FIG. 43.—GAP IN THE WALL AT NÒDRS THROUGH WHICH THE CALF IS DRIVEN AT THE ‘IRNÖRTITI’ CEREMONY.
On the day before the new moon following the vow to give the buffalo, all the women leave the village at which the [[302]]ceremony is to take place, and all the men of the same kudr as the man who is giving the buffalo must also leave the village if they should be living there. Their place is taken by men of the kudr which is to receive the buffalo. If men of both kudr are living at the village, those of the giving kudr go and those of the receiving kudr remain; thus, when Kòdrner, who lives at Kars, made his offering, he and his brother left and went to live at another village of the clan, while Parkurs and his brothers, who belong to the other kudr, remained behind. If there is a wursuli at the village, the wursol remains at his post. If the palikartmokh is of the same kudr as the offender, he leaves and a new dairyman from the other kudr is appointed. All the men who remain at the village sleep in the outer room of the dairy—at Kars, in the outer room of the kudrpali. The palikartmokh does his dairy work in the inner room as usual and sleeps in the outer room with the rest.
The people live thus at the village for a month, no women, no men of the offending kudr and no people of other clans being allowed to visit them.
The actual ceremony takes place at the end of this month, on the Sunday following the new moon. On the Saturday the man, called the irnörtpol, who is to make the offering brings a female calf between one and two years of age to a wood near the village and makes a rough temporary calf enclosure (kadr), tying the calf to a tree. If the calf is troublesome, the man and his companions may sleep in the wood by the side of the calf, but generally they leave it in the wood and go to sleep in the village where they have been living. The calf must have no blemish, its eyes must be clear, and no part of its ears or tail may be cut.[10]
On the following morning a boy between ten and fifteen years of age is chosen, who is called ponkartvaimokh, the boy who observes the festival. It is his duty to drive the calf.
All those who are to be present take in their hands green sticks of the kind called kwadrikurs. All have their right [[303]]arms outside their cloaks (kevenarut), and must have bathed in the morning and abstained from food.
When the time for the ceremony comes, the ponkartvaimokh, who is followed by the irnörtpol and other men of his division, drives the calf towards the village. The people in the village then call out “Irnört! it vos!”—“Give the buffalo! Come here!” and they go to the appointed place and stand on the dairy side of the irnörtkars, or other spot appointed for the ceremony, while the calf is driven up towards the stones or other mark from the side away from the dairy. The palikartmokh, naked except for the kuvn, and the wursol, with the tuni round his loins, stand with the people of the receiving kudr. When the ponkartvaimokh has driven the calf up to the place, he asks three times, “Irnörtkina?”—“Shall I give the buffalo?”—and the palikartmokh replies each time, “Irnört!” The boy then drives the calf across the stones or other mark to the place where the buffaloes of the receiving kudr are standing. According to one account, the calf is driven direct into the tu, but it seems almost certain that this is wrong, though it may be that it is the practice of some clans. The calf then becomes the property of the kudr whose representatives have been living at the village. At Nòdrs the calf is driven through the gap in the wall and across the pool of water in the direction of the conical dairy.
All those present, both the man who has given the calf and his companions and those who have received the calf, bow down to the ground, resting their foreheads on the ends of their cloaks (as in [Fig. 44]), and utter a formula different for each clan. At Kars it runs:—
Swâmi, Teikîrzi, Târziolv, Kârziolv, Kârzû ultâmâ; îr kark ultâmâ; îrnörtvuspimi,[11] ultâmâ.
Then all present go to the dairy or dairies and bow down at the threshold. At Kars they go to Tarziolv (the kudrpali), to Karziolv (the wursuli), and to Karzu (the buffalo pen) and [[304]]bow down at the threshold of each, and then all partake of a feast. The food has been prepared by the dairyman, and includes the special kind called ashkkartpimi, which is eaten outside the dairy. Only the men of the clan who have taken part in the ceremony may be present at this feast.