FIG. 57.—KEINBA AND PERPAKH; THE FORMER IS HOLDING IN HIS HAND THE IMITATION BOW AND ARROW AND HAS HIS CLOAK OVER HIS HEAD.
Another reason given was that the buffalo had been caught at the wrong place—viz., at the place where it ought to be [[394]]caught at the funeral of a male. I only heard of this reason a few days later, and I do not know whether it was one of the reasons given by Midjkudr or whether it was a later surmise. A third reason was that Perner and Tebner, his brother, had been on bad terms; and to put this right Tebner, the younger, performed the kalmelpudithti salutation to Perner.
The next special feature of the ceremony took place after the buffalo had been killed and before the kachütthti ceremony. Keinba knelt down before Kuriolv and Piliag and the two men touched the head of the boy with their feet, thus accepting him as the husband of Sinerani. Then followed the pursütpimi ceremony. The mantle covering the dead child was opened, her right hand unclenched, and Keinba placed the little bow and arrow in the hand, and the fingers of the dead child were closed over the bow so that they held it as they would have done in life. Then the bow was taken out of the hand, placed on the breast of the child, and the mantle was again folded over her. Teitnir, the half-brother of Kuriolv, who had now become the paiol of Keinba, came up and covered the head of the boy with his putkuli as a sign that he was a widower, and then Teitnir and Keinba put their foreheads together and cried. After crying together for a while, Teitnir touched Keinba’s head with his foot. Then Sintharap, the mother of Sinerani, gave grain and jaggery and limes to Keinba, who put them in the pocket of the mantle of the dead child. Sintharap and Keinba then cried together, and Sintharap touched Keinba’s head with her foot.
After the cloth-giving ceremony, the body was taken to the burning place, and Keinba mixed honey and grain in a metal bowl; when Keinba began to stir the grain and honey he put his right arm out from above his cloak as usual, but was speedily corrected and made to put out his hand from below the cloak in the manner proper for a widower.
The wrists of the girl were burnt as in the urvatpimi ceremony, the burning being done by Silkidz (53), the wife of a younger brother of Perpakh, Keinba’s father, and, before her [[395]]marriage, like Sinerani, one of the Kuudrol. Silkidz also lighted the pyre.
In spite of the results of his previous infringement of funeral law, Kuriolv made a further departure from orthodox custom in burning on the pyre imitation buffalo horns, which should only be burnt at the funerals of males. Then after being swung over the flames as usual, the body was placed on the pyre.
Less than half an hour later, and long before the body could have been consumed, the marvainolkedr began, and passed off without any special incident. Another buffalo was caught and killed and laid by the side of a mantle containing hair which had been cut from the head of the dead child by Keinba. The mantle should also have contained a piece of skull, but the body had not been sufficiently consumed to procure this, and so the hair alone was held to be sufficient.
Later a distribution of grain took place, and those who were to take no part in the azaramkedr on the following morning went to their homes.
At another funeral of an unmarried girl, Olidzeimi (21), the ceremony of pursütpimi was performed by the boy Pulgudr (38), who had been married in infancy to the girl. He was her matchuni, being the son of Teijer, the sister of Parkeidi, Olidzeimi’s father. On this occasion Pulgudr said to his father-in-law, Parkeidi, three times, “pursadikina?”—“Shall I touch (with the) bow?” and Parkeidi replied each time, “Pursad!”—“Touch with the bow!” Then Pulgudr put the bow and arrow into the hand of the dead girl, and Parkeidi covered Pulgudr’s head with the cloak, and the boy put grain, jaggery, and limes into the pocket of the cloak of Olidzeimi. At the funeral of Sinerani, Keinba did not say the proper formula, probably because he was too young.