A Bear Song from the Village of An-já

This is the opening song of the Mansi bear ceremony — the sacred festival held when a bear is killed. The bear is not an animal. She is the daughter of Numi-Torem, the Sky God, sent down from the celestial house to walk the earth. When she is killed, the ceremony sends her spirit home. The song is sung in the bear's own voice: she tells how she was raised in the locked house of the sky, how her father warned her not to break the door, how she ignored him and descended to the golden earth below. Recorded by Bernát Munkácsi among the Mansi (Vogul) people of the upper Sosva River in Western Siberia, and published in his Vogul Népköltési Gyűjtemény, Volume III: Medveénekek (Bear Songs), Budapest, 1893. This text has never previously appeared in English.

The First Section: Songs of the Descent from the Sky

In the house of Numi-Torem, my dear father,
sealed with seven locks —
in a cradle sewn from scraps of black sable and red sable skin
he raises me,
the strong-handed Mighty Animal girl-child,
he raises me.

Numi-Torem, my dear father,
made a golden-rayed, radiant sun —
and on the first day:
he locks the door of my doored house shut.
On the second day of the sun
that Numi-Torem my father made,
he opens the door of my doored house again.

Numi-Torem, my dear father,
strides to the centre of the planked house-floor.
His ten-toothed, toothy mouth —
see how he opens it.
His twenty-toothed, toothy mouth —
see how it speaks:

"I go now to my sable-catching seven, my beast-catching seven —
to my many hunting snares.
This house sealed with seven locks —
I close its door now.
Strong-handed Mighty Animal girl-child!
After I have gone,
this door of the house sealed with seven locks —
with your strong hands, with your strong feet,
do not smash it!"

My wild mind on one side,
the Mighty Animal's wild mind —
went off to the water.
My wild mind on the other side,
the Mighty Animal's wild mind —
went off to the forest.

Numi-Torem, my dear father,
puts on two golden-topped moccasins
sewn by a woman of great skill.
The coat sewn from scraps of black sable and red sable skin —
over his sable-furred, beast-furred shoulders
he puts on.
The belt sewn from scraps of black sable and red sable skin —
he girds about him.
Then his house sealed with seven locks —
with seven locks he locks it shut.
He steps behind the backed house,
and from the top of a tender twig just now sprouted,
from the top of tender grass just now sprouted,
he takes out two golden-topped snowshoes
whose wood was made by a man of great skill,
and onto his five-toed, toed two feet
he fastens them.

To his sable-catching seven, his beast-catching seven — his many hunting snares,
with the crashing sound of mighty thunder
he departs,
with the crashing sound of powerful thunder
he departs.

The strong-handed Mighty Animal girl —
inside the house sealed with seven locks,
I listen outward:
the noise of a ground where girls chatter and play
is heard from outside,
the noise of a ground where boys chatter and play
is heard from outside.

The strong-handed Mighty Animal girl —
from my sable-nest, from my beast-nest
I rise up.
That door of the house sealed with seven locks —
with my two little hands hooked like a sturgeon's jaw,
I smash it to pieces.
Beyond the door of the doored house,
I come out.

Of Numi-Torem my father,
of Golden Kworés my sire —
his golden-grassed, beautiful land is here,
his golden-grassed, holy land is here.

Behind the backed house,
three Mighty Animals fall —
I leap over them.
Four forest beasts fall —
I leap over them.
My iron chain from behind
clangs down.

I think to myself: "Was it a man-son of the ancient days
who loosed me, bearing a chipmunk-fat pouch?"
I fall, bearing a sable-fat pouch —
I fall.

My good Mighty Animal head
I turn back:
"What man of the ancient days' daughter loosed me, bearing a chipmunk-fat pouch?"

Behind my backed house,
with three Mighty Animal leaps
I bound away,
with four forest beast leaps
I bound away.
My iron chain from behind
clangs down.

I think to myself: I have fallen
to the mound of treasure hidden with fine silver
that the ancient man of the song-time placed here —
I have fallen
to the mound of treasure hidden with poor silver.

I turn my good Mighty Animal head back:
but it was the land where the people of the lower world dwell —
a little earth covered in yellow and red —
it was,
a little earth where small geese peep, where small ducks peep —
it was.

The little earth covered in yellow and red
is very joyful.
The little earth where small geese peep, where small ducks peep
is very joyful.

The tear of my right eye
I wipe to the left side.
The tear of my left eye
I wipe to the right side.

Into my house sealed with seven locks
I go back inside.
The nest sewn from scraps of black sable and red sable skin —
into the icy door's corner
I fling it.
Into the snowy door's corner
I fling it.
Strong-handed Mighty Animal girl —
I sit down now in this icy door's corner,
I sit down in this snowy door's corner.

My father the sable-catching, beast-catching man —
with the crashing sound of mighty thunder
his return is heard,
with the crashing sound of powerful thunder
his return is heard.
He arrives behind the backed house:
with furious-headed, furious mind
he paces up and down,
with angry-headed, angry mind
he paces up and down.

The two golden-topped snowshoes
whose wood was made by a man of great skill —
like three splinters of kindling
he smashes them to pieces.

