The manuscript from the Public library named after Saltykov-Schedrin (Pl).
The manuscript Pl consists of two parts: the first part contains 67 sheets sizing 36x11 cm, on each side there are 7-8 lines. It is entitled: “The chapter of the life and perfecting of the Ling tsar the great Lion”.
The second part contains 89 sheets (35x12 cm), in each page there are 6-9 lines, it is entitled: “The fifth caapter of the war with khors”.
This manuscript is an incomplete copy of the Tibetan original from which the Mongolian “Lin Geser” was translated. The two fragments of this version coincide with the Mongolian “Lin Geser”, namely: part I, chapters I and II, sheets 1-12 correspond to the Mongolian “Lin Geser”, vol. II, sheets 1-19. The second part, sheets 39 to 88 correspond to the Mongolian “Lin Geser”, vol. II, sheets 213-309. Although there are some episodes that are lacking in the Mongolian “Lin Geser” but basically the two versions coincide with each other.
It remains very little to say of the manuscript Pb, but it sharply differs from the rest of the Tibetan manuscripts of “Geser”, from the version edited by Francke and from the rendering by David-Neel. In manuscript Pb an insignificant place is occupied by fantasy. The events are given realistically, with the indication to the precise geographical data. Unfortunately, in manuscript Pb there is no colophon where the name of the author is usually given, but which is found in the Mongolian”Lin Geser”.
The content of this version consists of the three parts: Geser’s birth, his travel to the North and the sharaigol war. The second part of the story of Geser’s travel to the North is of a fairy-tale nature. The first and the third parts were probably written by a participant of the events, the second part is a rendering of a legend. This Tibetan version is most realistic and historically most plausible of all the Tibetan versions.
I think that manuscript Pb is the most ancient one from among the known versions of the story of Geser. It is written by poet Choibeb of which it is said in the in the Mongolian translation of “Lin Geser”. The ancient nature of this version is confirmed by its language that reminds of the language of the Tibetan monuments of the IX-X centuries found in Dun-Khuan cave.
