Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 7 1889.djvu/109

Rh Wednesday, Cham Pas. Tuesday, Ved Pas. Thursday, Nishki Pas. Saturday, Mastir Pas. Monday, Vam Pas, to ike.

When this is concluded, the girls sing in Russian while the musicians are playing:

Then the turostor cries out:

"Pulama mukyit! tyavter kodamò!" (bagpipers keep silent, girls keep silent).

He then orders those standing near the table to give the singers food and drink. When they have eaten, at the bidding of the turostor the girls again sing the pos morò, again eat and drink till all is consumed, save a small quantity of purè, flesh, and omelet, which is carried home.

The remains of the sacrificed animals—the horns, bones, hoofs, etc.—were sometimes burnt in the sacred fire at the conclusion of the feast, sometimes were buried inside the Keremet.

When all was over, the ladles, knives, vats, and other articles were taken back to the pryavts. So, too, with the ends of the candles that had been attached to the rim of the "sovereign's barrel," but the other candle-ends were divided among the heads of households.

Public parish sacrificial feasts were not held oftener than five times a year. They were celebrated in honour of the chief divinities, Ange Patyai, her sons Nishki Pas, Svyet Vereshki Velen Pas, Voltsi Pas, and Nasarom Pas, and her four daughters, "Patyai's sisters." The customs were not everywhere the same. In some parishes on the Volga, the Sura, and other large rivers, where the inhabitants were