Into his sable-mounded, beast-mounded house
he enters.
His belt sewn from black sable, red sable scraps
he unlooses.
His house sealed with seven locks
he paces through:
the doors of his house sealed with seven locks —
smashed to pieces.
The locks of his house sealed with seven locks —
broken apart.

He strides to the centre of the planked house-floor.
That strong-handed Mighty Animal girl —
the nest where she was wont to sit,
the nest sewn from black sable and red sable skin —
he peers at it:
and that strong-handed Mighty Animal girl-child of his
sits in the icy door's corner,
sits in the snowy door's corner.

My father, the sable-catching, beast-catching man —
his ten-toothed, toothy mouth
see how he opens:

"The door of the house sealed with seven locks —
strong-handed Mighty Animal girl,
why did you smash it?"

I, the strong-handed Mighty Animal girl, answer:

"The land where the people of the lower world dwell —
the little earth covered in yellow and red —
it was very joyful.
The little earth where small geese peep, where small ducks peep —
it was very joyful."

My father, the sable-catching, beast-catching man, answers:

"I have come into my autumn time.
Half my grass has withered,
half my leaves have withered.
Strong-handed Mighty Animal girl-child —
the earth covered in yellow and red —
that is why you see it so.
Why did your mind turn that way?"

I, the strong-handed Mighty Animal girl-child, answer:

"Oh no — dear father — the land where the people of the lower world dwell,
the little earth covered in yellow and red,
it was very joyful.
The little earth where small geese peep, where small ducks peep,
it was very joyful."

My father, the sable-catching, beast-catching man,
with furious-headed, furious mind,
with angry-headed, angry mind,
goes outside beyond the doored house.

Many dull-edged axes on one side
he gathers in great number.
Many blunted chisels on the other side
he gathers in great number.
To his seven smiths who work iron
he gives them.

A chain of iron three hundred fathoms long
they forge.
A cradle with silver rockers
they forge.
To that strong-handed Mighty Animal girl
they carry them.

Into that cradle with silver rockers
he seats me.
With the iron chain three hundred fathoms long
he binds me.

To the land where the people of the lower world dwell —
the earth covered in yellow and red,
the little earth where small geese peep, where small ducks peep —
he lowers me down.

He lowers me one hundred fathoms
and there holds me fast.
If an upriver wind rises:
toward the lower end of the Urals
it carries me.
If a downriver wind rises:
toward the upper end of the Urals
it lifts me.

Then with the good word of true enchantment,
Numi-Torem my father
enchants me:

"Strong-handed Mighty Animal girl-child —
you, now —
to the land where the people of the lower world dwell,
the earth covered in yellow and red,
the little earth where small geese peep, where small ducks peep —
I lower you down.

Live upon the food of forest berries
that grew in the forest!
Walk upon the food of meadow berries
that grew in the meadow!
The back-fat to survive the winter —
get it from there!
The breast-fat to endure the winter —
get it from there!"

Then the strong-handed Mighty Animal girl —
Numi-Torem my dear father
lowers me two hundred fathoms
and there again holds me fast.
If an upriver wind rises:
toward the lower end of the Urals
it carries me again.
If a downriver wind rises:
toward the upper end of the Urals
it carries me again.

What great suffering, worthy of a song,
I endured!
What great suffering, worthy of a tale,
I endured!

Then with the good word of true enchantment,
Numi-Torem my father
enchants me again:

"Strong-handed Mighty Animal girl-child!
To the land where the people of the lower world dwell,
the earth covered in yellow and red,
the little earth where small geese peep, where small ducks peep —
I lower you down.

If you find a storehouse full of river-food
that a navel-cut man's son has built —
go around it
from behind two trees, three trees!

If you find many wooden traps
that a navel-cut man's son has set —
go around them
from behind two trees, three trees!

If you find a moss-covered carcass
that a navel-cut man's son has placed —
go around it
from behind two trees, three trees!

For you I have enchanted food of forest berries
that grew in the forest.
For you I have ordained food of meadow berries
that grew in the meadow.

Your never-full belly —
fill it from there!
Your never-full basket —
load it from there!

The back-fat to survive the winter —
from there you will get it.
The breast-fat to endure the winter —
from there you will get it."

Then into seven thickets of wild rose,
into dense thickets of bird-cherry,
he lowers me.
And my cradle with silver rockers
he lifts away.

Now in the midst of the seven thickets of wild rose,
in the midst of the dense thickets of bird-cherry,
through a long summer rich with cushioned ease
I wander.
I drag my "iron shoes" — my paws:
the sharp thorns on the wild rose
pierce them.
I drag my five-toed, toed hands:
the sharp thorns on the bird-cherry
pierce them.

Oh, what great suffering, worthy of a song,
I have fallen into!
What great suffering, worthy of a tale,
I have fallen into!

"Numi-Torem, dear father, hear me!
Why did you lower me
into these seven thickets of wild rose?
Why did you lower me
into these dense thickets of bird-cherry?"

