A Bear Ceremony Song from the Szaracht Region

This is the second of the five "Simple Bear Songs" — a complete first-person narrative of the bear's earthly life told in the bear's own voice. Where Song I (from Munkesz village) gives us the full theological arc — summer, den, death, ceremony, ascent, and the Sky Father's command to return — this Szaracht River variant lingers on the texture of earthly life: the particular rivers and sandbars, the mosquito swarms and horseflies of summer, the coming of frost-nosed wind and fine-grained snow, the different kinds of ice that form, the digging of the den and the laying of wild rosemary and juniper bedding. The hunter who arrives is explicitly a young man on his first kill — "a man who has found his first little marten." The hunting dog is called by a ritual euphemism: "the elder-sister hare-lady." The bear presents its own head from the den; its skull rings like a silver dish. In the ceremonial house, the bear's face is covered with silver — sés-silver and kami-silver — through which its nose and hands appear. The spirit departs carrying packs of silver and food to the Sky Father's silver-crossed house. Recorded by Bernát Munkácsi among the Mansi people of the Szaracht River region, Western Siberia, and published in his Vogul Népköltési Gyűjtemény, Volume III: Medveénekek (Bear Songs), Budapest, 1893. No English translation of this song has previously existed.

The Fifth Section: Specimens of the Simple Bear Song

Through the long summer of deep warmth
that Lofty Sky my father made,
I pass my days.

Along the nourishing banks of the Szaracht —
the many bird-cherry-bearing sandbars
I walk.
Along the blessed banks of the Szaracht
where many marten-collared men dwell —
the many berry-bearing sandbars
I walk.

The mouth of my never-full barrel
I fill to brimming.
The mouth of my never-full pack
I fill to brimming.

A summer bountiful with berries
he makes.
A summer bountiful with pine-cones
he opens — Lofty Sky my father.

The misery of the dense mosquito swarms —
in the meantime I endure it.
The misery of the dense horsefly swarms —
in the meantime I bear it.

Back-fat for lying through winter
I gather.
Chest-fat for lasting through winter
I collect.

Two animals thick I grow.
Three animals thick I fatten.

Lofty Sky my father — what he always makes —
his frost-nosed, nose-biting wind
he brings forth,
his cold-nosed, nose-stinging wind
he makes.

His wide-grained, grainy snow
he lets fall.
His fine-grained, grainy snow
he lets fall.

The winter-freezing, lidded ice
he freezes.
The winter-freezing, broad-sided ice
he freezes.

The thin-snowed autumn
where a dog's foot leaves its print —
he makes.
The thin-snowed autumn
where a man's foot leaves its print —
he opens.

My winter-lying house
I search for.
My winter-living bed
I take into my mind.

Many streams whose ice-cover water has begun to move —
I walk along.
Many rivers whose floodwater has begun to flow —
I descend to.

A thicket impenetrable to a dog's nose —
I find.
A brush inaccessible to a man's nose —
I enter.

My house for lying through winter
I dig.
My bed for lying through winter
I stake out.

Three full armfuls of wild rosemary
I carry in.
Four full armfuls of juniper
I carry in.

The mat-end of my winter bed
I spread.
The pillow of my winter bed
I lay down.

A true sleep from which my head could be struck off —
I sleep.
A strong sleep from which my neck could be severed —
I sleep.

After at most two days have passed,
after at most three days have passed —
to my doored house's door someone comes.

The female hare, the elder-sister lady —
she comes.
The male hare, the elder-sister lady —
she comes.

I look closely:
what manner of female hare elder-sister lady has arrived?

And see — the marten-collared youth's own
marten-killing little hound
comes to my doored house's door.
The game-fur-collared youth's own
game-killing little hound —
you have arrived.

And then — the hardwood tree's noble branch
someone tramples.

Behind the gap between two trees
I peer.
Behind the gap between three trees
I peer.

A man who has found his first little marten —
a marten-fur-collared young man —
steps to my doored house's door.
A man who has reached his first little game —
a game-fur-collared young man —
steps to my smoke-holed house's little smoke-hole.

My noble, tufted head —
I present it.
My noble, handsome head —
outside my doored house
I present it.

The bottom of my little sés-silver dish
rings.
The bottom of my little kami-silver dish
rings.

And then — as I grow dizzy —

My five lad's buttons —
somehow they unfasten them.
My four lad's buttons —
somehow they loosen them.

To the creaking of a little three-legged sleigh
I awaken.
To the creaking of a little four-legged, bowed sleigh
I awaken.

To the square of a village of daughters they carry me.
To the square of a city of sons they carry me.

To the sacred village square
where many marten-collared men dwell,
with its living sacrificial animal —
I arrive.
To the ten-housed, house-rich village
where many game-fur-collared men dwell —
I come.

My five Animal-cries
they cry out.
My four Animal-cries
they cry out.

With the noble sport of girls' games
they play before me.
With the noble merriment of boys' play
they play before me.

Into the doored house's interior they carry me.
Into the food-rich house's corner they bring me.

On a three-board-wide shelf
they seat me.
On a shelf bountiful with Ob-food
they seat me.
In a nest bountiful with lake-food
they seat me.
In a nest bountiful with fine silk
they seat me.
In a nest blessed with fine cloth
they seat me.

When my hand appears —
through sés-silver it appears.
When my nose appears —
through kami-silver it appears.

