых бөлөг,как и положено по религиозному канону.
Центральным образом произведения является высокая гора, получившая название Золотое Обо, то есть сакральное место поклонения, святилище, где обитает дух-хранитель данной местности, оказывающий покровительство всем окрестным живым существам. В качестве иллюстраций приводятся рисунки и фотографии этой горы.
Необходимо отметить, что книга Г.Мэнд-Ооёо «Золотое Обо» имеет два основных сюжетных плана – бытовой и мифологический. Она отличается большой бытовой точностью, конкретностью и детализацией изложения. Лирический герой произведения, как и его автор - уроженец плато Дариганга. Любовь к родным местам, доскональное знание традиций, обычаев, легенд и преданий передаётся в этом краю из поколения в поколение. Отец знает все окрестные горы и холмы, речки и ручьи, долины и впадины и, рассказывая о них сыну, просит запомнить их названия. «Отец шепотом перечислял горы и воды и каким-то сорок первым по счёту назвал наше Золотое Обо. Соседние горы окружали и словно приветствовали нас, но силуэт Золотого Обо тоже не исчезал из поля зрения и всё чётче проступал сквозь голубую дымку лёгкого тумана. » И если отец знакомит лирического героя с внешним миром, то мать – является хранительницей семейных легенд и былей. Уже во взрослом возрасте герой слышит от неё рассказы о своём далёком детстве, об отце и других родственниках. О матушке рассказывает поэма в прозе «Мать поэта» («Яруу найрагчийн ээж» ).

Зуны амралтаар талдаа яаран
Зуун уулыг даван ирлээ.
Удаан санасан ээж бид хоёр
Урд урдаасаа гар сунган алхлаа.
Баярласандаа ээж мэлмэрэнхэн угтлаа
Ээж бид хоёр инээж уйлан уулзлаа,
Ижилхэн сэтгэл, ижилхэн мөрөөдөл тайлан уулзлаа.

Спешу по степи на летние каникулы,
Сто гор перешёл-преодолел.
Мы с матушкой, долго скучавшие,
Навстречу друг другу руки протягивая, бежим.
Матушка, со слезами радости встретила,
Мы с матушкой смеясь и плача, встретились,
Родные души, мечты наши осуществились – мы встретились.

Это своё первое стихотворение автор посвятил своей матушке. В дальнейшем сам лирический герой произведения становится связующим звеном между своими родителями и своими сыновьями – между прошлым и будущим. « Я стою в пространстве между отсутствием своего отца, который уже покинул сей бренный мир и присутствием моих двух сыновей, в той точке, где они вступили в мир Золотого Обо».
На всю жизнь запомнил лирический герой мудрые наставления своей матушки: « Сынок, никогда не забывай о Золотом Обо. Ведь оно - начало всем остальным горам и водам. Наше озеро Ганга – жена Золотого Обо, Хонгор – сын, Лун хайрхан – лама, Баяндулам – чиновник, Дохомийн бор овоо – его младший брат и так далее. Все живописные места Дариганги – кровные родственники друг другу.» Активно прибегая к приёму олицетворения, Г.Мэнд-Ооёо наделяет душой все окрестные горы, холмы, воды, камни и пески. Текст произведения украшают древние легенды о каждом из этих объектов природы, такие как «Младший брат Золотого Обо - Дохомийн бор обо» («Алтан-овооны төрсөн дүү Дөхөмийн бор-овоо» ), «Спасительница – матушка Ганга»(«Гэтэлгэгч –Ганга ээж» ), «Легенда о дочери Ганги»(«Гангын охины домог» ) и другие.
Г.Мэнд-Ооёо, чередуя прозаический текст с поэтическим, искусно вводит в своё произведение топонимические легенды. Тут следовала траурная процессия с телом великого Чингис хана, направлявшаяся на север страны в его родные края, там родился внук Чингиса, здесь на берегу озера Цаган нур останавливался Тогон Тумур, бежавший из китайского города Дайду с яшмовой государственной печатью.
Исторические предания перемежаются с буддийскими. Именно в этом месте Дириганги в незапамятные времена с небес спустился младший сын Хармусты тэнгрия. А соседние местности связаны с именами Торой банди и Хухдэй мэргэна – известными сказочными персонажами.
Не прерывая канвы повествования, Г.Мэнд-Ооёо обращается к воспоминаниям о скакуне, подаренном лирическому герою его отцом. « Когда мне было восемнадцать лет, я впервые приехал домой с дипломом сельского учителя и собирался через две недели отправиться в работать в далёкий посёлок в пустыне Гоби.» Сын получает в подарок от отца прекрасного скакуна в полной упряжи: великолепно отделанное серебром седло, серебряная уздечка, звенящие стремена, которые мать окропляет белым молоком. При этом отец сравнивает подаренного скакуна с драгоценным камнем топазом, справедливо замечая, что конь для монгола дороже всего на свете.


