A circle was formed of singers
who moved slowly around a girl who lay on the ground as if dead, and
as they went they sang:
'Dead, dead is our Kostrubonko!
Dead, dead is our dear one!'
until the girl suddenly sprang up, on which the chorus joyfully
exclaimed:
'Come to life, come to life has our Kostrubonko!
Come to life, come to life has our dear one!'"
On the Eve of St. John (Midsummer Eve) a figure of Kupalo is made of
straw and "is dressed in woman's clothes, with a necklace and a
floral crown. Then a tree is felled, and, after being decked with
ribbons, is set up on some chosen spot. Near this tree, to which
they give the name of Marena [Winter or Death], the straw figure is
placed, together with a table, on which stand spirits and viands.
Afterwards a bonfire is lit, and the young men and maidens jump over
it in couples, carrying the figure with them. On the next day they
strip the tree and the figure of their ornaments, and throw them
both into a stream." On St. Peter's Day, the twenty-ninth of June,
or on the following Sunday, "the Funeral of Kostroma" or of Lada or
of Yarilo is celebrated in Russia.
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