Each one, having taken his place, sits in the posture of a monkey, drawing up his [142] legs against his thighs. If it is an eat-all feast, not a word is said, they only sing; and if there is a Sorcerer or Manitousiou present, he beats his drum; true, they are not always so strict that they do not hold some little conversation. If it is not a leave-nothing feast, they have a little conversation about their hunting, or the like, but most frequently about their pranks.
[286] Apres quelques discours, le distributeur du festin, qui est ordinairement celuy qui le fait, descend la chaudiere de dessus le feu, ou les chaudieres s'il y en a plusieurs, les mettãt deuant soy, & lors il fait quelque harãgue ou semet à chãter, & tous les assistans auec luy; quelquefois il ne faict ny l'vn ny l'autre, mais seulement il dit les mots de l'entrée du festin qui ne s'obmettent iamais, c'est à dire qu'il declare dequoy il est composé: par exemple il dira, hommes qui estes icy assemblez, c'est vn tel qui faict le festin, ils respondent tous du fond de l'estomac hô-ô-ô, le festin est composé de chair de Castor, ils poussent de rechef leur aspiration hô-ô-ô, il y a aussi de la farine [143] de bled d'Inde hô-ô-ô, respondent ils, à chaque diuersité de mets.
After some talk, the server of the feast, who is usually the one who gives it, takes down the kettle from the fire,—or the kettles, if there are several,—and, placing them before him, he makes a speech or begins a song, and all the others join in. Sometimes he does neither, but simply says the words at the opening of the feast, which are never omitted,—namely, he declares of what it is composed; for example, he will say, "Men who are assembled here, it is such and such a one who gives this feast." They all answer in deep chest tones, hô-ô-ô. "The feast is composed of the flesh of Beavers." They again utter this aspiration, hô-ô-ô. "There is also some [143] Cornmeal." Hô-ô-ô, they respond, to each of the different dishes.
Pour les festins moins solemnels, celuy qui le faict s'addressant à quelqu'vn de ses amis, ou de ses parents, il luy dira, mon cousin, ou mon oncle, voila le Castor que i'ay pris, nous le mangerons maintenant, & alors tout le monde dit son hô-ô-ô, & voila le festin ouuert, duquel on ne sort point, que les mots par lesquels on le conclud ne soient dicts. Cela fait, le distributeur ramasse quelquefois la gresse de dessus la chaudiere & la boit luy tout seul, d'autres fois il en fait part à ses amis, quelquefois il en remplit vn grand & profond plat qui se presente à tous les conuiez comme i'ay dit, & chacun en boit sa part; si le festin est de pois, de farine, de bled d'Inde, ou de choses semblables demy liquides, il prend les Ouragans, ou escuelles d'vn chacun, & distribue la chaudiere, le plus esgalement qu'il luy est possible, leurs rendant leurs plats bien garnis, sans regarder par quel bout il commence; il n'y a ny honneur ny [288] blasme d'estre party le premier ou le dernier. Si le festin est de viande, il la tire auec vn baston pointu, [144] la met dans des plats d'escorce deuant soy, puis ayant ietté les yeux sur le nombre des conuiez, il la distribue comme il luy plaist, donnant à chacun abondamment, non pas egalement. Car il donnera les friants morceaux à ses confidents, voire mesme quand il a donné à tous vne bonne piece, commençant par ceux qui ne sont pas de sa Cabane, il rechargera iusques à deux & trois fois & non pas pour les autres, personne ne s'offence de ce procedé, car c'est la coustume.
As to their less solemn feasts, the one who gives them addresses each one of his friends, or relatives, and says to him, "My cousin, or my uncle, here is a Beaver that I have taken, we will now eat it;" and then every one utters his hô-ô-ô; and lo, the feast has begun, from which they do not emerge until the words with which they are to terminate it are uttered. When this is done, the distributor sometimes collects the grease from the kettle and drinks it all by himself; at other times, he shares it with his friends; then again, he fills a large, deep dish which is offered to all the guests, as I have said, and each one drinks his share. If the feast is of peas, flour, Cornmeal, or such half-liquid things, he takes the Ouragans, or dishes, of each one and divides what is in the kettle, as equally as he can, returning their plates to them well filled, without noticing at what end he began. There is neither honor nor disgrace in being served first or last. If the feast is of meat, he draws it out with a pointed stick, [144] puts it into some bark dishes before him; then, having cast his eyes over the number of guests, he distributes it as he pleases, giving to each one abundantly, but not equally. For he will give the dainty morsels to his intimate friends; and, even when he has given to each of them a good piece, beginning with those who are not of his Cabin, he will serve them again, even two or three times, and not the others. No one is offended at this proceeding, for it is the custom.
