Being a she-bear, it was also adorned
with a necklace and ear-rings. Then food and drink were offered to
it, in the shape of millet-broth, millet-cakes, and a pot of _sake._
The men now sat down on mats before the dead bear, offered libations
to it, and drank deep. Meanwhile the women and girls had laid aside
all marks of sorrow, and danced merrily, none more merrily than the
old women. When the mirth was at its height two young Aino, who had
let the bear out of his cage, mounted the roof of the hut and threw
cakes of millet among the company, who all scrambled for them
without distinction of age or sex. The bear was next skinned and
disembowelled, and the trunk severed from the head, to which the
skin was left hanging. The blood, caught in cups, was eagerly
swallowed by the men. None of the women or children appeared to
drink the blood, though custom did not forbid them to do so. The
liver was cut in small pieces and eaten raw, with salt, the women
and children getting their share. The flesh and the rest of the
vitals were taken into the house to be kept till the next day but
one, and then to be divided among the persons who had been present
at the feast.
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