Help with a Kyrgyz quotation

[Steve Seegmiller]

Dear Seelangers,

I recently came across the following quotation:

        ...Half of this is truth;
        Half of this is probably not truth...
        Don't hold it against us if we add something
        Or miss something.
        We're telling you the way we heard it...

The quotation comes from a 20-year-old National Geographic
book about the Soviet Union, which claims that it comes from
the beginning of the Kyrgyz epic poem "Manas."

I would love to find the original Kyrgyz version of this passage
but have been unable to find it. I consulted the re-edition of
Radloff's version of "Manas," but it doesn't appear to be there.

Does anyone know of any other possible sources, or other versions
of "Manas" that I might consult?

Thanks in advance for your help.



Steve Seegmiller, Ph.D.
Linguistics Department
Montclair State University
Upper Montclair, NJ 07043

seegmillerm at alpha.montclair.edu