But it is the bear-festival of the Aino which concerns us here.
Towards the end of winter a bear cub is caught and brought into the
village. If it is very small, it is suckled by an Aino woman, but
should there be no woman able to suckle it, the little animal is fed
from the hand or the mouth. During the day it plays about in the hut
with the children and is treated with great affection. But when the
cub grows big enough to pain people by hugging or scratching them,
he is shut up in a strong wooden cage, where he stays generally for
two or three years, fed on fish and millet porridge, till it is time
for him to be killed and eaten. But "it is a peculiarly striking
fact that the young bear is not kept merely to furnish a good meal;
rather he is regarded and honoured as a fetish, or even as a sort of
higher being." In Yezo the festival is generally celebrated in
September or October. Before it takes place the Aino apologise to
their gods, alleging that they have treated the bear kindly as long
as they could, now they can feed him no longer, and are obliged to
kill him.
Pages:
1394
1395
1396
1397
1398
1399
1400
1401
1402
1403
1404
1405
1406
1407
1408
1409
1410
1411
1412
1413
1414
1415
1416
1417
1418