Il presente ordinairement la chair au bout d'vn baston, nommant la piece ou la partie de l'animal qu'il donne, en cette façon; si c'est la teste d'vn Castor, ou d'Asne sauuage, ou d'autre animal, il dira Nichta Koustigouanime; Mon cousin, voila ta teste, si c'est vn espaule, il dira voila ton espaule, si ce sont des boyaux, il en dira de mesme; d'autresfois ils disent simplemẽt, Khimitchimi, voila ton mets: mais prenez garde qu'ils n'ont point l'equiuoque en leur langue que nous auons en la nostre. On raconte d'vn certain, lequel rencontrant son amy, luy dit par courtoisie, si i'auois quelque chose digne de vous, ie vous inuiterois à des-jeusner en [145] nostre maison, mais ie n'ay rien du tout, son valet l'entendant luy repartit à la bõne foy, excusez-moy Monsieur, vous auez vne teste de veau, cela dit en lãgage Montagnais n'a rien de ridicule, pource qu'ils n'õt point d'equiuoque en ces termes, les mots qui signifient ma teste propre & la teste d'animal qui m'est donnée estants differents.
He usually offers the meat on the end of the stick, naming the piece or part of the animal which he is giving in this way; if it is the head of a Beaver or of a wild Ass, or some other animal, he will say, Nichta Koustigouanime, "My cousin, here is thy head;" if it is the shoulder, he will say, "Here is thy shoulder;" and if it is the intestines, he will name it in the same way; at other times they simply say, Khimitchimi, "Here is thy meat." But bear in mind that they have not the ambiguity in their language that we have in ours. They tell a story about a certain one, who, meeting his friend, said to him through courtesy, "If I had something worthy of you I would invite you to breakfast at [145] our house, but I have nothing at all." His servant hearing him, answered in good faith, "Excuse me, Sir, you have a calf's head." If this were said in the Montagnais language, there would be nothing ridiculous in it, for they have nothing ambiguous in such terms,—the words which mean "my own head" and "the head of an animal which is given me," being altogether different.
Celuy qui fait le festin & qui le distribue ne fait iamais sa part, il se contente de voir manger les autres [290] sans se rien retenir pour soy; neantmoins quand il y a peu de viures, si tost qu'il a tiré la viande de la chaudiere, son voisin ou son amy choisit les meilleurs morceaux par courtoisie, & les met à part; puis quand tout est distribué, il les presente au distributeur mesme, luy disant vn tel, voila ton mets, il respond comme tous les autres, hô-ô-ô.
The one who gives the feast and who serves it never takes part therein, but is satisfied in watching the others, without keeping anything for himself. However, when there is a scarcity of food, as soon as the meat is taken from the kettle, his neighbor or friend chooses the best pieces for politeness and puts them aside; then when all is distributed, he presents them to the distributor himself, saying to him, "Here is thy meat," and he answers like all the others, hô-ô-ô.
Ils ont quelques ceremonies, que ie n'entẽds pas bien faisant festin d'vn Ours, celuy qui l'auoit tué, fit rostir ses entrailles sur des branches de pin, prononçant quelques paroles que ie n'entendis pas, il y a quelque grand mystere là dedans: de plus on luy dõna l'os du cœur de l'animal, qu'il porte dans une petite bource matachiée, penduë à son col; faisans festin d'Orignac, [146] celuy qui luy auoit donné le coup mortel, & qui faisoit le festin, apres auoir distribué la chair, ietta de la gresse dans le feu, disant: papeouekou, papeouekou, i'ay desia expliqué ce que cela veut dire.