The tale about a greedy mouse in the folklore of the Northern Khanty

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of samples of Khanty folklore, united by a plot about a greedy mouse. The material was found in open sources of the Internet and in publications. The study included 16 samples, 13 of them were provided with audio recording, 11 were performed with singing. The author has completed a description and com- parison of plots, clarified the genre of the texts, described and schematically notated the melodies, compared the melodies with each other, compared the melodies and plots. As a result, two main plots were identified: «The Swallowed Mouse» and «Bursting Belly». Of the 16 samples, four relate to song genres, 12 – to fairy tales that are told or sung. Comparison of the lyrics and melodies showed that the plot “Bursting Belly” is constantly combined with melody number 1. Melodies of fairy tales and songs about the mouse have a number of features in common. They are distinguished by a one-line structure (two isotemporal half-lines), the presence of rhythmic formulas, the predominance of a five-step diatonic. Rhythmic-melodic clichés from the tales of the greedy mouse are also characteristic of the mythoepic songs (stories about the bear) of the Bear-Feast. A historical analogy is found for the only fairytale melody that differs from the others. This is a close version of the mouse song melody from the performance at the Vogul Bear-Feast. The melody was recorded by A. Kannisto on a phonograph at the beginning of the 20th century, the score was made and published by A. Väisänen in 1937.