Beasts, Men and Gods
by Ferdynand Antoni Ossendowski
Glossary
Agronome.—Russian for trained agriculturalist.
Amour sayn.—Good-bye.
Ataman.—Headman or chief of the Cossacks.
Bandi.—Pupil or student of theological school in the Buddhist faith.
Buriat.—The most civilized Mongol tribe, living in the valley of the Selenga in Transbaikalia.
Chahars.—A warlike Mongolian tribe living along the Great Wall of China in Inner Mongolia.
Chaidje.—A high Lamaite priest, but not an incarnate god.
Cheka.—The Bolshevik Counter-Revolutionary Committee, the most relentless establishment of the Bolsheviki, organized for the persecution of the enemies of the Communistic government in Russia.
Chiang Chun.—Chinese for “General” —Chief of all Chinese troops in Mongolia.
Dalai Lama.—The first and highest Pontiff of the Lamaite or “Yellow Faith,” living at Lhasa in Tibet.
Djungar.—A West Mongolian tribe.
Dugun.—Chinese commercial and military post.
Dzuk.—Lie down!
Fang-tzu.—Chinese for “house.”
Fatil.—A very rare and precious root much prized in Chinese and Tibetan medicines.
Felcher.—Assistant of a doctor (surgeon).
Gelong.—Lamaite priest having the right to offer sacrifices to God.
Getul.—The third rank in the Lamaite monks.
Goro.—The high priest of the King of the World.
Hatyk.—An oblong piece of blue (or yellow) silk cloth, presented to honored guests, chiefs, Lamas and gods. Also a kind of coin, worth from 25 to 50 cents.
Hong.—A Chinese mercantile establishment.
Hun.—The lowest rank of princes.
Hunghutze.—Chinese brigand.
Hushun.—A fenced enclosure, containing the houses, paddocks, stores, stables, etc., of Russian Cossacks in Mongolia.
Hutuktu.—The highest rank of Lamaite monks; the form of any incarnated god; holy.
Imouran.—A small rodent like a gopher.
Izubr.—The American elk.
Kabarga.—The musk antelope.
Kalmuck.—A Mongolian tribe, which migrated from Mongolia under Jenghiz Khan (where they were known as the Olets or Eleuths), and now live in the Urals and on the shores of the Volga in Russia.
Kanpo.—The abbot of a Lamaite monastery, a monk; also the first rank of “white” clergy (not monks).
Kanpo-Gelong.—The highest rank of Gelongs (q.v.); an honorary title.
Karma.—The Buddhist materialization of the idea of Fate, a parallel with the Greek and Roman Nemesis (Justice).
Khan.—A king.
Khayrus.—A kind of trout.
Khirghiz.—The great Mongol nation living between the river Irtish in western Siberia, Lake Balhash and the Volga in Russia.
Kuropatka.—A partridge.
Lama.—The common name for a Lamaite priest.
Lan.—A weight of silver or gold equivalent to about one-eleventh of a Russian pound, or 9/110ths of a pound avoirdupois.
Lanhon.—A round bottle of clay.
Maramba.—A doctor of theology.
Merin.—The civil chief of police in every district of the Soyot country in Urianhai.
“Om! Mani padme Hung!”. — “Om” has two meanings. It is the name of the first Goro and also means: “Hail!” In this connection: “Hail! Great Lama in the Lotus Flower!”
Mende.—Soyot greeting— “Good Day.”
Nagan-hushun.—A Chinese vegetable garden or enclosure in Mongolia.
Naida.—A form of fire used by Siberian woodsmen.
Noyon.—A Prince or Khan. In polite address: “Chief,” “Excellency.”
Obo.—The sacred and propitiatory signs in all the dangerous places in Urianhai and Mongolia.
Olets.—Vid: Kalmuck.
Om.—The name of the first Goro (q.v.) and also of the mysterious, magic science of the Subterranean State. It means, also: “Hail!”
Orochons.—A Mongolian tribe, living near the shores of the Amur River in Siberia.
Oulatchen.—The guard for the post horses; official guide.
Ourton.—A post station, where the travelers change horses and oulatchens.
Pandita.—The high rank of Buddhist monks.
Panti.—Deer horns in the velvet, highly prized as a Tibetan and Chinese medicine.
Pogrom.—A wholesale slaughter of unarmed people; a massacre.
Paspa.—The founder of the Yellow Sect, predominating now in the Lamaite faith.
Sait.—A Mongolian governor.
Salga.—A sand partridge.
Sayn.— “Good day!” “Good morning!” “Good evening!” All right; good.
Taiga.—A Siberian word for forest.
Taimen.—A species of big trout, reaching 120 pounds.
Ta Lama.—Literally: “the great priest,” but it means now “a doctor of medicine.”
Tashur.—A strong bamboo stick.
Turpan.—The red wild goose or Lama-goose.
Tzagan.—White.
Tzara.—A document, giving the right to receive horses and oulatchens at the post stations.
Tsirik.—Mongolian soldiers mobilized by levy.
Tzuren.—A doctor-poisoner.
Ulan.—Red.
Urga.—The name of the capital of Mongolia; (2) a kind of Mongolian lasso.
Vatannen.—The language of the Subterranean State of the King of the World.
Wapiti.—The American elk.
Yurta.—The common Mongolian tent or house, made of felt.
Zahachine.—A West Mongolian wandering tribe.
Zaberega.—The ice-mountains formed along the shores of a river in spring.
Zikkurat.—A high tower of Babylonish style.