Ulgen Creator
a Russian tale

God Ulgen saw mud floating on the waters. The mud had the shape of a human face. Ulgen gave the shape a spirit, and when it lived, it was the first man. Ulgen called him Erlik.

In the beginning, Erlik and God Ulgen were friends. But then Erlik tried to create life of his own. He boasted about it.

"I can do as well as Ulgen. I can make a man.

That made Ulgen angry. He commanded Erlik down to the depths. Now Erlik is the leader of dead spirits. He is the devil. Sometimes Erlik comes forth, and Ulgen must command him down again.

Ulgen next created earth.

He put seven trees on it, and he put a man under each of the seven trees.

Ulgen made a golden mountain, and there he also placed a tree, which was the eighth one.

Under this tree he put the eighth man.

Ulgen named that eighth man Maidere.

Then Ulgen, the god, went away.

Each of the seven trees grew seven branches after seven years. There was one branch for each year. But each man under each tree did not change at all. Each man stayed the same.

Ulgen returned.

"Why do the men not change?" he asked the eighth man, Maidere.

"Well, they cannot grow and change when there are no women for them," Maidere said.

"Then come down from your golden mountain," said Ulgen. "Make women for these men."

And Ulgen walked away again.

Maidere came down. He started to create a woman. He created her body, but he could not find a way to make this first woman live. He had to find UJgen. And he left Dog to guard his creation.

"If anyone comes, bare your teeth," Maidere told Dog. "Bark very loud, and frighten him away. Don't let anyone come near the woman."

"All right, lust as you say," Dog said.

Maidere was barely away when the devil Erlik came along.

"Dog," Erlik said, "would you like a fur coat?"

in those days, Dog had nothing on his skin. He was naked Dog. It was winter and cold. And he was shivering Dog.

"The coat I give you wilt never wear out," Erlik said. "It will feel cool in summer and warm in winter. And you know that any fur coat I give you wilt last you all your life."

"So what do you want me to do in return?" asked trembling Dog.

"Just let me look at the woman Maidere has made. I only want to see her."

"Well, all right," Dog said. "As you wish." Erlik crept close to the woman.

He took out his flute and played seven tones into the woman's nose. Next he played an instrument with nine strings right in her ear. The woman sat up. All at once, she was quite alive. She had a mind, and she had a spirit. But she had seven tempers and nine moods. Dog found this out when the woman got angry for no reason and threw stones at him.

When Maidre came back home, he carried the breath of life from God Ulgen.

But he was too late.

This first woman didn't need the breath of life. She was already alive.

"I told you not to let anybody near the woman!" Maidere scolded Dog.

"Well, I was cold," Dog said. "Erlik said he would give me a fur coat."

"In that case, I will have the fur coat grow on your back forever," Maidere said. "Let everybody throw stones at you forever and treat you badly forever, too."

"All right," sighed warm Dog.

So it has always been.

COMMENT: There are many versions of this Russian Altaic creation story in which first man is the devil, Erlik. In other stories, God Ulgen is first man and is himself created. In this story, the eighth man, Maidere, must bring the breath of life from God to the first woman. The story ends as a pour quoi or why tale-explaining why the dog has fur, and why the woman has a bad temper. In a Siberian Tatar version, the god Pajana must go to heaven and receive life for his creations from the High God. Although he leaves the naked dog to guard over them, Erlik comes and spits on them. When Pajana returns with life, he finds he must turn his creations inside out in order to cleanse them of the devil's work.