Yлэмж эртний нутагт минь
Yлгэрийн манна татна
Тэрхүү манна дотроос
Тэнхээт хүлэг үүрсэнэ.
гурий, гурий, гурий
Аяа, үлгэрийн ногоон морьд мину
Араар дүүрэн, өврөөр дүүрэн
Адуу мину.
Ай, түмэн молор эрдэнэ мөн өө!
Ай хө, монголын эрдэнэ мөн өө!

Мой родной край с древними традициями,
Окутан дымкой сказок,
И из этой дымки
Сильный скакун появляется.
гурий, гурий, гурий

О, мои сказочные зелёные кони!
Вы и на севере, вы и на юге,
Скакуны мои,
Словно груды драгоценных топазов!

Тема задана, тема, близкая и милая сердцу каждого монгола. Автор раскрывает её, приводя известное сказание о восьми соловых конях, подаренных отцом Тэмучжина Есугей батаром жене и детям. Г.Мэнд-Ооёо обращается и к другим легендам, сказаниям, размышлениям, главным персонажем которых является монгольский конь. Здесь традиционный фольклор используется на различных уровнях: как на сюжетно-тематическом, так и на стилевом.
Духом-покровителем всех зверей и птиц, как известно, является Белый старец – Цагаан өвгөн, появляющийся всегда в окружении животных. Он часто сидит на склоне Золотого Обо, а над его головой кружат золотые ласточки, несущие огонь счастья в своих клювах. Г.Мэнд-Ооёо приводит несколько легенд о животных, бытующих в родных краях – о сироте-жеребёнке, о раненом лебеде, спасённом стариком и старухой, несколько сказаний о журавлях (как в стихах, так и в прозе), о лысой овце, побывавшей в тибетской Лхасе и в Непале. И настоящей находкой автора является, на наш взгляд «Баллада о рыжем верблюде-кастрате» («Шөргөн шар атны туурь» ), который чувствуя близкую смерть, собрав последние силы, стремится в свой родной край.
Рассказ о малой родине автора был бы неполным без рассказа о людях, населяющих её с давних времён. Земляки лирического героя ведут кочевой образ жизни в полном согласии с окружающей их природой. Г.Мэнд-Ооёо представляет смену четырёх времён года, дней и ночей в поэме в прозе «Всадник приближается со светлой стороны» («Гэгээн зүгээс морьтой айсуй» ). К теме четырёх времён года так или иначе обращались почти все монгольские поэты и прозаики. Автору «Золотого Обо» удалось достичь синтеза состояния природы и эмоционального состояния героя этой поэмы – всадника. « От юрты отъезжает человек верхом на коне и направляется строго на восток. Куда он держит свой путь? Вот он взбирается на высокий холм и оглядывает окрестности в бинокль. Словно на ладони в бинокль видны кусты, ковыль трава, то тут, то там пасущийся скот, стреноженные кони, дальше – силуэты юрт.» Жизнь кочевника невозможна без песни. Протяжная песня слышна в степи в любое время суток в течение всех четырёх времён года.
Завершает книгу стихотворение, написанное в жанре ритуальной поэзии « Стихи при жертвоприношении Золотому Обо» («Алтан-овооны тахилын шүлэг» ), сочетающие в себе традиции шаманской и буддийской ритуальных практик.
По своему жанровому составу книга Г.Мэнд-Ооёо чрезвычайно многообразна. Автор использует традиционные фольклорные жанры домог легенда), дууль (баллада), тууль (былина), туурь (сказание), наряду с литературными бодохуй, бодол (размышления), дуртган санах, санал (воспоминания), огүүэх (рассказ, повествование), ярилцах (диалог), хууч (беседа), мөргөл, залбирал (молитва), тахилых шүлэг (ритуальные стихи).
В центре многоплановой образной системы высится Золотое Обо – мифическая мировая гора Сумэру, соединяющая землю и небо, верхнюю, среднюю и нижнюю сферы мироздания. Сосуществование профанного и сакрального, единство реального и мифологического пространства, поэтический стиль повествования, использование прозаических и стихотворных форм придают произведению Г.Мэнд-Ооёо своеобразное мистическое очарование, отмеченное монгольскими и западными читателями, литературоведами и критиками. Модернизированное прочтение писателем традиционных легенд и преданий, своеобразная их модификация и социологизация – факт, на наш взгляд, не случайный. Это вполне осознанная авторская позиция, демонстрирующая творческую установку на использование фольклора в литературе.
В наши дни в местности Дариганга ежегодно проводится обряд поклонения горе Золотое Обо, на который со всех концов страны съезжаются тысячи участников.