Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 24, 1913.djvu/521

 Collectanea. 483

journey, he came to me and said " Akan : advise me wliat to do, I want to marry a Russian." He then told me that he knew a Russian girl who was lame. She was the daughter of a settler, whose acquaintance he had made when going with his father from the Tymi valley to the sea-shore. She had always been kind to him, instead of making fun of him, as young Russians generally do with Gilyaks. The young bard told me he wanted to marry her, and, blushing violently, added that he was sure of her affection as she had kissed him, — a thing which among the Gilyaks occurs only between lovers. I succeeded in explaining to him that amongst white people a kiss is not always of such importance, and the daughter of the settler was doubtless prompted by playfulness, rather than by affection. In a short time he forgot her and fell in love with the young wife of a Gilyak, whom I knew well. He wanted to be christened with her, so as to escape the wrath of her husband and family. I forbade him to play this trick, which would have estranged him from all his fellow tribesmen. Soon afterwards, according to the custom of the Gilyaks, Nispayn married the wife of his deceased brother.

I met my second poet friend when he was a boy. He was sent to my friend, Mr. Sternberg the ethnologist, and myself, during the hard winter. The young orphan, whose name was Koinyt, made friends with another pupil of mine, Indyn. Every day he used to play a musical instrument, and to show us how Gilyak women dance, amuse their children, etc. Koinyt possessed a great talent for imitating. He would imitate the doctor, myself, or anyone. He was generally very gay, and used to tell long stories to his friend Indyn. One night Koinyt sprang up from his sleep with a shriek, gesticulated with his hands, and began to improvise. He was pale, and wore an expression of pain and terror. Indyn understood what was going on, and after his friend had fallen on the bed from sheer nervous exhaustion he explained that Koinyt was not going to remain an ordinary Gilyak, but that the " shaman's spirits " had taken possession of him. A few years later Koinyt had become a celebrated shaman.

The gift of improvisation is characteristic of all Gilyak poets. In 1899 I left the place where I had lived for twelve years. Several Gilyaks came to take leave of me and sing farewell songs, which