The Adventures of Massang is a Kalmyk folktale about a strong hero born of a cow, who finds three companions and has further adventures. The tale was published in the Siddi-Kur (or Siddhi-Kur), a compilation of Kalmyk and Mongolian stories.
The story is related, in the international Aarne-Thompson-Uther Index, to type ATU 301, "The Three Stolen Princesses", as a former subtype, AaTh 301B, "The Strong Man and his Companions": a hero of hybrid human-animal origin finds strong companions and climbs down to an underworld, and is eventually betrayed by his companions.
Origins The Bewitched Corpse compilation The Tales of the Bewitched Corpse is a compilation of Indo-Tibetan stories that was later brought to Mongolia and translated to Mongolic languages.de Rachewiltz, Igor; and Rybatzki, Volker. Introduction to Altaic Philology. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 31 May. 2010. pp. 227, 233. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004185289.i-524Kára, G. "Mongolian Literature". In: Turkic and Mongolian Literature. History of civilizations of Central Asia, v. 5. UNESCO. p. 738. . The collection is known in India as Vetala Pañcaviṃśati, in Tibet as Ro-sgrung, in Mongolia as Siditü kegür, and in Oirat as Siddhi kǖr.de Rachewiltz, Igor; and Rybatzki, Volker. Introduction to Altaic Philology. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 31 May. 2010. pp. 227, 233. doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004185289.i-524Kára, G. "Tibetan and Mongolian Literature". In: History of civilizations of Central Asia. UNESCO, 2000. p. 386. .
In this regard, Mongolian linguist Tsendiin Damdinsüren noted the existence of two Tibetan compilations of Vetala tales, one with 13 chapters and the other with 21. Also, both versions were mentioned in the work The Book of the Son, written in the 11th century. Lastly, the divergence in contents between the Indian Vetala and the Tibetan versions, according to Damdinsuren, may indicate the latter were original works, instead of an adaptation or translation. In the same vein, according to Tibetologist Françoise Robin, there are more than 20 versions of the compilation in the Tibetan-speaking zone alone, and their common versions contain between thirteen and twenty-five stories, with some even reaching up to 75 tales.
The origin of the Massang tale Hungarian Mongolist Lászlo L. Lörincz (1965) noted that the tale of Massang contained two "independent" parts connected as a loose whole. In the same vein, Tibetologist Rolf Stein argued the tale of Masang existed as "an indigenous tale" before being inserted into the compilation as the third story of the Tibetan and Mongolian redactions of The Bewitched Corpse, being also mentioned in other works, such as Father's Teaching and the Son's Teaching (Pha-chhos, Bu-chhos), from the 11th century.
According to Chinese researcher Lin Jifu, stories of a hero with animal parentage are found "primarily" among the nomadic and hunting peoples of northern and western China, and the Tibetan people have the oldest tradition and the highest number of variants. The tale Nor-bzang rgyal-po (or Ma-bzang rgyal-po and alternate spellings) is found in the Tibetan compilation Tales of the Corpse (Ro-sgrung), a book of tales that is referenced in ancient Tibetan literature as being as old as the 2nd century CE. At least fourteen manuscriptural versions exist in Tibet, with a varying number of tales in each one, but all contain a "common story": Brother Masang, the story of an ox-headed hero with human shape who joins forces with extraordinary companions to fight demons. The tale is not present in the original Indian compilation Twenty-Five Tales of Vetala, but must have existed in oral form at the time and was incorporated into the literary tradition, which helped in its diffusion.
Summary Slaying the Shimmu
In the tale How the Schimnu-Khan was Slain, of Tibetan or Mongolian provenance, the first part shows the birth of a youth named Massang "of the bull's head". A poor man's only cow gives birth to a half-man, half-cow hybrid and its owner is horrified by the creature. The cow-man, receiving clemency, flees from the old man and into the world. The youth meets a "black-coloured man (...) born of the dark woods", a "green-coloured man (...) born of the green meadows" and a "white-coloured man (...) born of the crystal rock" and the quartet soon move to a dwelling overlooking a hill. They take turns cooking the food while the others gather game nearby. One day, a small old woman appears and beats the three companions to steal their food ("milk and meat", as the story says). On the fourth day, Massang sees the little old woman and matches strength with the creature. After three tests, the little woman escapes and leaves behind a blood trail for the four heroes to follow. They soon come to an opening in the rock; down below, the witch's corpse strewn about near heaps and heaps of treasure. Massang descends to take the treasure to his companions but they betray him and leave him for dead in the pit. Massang sleeps on the witch's corpse - for years - and when he awakes, three cherry trees have sprouted, which he uses to climb to the surface. He visits his treacherous companions and discovers they have made a life for themselves with the witch's treasure, but they beg Massang to spare them.Busk, Rachel Harriette. Sagas from the Far East or, Kalmouk and Mongolian Traditionary Tales. London: Griffith and Farran. 1873. pp. 36-45.
