Games of the Kyrgyz in the Early 20th Century
Games.
Games in alchik (chukyo): urda, kan (a women’s game where alchik are piled on both hands and scattered on the floor, then knocked down one by another, etc.).
Public games. Ak cholmyok6 — played on a moonlit night. Participants are divided into two groups. They take a white, smooth bone, so as not to get scratched, one that can be held in a fist. The leaders of both groups agree on how many wins to play (up to 5, 10, 15), then someone takes the bone first and throws it into the field. Both parties rush to find it. Whoever finds it grabs it and runs back to the designated place. On the way, opponents chase him, while his own protect him, and he can pass it to one of his own. Upon arrival, he sits in the "house." Then he passes the bone to his leader, who throws it again, and so on until the agreed number of wins is reached.
The losers stand inside a circle formed by tying the ends of a lasso, and the winners hit them (with hats, scarves, etc.), remaining outside. Those in the circle try to dodge, avoid being hit, get tangled in the lasso, and fall. If anyone in the circle catches the hitter, the parties switch places. And so it continues until the end of the entertainment.
Yelden yeldenel chapgir (the most warlike people among peoples)7. Also played at night. Two parties with two leaders, holding hands, form "chains" facing each other. Someone from one party calls out to an opponent. If successful, he takes a smaller piece of the "chain" to himself; if not, he remains a prisoner in that camp and attaches himself to them. This continues until only the leader remains in one camp. Then everyone runs after him, and when caught, they tug at his head.
Koz tangmay8 — blind man's buff. Also played on a moonlit night. Someone ties their eyes, the others hit or touch him, and he must catch someone. After that, they switch roles.
Zholuk tashtamay9 — a game with bands. They sit in a circle. One of the participants makes a band and then walks around the circle behind the backs of those sitting. He throws it behind someone’s back. If that person does not notice, after going around the circle, the one leading picks up the band and hits the one who was sitting there, saying: "Find your place!" The hit person gets up and runs around the circle, fleeing from the one chasing him with the band. After going around the circle, he sits back in his place. If he notices that the band was thrown behind him, he grabs it and chases the thrower back to his place. Or, after hitting someone sitting, the owner of the band throws it and runs around, while the hit person jumps up and runs after him, trying to repay him in kind. The pursued runs to an empty spot and sits down. The pursuer takes on his role, and so on.
Konusmey10. Participants are divided into two groups. One group sits: the two strongest sit opposite each other and hold tightly onto each other with their hands and feet; they are tightly bound with scarves. Behind one "goose" sits almost the entire group, holding onto each other's waists, behind the other — only one person. The opponents stand and try to pull one after another, approaching one by one. When everyone is pulled away, the groups switch places.
Tebetey tepmey (hitting a hat with feet)11. About 10-15 boys gather, each takes off their hat and places it in a row with the others. Then, stepping aside, they line up in the same line, each opposite their hat, and at a signal, all run in a row to their hats, each kicking theirs as in a game of football. Those who kicked take and put on their hats, while the one who misses remains hatless, and all the players start kicking and pushing his hat with their feet. He must hit (with his hand) whoever is hitting him, only at the moment of impact. Before or after hitting the hat with his foot, his hit does not count. If he manages to hit someone in time, the game continues with the hat of the caught one.
Toguz korgol12 — nine pieces of sheep droppings (or beans, etc.) and a board with 18 holes.
Uyun-tudu14 — played on the same board, but only with five balls in each hole. Two players play, each having nine holes. Taking from the hole (on their side first), they distribute all the bones one by one into adjacent holes (to the right).
When after this action an empty hole is found, the player takes the contents from the next one.
The name of the game comes from the case when there are four bones in a hole, which the last player also takes for himself.
Chichma13 — a solitaire game with two discs, which are put on a belt, from which they need to be removed.
A game with kemirchak (the root of a prickly plant)15 — boys collect 10-15 roots and play by tossing a knife: if it sticks, they win and take the other’s roots; if it falls flat, they lose.
Mangel urushabys (knocking down the mangel — the stem of the kurai plant)16. Boys gather a bundle of kurai.
They take an apple of horse manure and, having stuck it on a standing stem of kurai, throw it with a large sickle (mangel orok). The one who knocks down the apple takes all the kurai of the friends who are gathering it for fuel (mangel orok — a large heavy Kyrgyz sickle, which is tied in front to the waist when they harvest chiy: hands are not strong enough to deal with the strong plant, using the whole body, sharply straightening up).