The song continues: Numi-Torem answers his daughter, guiding her out of the thorns and into the open forest. The full song runs thirty-three pages in Munkácsi's edition. What is given here is the main arc — the locked house, the father's warning, the breaking free, the first sight of the joyful earth, the father's anger, the forging of the chain, the descent through the sky, the father's enchantment with its warnings against human traps, and the bear's arrival in the thickets of the lower world.

Colophon

This is a Good Works Translation from the Mansi (Vogul) original, with reference to the Hungarian intermediary translation by Bernát Munkácsi. The source text is the first song of the Első szakasz: Az égből való leszállás énekei (First Section: Songs of the Descent from the Sky) in Vogul Népköltési Gyűjtemény (Vogul Folk Poetry Collection), Volume III: Medveénekek (Bear Songs), First Part, Budapest: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, 1893, pages 1–20. The original Mansi text was collected from singers on the upper Sosva River in the 1880s–1890s, partly from Munkácsi's own fieldwork and partly from the legacy manuscripts of Antal Reguly.

The translation works from the Mansi original text printed in Munkácsi's left column, with the Hungarian translation in the right column serving as the primary interpretive aid. Where the Mansi is transparent (as in the formulaic epithets Numi-Torem = "Upper God," sät-pis qlné tumanin kwol = "house existing with seven locks"), the English follows the Mansi directly. Where the Mansi is opaque or the morphology ambiguous, the Hungarian intermediary guides the reading. This is an honest rendering, not a re-translation of the Hungarian — but the Hungarian is the safety net without which the Mansi alone would be insufficient for a reliable English text. Munkácsi's scholarly annotations (in parenthetical glosses within the Hungarian text) have been silently incorporated where they clarify meaning.

No previous English translation of this text exists.

Scribed by the Panchen — Neko, the Maha-Secretary — for the Good Works Library of the New Tianmu Anglican Church, March 2026. 猫

🌲

Source Text

From Munkácsi, Bernát. Vogul Népköltési Gyűjtemény, III. kötet: Medveénekek. Budapest: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, 1893, pp. 1–7.

Numi-Tqrém asékémné
sät-pis qlné tumanin kwolté,
sémél uj, viyir uj supin piüt
jänméltawém,
vorin katpa nürém-uj ayikwé
jänméltawém.
Numi-Tqrém asékém

sqrni sa'ipa sa'in χätél
akw' χätél varés:
äwin kwol awim lap turmäntawé;
Numi-Tqrém asémné varém
sqrni sa'ipa sa'in χätél
kit χätél
äwin kwol awim päli pünsawé.

Numi-Tqrém asékém
partin kwol-kan kwoltän jq̈χmi,
lqu ponkpa ponkin süpä
χumlé pünsitä,
χüs ponkpa ponkin süpä
χumlé läwi:

«äm noyfs sät, uj sät — saw lesanémné
ti mine'im,
ti sät-pis qlné tumanin kwol
awidnä lap ti tqrtinäném,
vorin katpa nürém-uj ayikwé!
äm minném jui-pält
ti sät-pis qlné tumanin kwol-äwi
vorin kätél, vorin la'ilél
ul sakwatälnät!» —

akw' päl qlné nürém-uj vorin nqmtém
vitén ta minés,
akw' jml qlné nürém-uj vorin nqmtém
vörén ta minés.

Numi-Tqrém asékém
mästér-ne jüntém
sqrnin aläp kit närä
ti masi,
sémél uj, viyir uj supin ta'il
noysin väyén, ujin väyén num-pälén
ti masi,
sémél uj, viyir uj supin entép
nqny enti.
tül sät-pis qlné tumanin kwolä
sät tumanél lap ta tumantéstä,
sisin kwol sisüm jq̈χmi,

üs télém nawlék nir-taléynél,
üs télém nawlék pum-taléynél
jiwa mästér χum varém
sqrnin aläp kit josä viy,
at tul'ap tutän kit la'ilné
nqny ti votintiyä.

noys sät, uj sät — saw lesän
nanrä sayl mirin sujil
ta mini,
väyin sayl mirin sujil
ta mini.

Vorin katpa nürém-uj äyitä
sät-pis qlné tumanin kwol-kiwért
kwonäté χöntéle'im:
ayi sorrin, jontin χar
kwon sujti,
pi' sorrin, jontin χar
kwon sujti.

vorin katpa nürém-uj äyi
noyfs-pitinél, uj-pitinél
kwäle'im,
an sät-pis qlné tumanin kwol-äwi
süy-umpél vintän kit kätläl
pul'i ti rätilém,
äwin kwol äwi kwoni-pälné
ti pate'im.

Numi-Tqrém äsém,
Sqrni-Kworés jayém
sqrni vansin jqmés mä qnsi,
sqrni vansin jélpin mä qnsi.

sisin kwol sisém-nüpél
nürém-uj χürém, patil
poryime'im,
ünt-uj nilä patil
poryime'im,
jüle qlné kérin sukém
lätkati.

Source Colophon

Source: Munkácsi, Bernát. Vogul Népköltési Gyűjtemény, III. kötet: Medveénekek (Bear Songs). Budapest: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, 1893, pp. 1–7. Public domain.

🌲