Old Almasty Article Part 1

[Mad Academic]

I have translated the first part of the (very long) file my wife sent. I'm not sure who is asking the question nor who is answering, but I think it dates from about 2004. It may have been translated earlier and shared, so please alert me if this is true as it will save me the trouble. I want to say upfront that I think a lot of this stuff is rubbish....it's just fanciful. But the Russians are renowned for tall tales and superstition. Also, the Muslims of the Caucasus are very secretive and protective of "their" Almasty and almost never speak freely about it to foreigners. So, for what it is worth, here it is:

“In bed with the snowman”
Cohabitation with shaggy "mountaineers" of both sexes was common in the Caucasus.

Elders recall the mass of cases of residence of "forest man" (as it is also called) of both sexes in families and the facts of their cohabitation with local residents. Recently, more and more information began to appear that at once in several gorges (Baksan and Tysylsk) of Kabardino-Balkaria local residents saw traces of a large size that are believed to belong to the snowman or Almasty, as he is called here. These evidences forced the enthusiasts to organize several expeditions. From one such trip to the mountains, they returned a few days ago.

Almasty in the role of servants
"Going to the mountains, we expected, of course, that a snowman, if he appeared again after a long break, must somehow make a statement about himself. In particular, tracks,” - says local historian, writer and head of the Russian Geographical Society of Kabardino-Balkaria Victor Kotlyarov.
- “But the snow fell only for a very short time, and immediately came messages from those who visited these days on the hunt in the Baksan and Tysyl Gorges. In the upper reaches of the villages Bedyk, Bylym, in the gorge of Urda, unusual tracks were noticed: from 50 centimeters or more, that is, twice as big as human ones. These places are now almost not visited. Earlier here cattle were kept, even sheep were left for the winter – not any more; cattle breeding has become obsolete. That is, the places are completely depopulated. So there was no (person) to forge these strange tracks on the snow.
Moreover, they went into the forest and disappeared there. Therefore, I had no doubts that there is no one to play in those places," Viktor Kotlyarov continues. –“ Most of all we were interested in the traces in Tysyl, because it is with this gorge that the searches of the snowman, which took place in Kabardino-Balkaria, are connected. Before the Great Patriotic War in many villages in the family lived the snow people who performed the role of servants. They were charged with the most primitive work: digging up a vegetable garden, bringing brushwood out of the woods, helping around the house. Such cases were recorded in the villages of Zayukovo, Sarmakovo, Kamennomostsky and a number of others. Zhanna Kofman, a famous hominoid researcher, had a base in our republic for decades.”
But she concentrated her main searches in the Tysyl Gorge. Researchers of the 50-60's and even 70's of the 20th century were sure that Kabardino-Balkaria is the birthplace of the snowman. It so happened that this population turned out to be mainly in our country. By the way, the legend about the finding of Almasty in families is not a myth. Moreover, there is evidence that the snow people even cohabited with a man. So the Abkhazian Zana, who became pregnant (and subsequently repeatedly gave birth) from one of the local residents, in this sense is not an exception.
That's what, for example, the resident of the village Zayukovo 94-year-old Aslamurza Isufovich Gedgafov, remembers perfectly before the war:

"JV": - Is it true that before the war there were snowmen in families?

- After the collective farms were organized, small houses were built for those who were engaged in cultivating the land. In them lived workers and collective farmers. And then, when the work was over, people went home, and there remained a guard to avoid any trouble - they also had different furniture, and all this had to be guarded. The guards became, as a rule, single men in years. So, two men - one named Oytov, and the other - Batyrbek Gedgafov - guarded the camps of the fifth and sixth brigades. So they came to the women's Almasty and lived with them. And the men later, without embarrassment, told about their feminine qualities.
They were widowed men. They had children from normal women. They said that the Almasty are sexually distinct from our women. Outwardly they looked like ordinary people. True, they did not go straight, (rather) as if they were bent in the belt (waist). But most importantly, their entire body was covered in fur, and the breasts were so elongated that when they ran, the Almasty threw them over their shoulders.
By nature, (they were) extremely kind, even affectionate. They said that they had a strong musculature. But they did not compete with each other. Another interesting detail: their nails were thicker than that of a man and, naturally, longer. You can even say that these were not nails, but claws. In addition to physical contacts, they made a sound - they could understand by their behavior that they were so friendly. So with great pleasure they communicateded with men, and male Almasty - with women.

