CUTTING THE HOBBLE
Date: 2015-10-07; view: 490.
ASAR
“Asar” is the tradition of joint and gratis work. It is one of the most wonderful traditions of nomadic life. Aul (village) inhabitants gather together and do the work that is usually difficult for a sole family. Asar is organized by volunteers. This tradition is a reflection of spiritual richness, the unity of countrymen, the ambitions to help someone without compensation. That's why Asar's distinctive characteristic feature is working free of charge.
The only expenditure for hosts is to provide a great deal of food for the workers. Food and drinks must be in abundance. If the workers don't manage the work in a day, they will gather again.
It was considered indecent not to come to an announced Asar. With the help of Asar, people often built houses, dwellings for those who needed them (like just married or retired people). Asar is a humane tradition, widely spread in the past. Nowadays this wonderful tradition needs developing.
Vocabulary:
joint – îáùèé, ñîâìåñòíûé
gratis – áåñïëàòíî, áåçâîçìåçäíî
sole – åäèíñòâåííûé
expenditure – ðàñõîä, òðàòà
abundance – èçîáèëèå
indecent – íåïðèëè÷íûé, íåïðèñòîéíûé
Ø Answer the questions:
1. What is “Asar”?
2. Do volunteers get money for their work?
3. Why is it considered indecent not to come to ‘Asar'?
Ø What have you learnt about Asar? Tell your friends.
When a child just begins to walk, he undergoes another ancient ritual – cutting the hobble. A hobble is a rope tied around the child's legs in a figure of 8. The child takes a few steps, and then the hobble is cut by the most respected guest.
The custom is of pagan origin. The ancient inhabitants of Kazakhstan practised tengrism: they worshipped the sky (Tengri) as their supreme deify. In the Tien-Shan there is a mountain nameâ after it – Khan-Tengri, the highest peak in Kazakhstan.
The ancients saw the world divided into three parts: underground, earthly and heavenly. In the course of his/her life a person passes through all three stages in succession. The newborn baby is considered a new arrival from the underground world. His ties with that world are still strong, and the earth continually calls him/her. It is so how the ancient people explained the then high infant mortality rate. But when a child begins to walk alone, his ties to the underground world weaken. It is important to have the help of a person from the real, terrestrial world. That is why only people who were strong both, spiritually and physically, had the right to cut hobbles.
Vocabulary:
hobbles – ïóòû
rope – âåðåâêà
wound – îáâèòàÿ
pagan – ÿçû÷åñêèé
worship – ïîêëîíåíèå
deify – îáîãîòâîðåíèå
succession – ïîñëåäîâàòåëüíîñòü
mortality – ñìåðòåëüíîñòü
terrestrial – çåìíîé
Ø Express the same in English:
1. ïóòû
2. âåðåâêà, îáâèòàÿ âîêðóã íîã âåðåâêîé
3. îíè ïîêëîíÿëèñü íåáó
4. åãî ñâÿçü ñ ïîäçåìíûì ìèðîì îñëàáåâàåò
Ø What do you know about cutting the hobble?
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