A man who gives a bear-feast invites his relations and
friends; in a small village nearly the whole community takes part in
the feast; indeed, guests from distant villages are invited and
generally come, allured by the prospect of getting drunk for
nothing. The form of invitation runs somewhat as follows: "I, so and
so, am about to sacrifice the dear little divine thing who resides
among the mountains. My friends and masters, come ye to the feast;
we will then unite in the great pleasure of sending the god away.
Come." When all the people are assembled in front of the cage, an
orator chosen for the purpose addresses the bear and tells it that
they are about to send it forth to its ancestors. He craves pardon
for what they are about to do to it, hopes it will not be angry, and
comforts it by assuring the animal that many of the sacred whittled
sticks (_inao_) and plenty of cakes and wine will be sent with it on
the long journey. One speech of this sort which Mr. Batchelor heard
ran as follows: "O thou divine one, thou wast sent into the world
for us to hunt.
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