Two Mongghul Stories: Three Brothers and The Emperor's Hound
These two Mongghul foltales were filmed by Jugui 20 April 2002 in Sughuanghuali Village, Danma Town, Huzhu Mongghul (Tu) Autonomous County, Haidong Region, Qinghai Province, PR China. Later, on 26 May 2003, Jugui and Limusishiden converted the video into a DVD at their home in Xining.
The teller, Mr. Jansan (1932), illiterate, has some competency in the local Chinese dialect.
There are two Mongghul folktales:
The first one, Three Brothers, is about three brothers and an adopted girl in a poor family. The three brothers had no success to marry because their family was very poor. The father wanted to choose one of his three sons to marry the adopted daughter by holding an archery contest, which the third (youngest) son won. Later, with her help, he became a rich man and the ruler in the local area.
The second is named 'An Emperorâs Story'. Briefly: An emperor had a hound that he loved very much. One day the emperor went to hunt far away with his hound, which he lost. His hound became a girl and lived with an old couple in a remote valley. Later, she was found by the emperor, who led her back to his palace. He married her and asked her live in his backyard garden. Later she had two children (one daughter and one son). One day the first wife found the second wife, was very angry, and wanted to murder the second wife and her children. She then invoked her magic power, jailed the emperor, and tried to murder the second wife and her children several times, but without success. Finally the second wifeâs son grew up; killed the first wife; rescued his mother, sister and father (the emperor); and became a local ruler.
Mongghul enjoyed telling folktales in their homes and villages but after about 1980 as TV and VCD and DVD players entered Mongghul life people, interest in folklore declined. In 2010, few Mongghul under the age of thirty new Mongghul folktales.