About the manuscript and German translation of the Buddhist narrative about Go-Chikitu made by B. Bergmann

The “Nomadische Streifereien unter den Kalmuken in den Jahren 1802 und 1803” (“Nomadic Wanderings Among the Kalmyks in 1802-1803”) by B. Bergmann is a valuable source containing a rich variety of Kalmyk folklore samplestales, anecdotes, epics, Buddhist sastras, avadanas, etc. The paper provides an analysis of the prosopoetic narrative about Go-Chikitu, one of the past reincarnations of Avalokiteshvara, or Buddha of compassion towards all living beings. The captivating fairy-tale plot of the narrative is widely spread among Mongolic-speaking peoples. Both written and oral versions of this narrative exist till nowadays. One of twelve manuscripts of this tale named “Uneker torolkitu sayin xani tuuji” (“The Story of Uneker Torliktu-khan”) belonging to B. Bergmann is being preserved in the archive of the Institute of Oriental Manuscripts of the RAS. The text of this very manuscript served as the basis for B. Bergmann’s translation of the text into German known as “Coh Tschikitu. Eine Religionsurkunde in vier Buchern aus dem Mongolischen”. B. Bergmann himself evaluated the merits of his translation quite modestly, although he aimed to convey the content of the Go Chikitu narrative close to the original. He planned to publish it later as a separate book in which he aimed to include not only his German translation but also the original text in “Clear script” and its transliteration. The paper aims to analyze and introduce into scholarly circulation the German translation of this narrative made by B. Bergmann and included by him in his four-volumed work “Nomadische Streifereien unter den Kalmuken in den Jahren 1802 und 1803” (“Nomadic Wanderings among the Kalmyks in 1802-1803”).