Story One. About the real Kalmyk man. A man tells a story to his grandson. In the chest of every Kalmyk man burns, he says, a fire on which is boiling a (metaphorical) kettle with water. If you decrease the fire, the boiling water will cool down. A real Kalmyk man always has his ‘kettle’ with water boiling, and he is always ready for action. Such men fall seven times, but stand up eight times to carry on with life. Story Two. About how an old woman prepared her grandson for a married life. An old woman is teaching her grandson: ‘After you marry a girl, tie your wife up with three (metaphorical) bridles. When she gives in to you the first time, take off the first bridle. When she gives in the second, take off another bridle. But never take off the third one so that you could keep her under your control’. All Kalmyk brides are treated like this, including the old woman when she was a young bride. Story Three. About loneliness. A lonely monk lived near a well. One day when he was pulling a bucket of water from the well, a herdsman who was passing by stopped to ask about what it was like to live alone. The monk said to the herdsman, ‘Look at the bottom of the well and tell me what you see there’. The herdsman looked down the well and replied that he saw nothing. After some time when the waves in the water calmed down, the monk asked the herdsman to look at the well again. The herdsman said that he saw only his own reflection. The monk philosophized, ‘When the water in the well has waves, that is what life among people feels like. When the water calms down, it is like living alone. You can see your own reflection and find your true self. Every person has to experience loneliness twice in their lives. Once when you are young in order to think about how to live when you grow old. And then when you are actually old – in order to ponder about the past’. Story Four. About two tengris. Tengris heavenly beings that live in the skies. One day two tengris are having a conversation. One asks the other, ‘Why do you fly up and down all the time?’ The other replies, ‘My duty is to help the mortals. Why do you rest all the time?’ to which the first answers, ‘My duty is to receive thanks from the mortals (for what you did)’. Story Five. About sweet life and cheeky Kalmyks. God created 10 Kalmyk men from clay and gave them duties. The first man looked after sheep, the second after horses, the third after cows, the fourth bred camels, the fifth was a hunter, the six was a fi...