The Adventures of Massang
[1][2][3] The collection is known in India as Vetala Pañcaviṃśati, in Tibet as Ro-sgrung, in Mongolia as Siditü kegür, and in Oirat as Siddhi kǖr.
Lastly, the divergence in contents between the Indian Vetala and the Tibetan versions, according to Damdinsuren, may indicate the latter were original works, instead of an adaptation or translation.
[10] In the tale How the Schimnu-Khan was Slain, of Tibetan or Mongolian provenance, the first part shows the birth of a youth named Massang "of the bull's head".
At the end of the tale, a Schummu strikes a hammer against the ground and sparks fly out, originating seven stars of a constellation (Ursa Major or the Pleiades).
[12] In this version of the tale, translated by British folklorist Rachel Harriette Busk, the narrator, in the framing device of the book, comments that he never returned to his master to bring him riches.
[14] In a Russian language translation of the tale, titled "Массанг" ("Massang"), published in 1978, the hero's companions are given the following names: Idder (Иддер) of the dark woods; Geger (Гегер) of the green fields/meadows; and Adder (Аддер) of the white mountains.
[18] Hungarian orientalist László L. Lőrincz remarked that the tale is attested in a Tibetan collection named Ro-sgruṅ ("The Magic Corpse"), with the title Ya-ru-kha-khra'i le'u-ste.
[19] Hungarian orientalist László L. Lőrincz established the classification of the Mongolian tale corpus, published as Mongolische Märchentypus ("MMT").
In the tale type, a hybrid son is born of a union between a man and a cow or a man and a she-bear; in his youth he meets equally powerful companions and they move out to a house; a diminute demoness attacks the heroes while they are preparing food, and Masang defeats her; they follow the trail to a hole and Masang descends and defeats the witch; he steals the demoness's treasure, but his companions abandon him down below; to escape, he plants a magical seed for a tree to grow or a bird carries him up to the surface.
[21] Folklorist Elizaveta V. Barannikova [uk] translated and published a Buryat tale titled "Тугал Масан" ("Tugal Masan").
In the part about the celestial king, Tugal Masan is recruited to fight against the black yak army of Khara Lusan Khan.
In the second part of the story, Yakro Kharto follows the maiden and meets King Gyajin, who asks his help in defeat in the evil spirits.
[25] Folklorist William Ralston Shedden-Ralston called Massang the "Calmuck Minotaur", in reference to the hybrid bull-man creature of Greek myth.
[37] Lörincz suggests that the coloured companions in the Tibetan tale may represent guardian spirits of the woods, the meadows and the mountains, or be interpreted as indications of the cardinal directions.
[38] Also, the heavenly deity or king, named Dbaṅ-po brgya-byin in the Tibetan text, is equivalent to Sanskrit Śatakratu, that is, Indra.
[39] The second part of the tale of "ox-man" Massang (or Masn Mirü) involves his fight against a powerful enemy king and the origin of a constellation.
[40] Scholarship points out that the story of Massang serves as an etiological tale to the origin of a seven-star constellation known as "Долон Эбуген" ("Seven Elders") or "Долан Бурхн" ("Seven Deities").
