The ridges of the Sayans can be translated into Russian as "million of ridges", and that is how I remembered the name of these mountains. In the grey times of long ago, a great catastrophe took place in the Sayan mountains, as they say. When a terrible hurricane flew in from the direction of the Black Heaven, people and animals who lived in the region left those places, as they say. Places where berries grew were all destroyed, and mighty trees fell uprooted.
One shaman of heavenly origin conducted a ritual to stop the blows of the terrible hurricane, as they say. But suddenly a powerful gust of the wind tore out the drumstick-paddle from the shaman's right hand.
- Let the Sayan ridges remain the home of my ancestors. Let my Turkic people stay masters of this land! - the shaman prayed.
Terrible hurricane and the brave shaman continued their brutal duel. And the palm of the shaman's right hand became a ravine, as they say. And the shaman's ten fingers turned into ten mountain peaks, as they say. And the palm of his left hand, which held the drum handle, became a large flat rock. And the thumb of the shaman's left hand stopped the flight of a huge rock, which flew from the direction of the Black Heaven. And the fingernail of the shaman's thumb turned into white snow, as they say. The shaman of heavenly origin perished, but his soul remained immortal, as they say. In this way, from the grey times of long ago, the name Ergek-Dyrgak-Taiga, over which only the black eagle flies, came down to us, as they say.
DYRGAK - fingernail.
ULUG ERGEK - thumb.
ERGEK - DYRGAK - TAIGA - thumb with fingernail.
This was told by Islamov Khusain Iksanovich, coachman of the horse route Kyzyl - Abakan. He was born in 1881 in the town of Minusinsk, and lived in Tuva since childhood. Recorded on 11 July 1966 in Kyzyl. Museum. "The Little Cabin".