Origin of a constellation In the second part of the tale, Massang decides to spare his former companions and carries on with his life. He finds a beautiful maiden carrying water in a jug and follows her. Massang arrives at the court of Churmusta Tengri, who bids welcome to the hero and tells him his arrival is most propitious. Churmusta Tengri explains that there will be a war between a white host of Tengri forces and the black host of the Schummu. Massang helps the white hosts by defeating the black host leader. At the end of the tale, a Schummu strikes a hammer against the ground and sparks fly out, originating seven stars of a constellation (Ursa Major or the Pleiades).Coxwell, C. F. Siberian And Other Folk Tales. London: The C. W. Daniel Company, 1925. p. 429. In this version of the tale, translated by British folklorist Rachel Harriette Busk, the narrator, in the framing device of the book, comments that he never returned to his master to bring him riches.
Versions translated the tale as Massang's Adventure. In his translation, Massang's companions are a "dark complexioned man (...) descended from the forest", a man of green colour "born of the turf" and a white man originated from crystal.Coxwell, C. F. Siberian And Other Folk Tales. London: The C. W. Daniel Company, 1925. pp. 188-193.
The tale was also translated by Charles John Tibbits as The Adventures of Massang, wherein Massang is described as horned; the dark man is called Iddar, Son of the Forest, and the other two Son of the Grass and Son of the Sedges. In his translation, the Schummu smites Massang and from this action seven stars spring out.Tibbitts, Charles John. Folk-Tales and Legends: Oriental. London: W. W. Gibbings. 1889. pp. 68-77.
In a Russian language translation of the tale, titled "Массанг" ("Massang"), published in 1978, the hero's companions are given the following names: Idder (Иддер) of the dark woods; Geger (Гегер) of the green fields/meadows; and Adder (Аддер) of the white mountains. This tale also contains the origins of the constellation, but ends on a happy note.Калмыцкие Сказки [Kalmyk Tales]. Elista: Kalmytskoe Knizhnoe Izdatelstvopp. 1978. pp. 131-137.
Massang also appears in a Tibetan and in a Kalmyk tale. In the latter, he is born from a human couple in the country of India, but still shows the bull/ox features, like horns and a tail.Bakaeva, E. P. "Veneration of Ursa Major among the Oirats and Kalmyks: Ancient Beliefs and Later Buddhist Additions. Part 1". In: Oriental Studies. 2020; 13(2). pp. 374–375 (in Russian). https://doi.org/10.22162/2619-0990-2020-48-2-368-384
In a version of the tale translated by author Eleanore Myers Jewett with the title The Promise of Massang, sourced as Tibetan, the translator removed the animal birth of the hero, thus making him a normal boy instead. The tale lacks the second part about the origin of the constellation, and ends with Massang bringing the cow's owner the riches he promised.Jewett, Eleanore Myers. Wonder Tales from Tibet. Boston: By Little, Brown, and Company. 1922. pp. 50-74.
Variants According to German Tibetologist Dieter Schuh, the tale of the ox-man and the origin of the constellation appears in both Tibetan and Mongolian literature.Schuh, Dieter. Tibetische Handschriften und Blockdrucke. Verzeichnis der Ortientalischen Handschriften in Deutschland. Band XI, Teil 5. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlag GMBH, 1973. p. 58. Hungarian orientalist László L. Lőrincz remarked that the tale is attested in a Tibetan collection named Ro-sgruṅ ("The Magic Corpse"), with the title Ya-ru-kha-khra'i le'u-ste. He also noted that the tale is popular in Mongolia, published in the Siditü kegür, and the hero may be known by the Tibetan name Yarupa or by Masang.LŐRINCZ, L. “DER MÄRCHENTYP 301 ALS TIBETISCHES ELEMENT IM HELDENLIED DES DSCHANGAR”. In: Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 22, no. 3 (1969): 335–336. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23682297.
Mongolia Hungarian orientalist László L. Lőrincz established the classification of the Mongolian tale corpus, published as Mongolische Märchentypus ("MMT"). In his system, he indexed a Mongolian type numbered MMT 127, Der kalbsköpfige Masang ("The Calf-Headed Masang"), which corresponds to tale type 301B. In the tale type, a hybrid son is born of a union between a man and a cow or a man and a she-bear; in his youth he meets equally powerful companions and they move out to a house; a diminute demoness attacks the heroes while they are preparing food, and Masang defeats her; they follow the trail to a hole and Masang descends and defeats the witch; he steals the demoness's treasure, but his companions abandon him down below; to escape, he plants a magical seed for a tree to grow or a bird carries him up to the surface. Later, Masang helps deity Qormusda in his battle against demons; Qormusda either transforms Masang to human form, or he dies and his body is sundered to make the Ursa Major constellation; or he intervenes in a war between two Khans and marries the daughter of the victor.Lörincz, Laszló. Mongolische Märchentypen. Budapest: Akadémiai kiadó; Wiesbaden: O. Harrassowitz, 1979. pp. 75-76 (tale type), 413 (correspondences).