Tash borkok17 — boys, shepherds, catch several goats and sheep, milk them, and since raw milk cannot be drunk — it causes sores in the mouth and thus unpleasant saliva (this is what they believe) — they make a fire and heat stones in it, which they then throw into the milk and thus boil it. The milk for this is poured into a hollow made in the side of bulaka (a leather vessel).
Playing with small children, they "divine" on the palm and count fingers, saying what each finger did (see the chapter "Folklore").
Ashik-Chuko18 — a game with bones (comparable to "babka") of a wild goat, mountain ram, domestic goat.
Dumpluduk19 — played by two parties. One party lies on the ground, covered with fur coats, robes, one of the lying holds the end of a long lasso. From this party, one person does not lie down, but acts as a protector of those lying and holds the lasso by the other end. The second party hits the lying ones with anything (hats, scarves, but not sticks or anything hard). The protector catches the hitters (they play outside the yurt), running after them, while not letting go of the lasso. If he catches someone, the parties switch places.
Shaviat20. 20-30 people are divided into two parties. They play outdoors. They make a circle from hats, tubeteikas, scarves, etc. One party lies in the circle, resting on both hands and one leg, occasionally running around in a disorderly manner on all fours. The other party, also in the circle, hits them with anything (see the previous game). The lying ones defend themselves, trying to hit the attacker with their free leg. If anyone among them hits the opponent with a leg, the parties switch places. The circle limits the area of movement for those lying down.
By drawing lots, they take a blade of grass in their hands and squeeze it in both fists. They need to guess which hand it is in.
Sait — a tournament with planted poles-spear during asha. For this game, which often ends with serious injuries and even death, a kind of armor is made: the entire torso is covered with felt hats (kalpak), which in the past were made much thicker than the present ones, for protection against blows.
About the games of kız oyun (see the section "Wedding rituals among the Kyrgyz").
Comments:
6 Ak cholmyok — from ak — "white," cholmyok — "shuttle of a sewing machine."
7 Yelden yeldenel chapgir — more precisely, "running from people to people." In G.N. Simakov's account, this game is called ak-terek, kok-terek — "white poplar, green poplar" (according to the couplet pronounced by one or another team: "Ak terak, kok-terek, sizden bizge kim kere," i.e. "White poplar, green poplar, who do we need from you?") — Simakov T.N. Referenced work, pp. 28-29.
8 Koz tangmay — literally, "eyes tied" (from koz — "eye," tang — "to tie"). In G.N. Simakov's account, this game is called "Karan gyda dep kбzum zhok," i.e. "I have no eyes in the dark" (Simakov G.N. Referenced work, p. 18).
9 Zholuk tashtamay — literally, "throwing a scarf."
10 More precisely: koon uzmay — "pulling a melon."
11 Tebetey tepmey — from tebetei — "hat, tubeteika," tepmey - "to hit with feet."
12 Toguz korgol — from toguz — "nine," korgol — "sheep, camel, goat droppings," i.e. "nine balls." A complex Kyrgyz board game, vaguely resembling chess: nine balls and a board with 20 holes; two holes — treasury — do not participate in the game and serve for stacking balls; a specific arrangement of balls in holes is required for winning (Yudakhin K.K. Referenced work, p. 406). This game is not recorded by G.N. Simakov.
13 Apparently from oyun — "game" and dodo — "heap, pile." This game is not recorded by G.N. Simakov.
14 More precisely: chechma — "untying, unraveling" from chech — "to untie, to unravel." Not found in G.N. Simakov.
15 Kemirchak — a stemless sow thistle, whose roots are edible.
16 According to K.K. Yudakhin, mangel — 1) a sickle without teeth for harvesting coarse-stemmed grasses (usually made from a broken sickle); 2) the name of a children's game during fuel gathering (the stake is the gathered fuel); mangel urush — to play in mangel (Yudakhin K.K. Referenced work, p. 516).
17 Tash borkok — the same as taik kordo — 1) a vessel made of horse skin for cooking food by throwing heated stones into it; 2) food cooked by throwing heated stones into the vessel (Yudakhin K.K. Referenced work, p. 406).
18 Chukb — alchik (the knee bone of a sheep or goat).
19 Dumpluduk — according to Yudakhin K.K., this game translates as "wolves and sheep" (Yudakhin K.K. Referenced work, p. 203).
20 According to Yudakhin K.K., shaviat — the name of a game for boys and young men (Yudakhin K.K. Referenced work, p. 894).
Public entertainments of the Kyrgyz in the early 20th century