SP: - With women?!

- Yes, to a widowed woman (her name was Fatima), male Almasty came to the village home. She also had a husband before, after which there were children, a family. So she also met with the Almasty. Behind the house was a small garden and a building. In this building they met. There were many witnesses: even their neighbors saw their meetings. The woman was also not shy, she told how Almasty were in bed.

"And they lived with families?"
There are many such evidences. That the Almasty lived in families, any local resident will tell you.
- In general, the population of Almasty consists of at least two varieties, - Viktor Kotlyarov continues. - And, they differ from each other in growth and quite a lot more. There were positive, so to speak, minded Almasty, but for some reason mostly feminine. And there were Almasty, not loving, we put it this way, (because of) people who hurt them when they met.
For example, the Almasty, seen by the huntsman Otarov and his nephew (this story is separate), was huge. They differ not only in their behavior, but also in their growth. I do not know how they are connected, but only those who were small, two meters, were tamed; they lived with people. Then, after the war, all disappeared. The latest evidence of meetings with the snowman dates back to the beginning of our millennium.

"SP": - And how did the Almasty live in families?
- (I) recorded a lot of stories. Those with whom I had to communicate, say the following thing: in order for a forest man to remain in the family, it was necessary to cut off a piece of (the Almasty’s) hair and hide it in such a place that he did not know. After that, the Almasty became attached to this house.
There are a lot of stories of the following character: if, for example, children told the Almasty where their hair was hidden, then the forest people were released from captivity or what made them be attached to this family. And most of these children they then killed. There is a story of a child thrown into a cauldron. These are “hobars” (local stories ), but they are very truthful and unpretentious.
The Almasty have another strange feature: they like to communicate with horses. And always this communication ends with the fact that they braid them with pigtails on their manes. A man cannot do such a pigtail, it is very cleverly done. And these pigtails pass through the “hobars” of almost all who talk about meetings with the Almasty who lived in families. Those, in turn, could do the hard work: they could dig and carry things. They were not allowed into the house, but lived, for example in a stable. They were fed mostly with leftovers. Among Almasty, very few eat meat. But for the second, more aggresive (type), - human (meat), probably, would be appropriate.

How to Train a Snowman
"JV": - So how did they cut this piece of fur/hair from the Almasty?

- This was easy. They were often caught. They are not as big as others. Moreover, females were weaker. They were even killed several times. Surrounded, chased by horses. Then they took a wad of wool. Then this lock was hidden, and the Almasty became, as it were, tamed.

"SP": - Probably, this is due to extrasensory perception ...

- Maybe. But (I feel) very sorry for these creatures. They did not do any harm. Previously, the elders tried not to offend (them), because it was believed that if you hurt them, then you would be punished.
By the way, Ruslan Dzuev, an employee of the Kabardino-Balkar State University, tells about the way the Almasty have been tamed:

"From (village) grandmothers, I heard that if you get Almasty hair and hide it, where it never can find it, then you can use it as a servant. It was usually hidden, as advised by our ancestors, at the point of docking the rafters with a beam - there they cut out a hollow, put a piece of wool there and fastened them with nails.
For a long time, about ten years, nothing was heard about snow people. It's like they died out or went away to some unknown place. But informants again and again inform Victor Kotlyarov of unusual traces in the upper reaches."

NEXT PART: “ZANA”

[Shazzoir]

MA, thank you for this! I had heard of the story about Zana before now, but not this other background you provided, thank you.
Zana's children's descendents would surely have interesting DNA, if such a thing could be made possible.

Fascinating read, thanks for going to the effort of translating and sharing with us.

Shazz

[Mad Academic]

MA, thank you for this! I had heard of the story about Zana before now, but not this other background you provided, thank you.
Zana's children's descendents would surely have interesting DNA, if such a thing could be made possible.

Fascinating read, thanks for going to the effort of translating and sharing with us.

Shazz

No worries, Shazz.
Google means I can do "chunks" at a time, but I still have to go through it and correct the mistakes it makes.
For example; some damn reason it translates Almasty as "diamonds" (!) It also often reverses subject and object of a sentence, which really changes things.
I'll do the Zana story when I get a bit more time.

Cheers,

MA