In a nest bountiful with sopér-silver
I sit.
In a nest blessed with kami-silver
I sit.

The noble house of girls' merriment —
I gaze upon it.
In the noble house of boys' merriment —
I sit.

The Animal's allotted five nights —
they pass.
The Animal's allotted four nights —
they pass.

To the outer side of the daughters' house
I come forth.
To the outer side of the sons' house
I step out.

For as long as two nights
my noble house of girls' merriment
I listen to.
My noble house of boys' merriment
I listen to.

The pack full of sés-silver
I lift up.
The bundle full of kami-silver
I lift up.
The pack full of lake-food
I lift up.
The bundle full of Ob-food
I take upon my back.

Into the silver-crossed house
where Lofty Sky my father dwells —
the pack full of lake-food
I carry up.
The bundle full of Ob-food
I bring up.

Into the silver-beamed house
where Lofty Sky my father dwells —
the pack bountiful with sopér-silver
I carry up.
The bundle full of kami-silver
I bring up.

Haja-haj!

Colophon

Translated from Mansi (Vogul) source text via Munkácsi Bernát's Hungarian intermediary translation. Source: Munkácsi, Bernát. Vogul Népköltési Gyűjtemény, III. kötet: Medveénekek (Bear Songs). Budapest: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, 1893. Fifth Section (Ötödik szakasz: Az egyszerű medveének mutatványai), Song II (A Szaracht folyó vidékén leterített «állat» éneke), pp. 254–265. Archive.org identifier: f1vogulnpklt03munkuoft. Public domain.

The Hungarian translation was the primary intermediary; the Mansi source text (presented below) was consulted for proper nouns, ritual formulae, and structural verification. Munkácsi's parenthetical glosses have been absorbed into the translation where they clarify meaning.

Ritual notes: The "elder-sister hare-lady" (nőstény nyúl nénédasszony) is a ceremonial euphemism for the hunting dog — part of the ritual language in which the bear is never directly named as bear, the dog is never directly named as dog, and the hunt is described in circumlocutions. The bear's face during the ceremony was covered with silver ornaments (sés-ezüst, kami-ezüst, sopér-ezüst — three different types or grades of silver), through which its features appeared. The spirit departs carrying packs of silver and food as offerings to the Sky Father's silver-crossed house. Unlike the Munkesz Village song (Song I), there is no dialogue with the Sky Father — the bear arrives with its offerings and the song ends.

Good Works Translation (AI-assisted). Translated by Iläm, Tulku Life 263 of the New Tianmu Anglican Church, for the Good Works Project. First English translation. March 2026.

🌲

Source Text

Mansi (Vogul) — A Szaracht folyó vidékén leterített «állat» éneke

Sqrayt-ja palt va'iltém uj eryä

Numi-Tqrém äsém värné
munma sästém xqsä tüw
yöltilém,
tepin Sqrayt-vatät
5 lämä sästém saw rqs
jqmilém;
noysin jayi saw xum
ünléné yoldn Sqrayt-vatät
pilä sästém saw rqs
10 jqmilém.
ta'intettal sqwét-süntém
vatilém,
ta'intettal pajp-süntém
vatilém,
15 pilä nakä sunin tüw
väritä,
päkwä nakä sunin tüw
pünsitä.
qsin tqnn-uj sawä
20 totném xalté,
qsin palm sawä
lakwném xalté
täl xujné sis-vöj
värilém,
25 täl xoltné ma'il-vöj
atilém,
kit uj qsitV jemte'im,
xürém uj qsitV séle'im.
Numi-Tqrém äsém väri
30 serém nolpä nolin vöt
pünsitä,
sajik nolpä nolin vöt
väritä.
pänywin sampä samin tüjt
35 pattitä,
mail sampä samin tüjt
pattitä.
täl pölém aldn jänk
pölitä,
40 täl pölém xürin jänk
pölitä.
ämp-la'il xarés takwés
väritä,
xum-la'il xarés takwés
45 pünsitä.

täl xujné kwolém
kinsilém,
täl alné palém
nqmilém.
50 piitä miném saw sqjim
kwältilém,
nulii miném saw ja
va'iltilém,
ämp-nol pélptal päl' saxl
55 xqntilém,
xum-nol laptal päl' sqjim
sältilém.
täl xujné kwolém
xililém,
60 täl xujné palém
varilém.
vaxjiw-ke xürém äl-ta'il
tülilém,
ünsxjiw-ke nilä äl-ta'il
65 tülilém,
täl xujné saptän pal-qulém
nortilém,
täl xujné qsmän päl-asmém
pinilém.
70 punk jäktné säri älém
xujilém,
sip jäktné usi älém
xujilém.

aryän-pV kit xqtél
75 xöltném jui-pält,
aryän-pV xürém xqtél
xöltném jui-pält
äwin kwol äwim joytawé.
kät sqwér üpén-näj
80 joxti,
xuj sqwér üyén-ekwä
joxti,
til jqmés xantilém:
xänxä värém kät sqwér üpén-näj
85 jöttém.
noysin jqji män xum qnsné
noys alné män qri
äwin kwol äwimné joyti;
ujän jqji män xum qnsné
90 uj alné män qri
joyte'in,
ti mat xalét vortin jiw jqmés tqw
jqmäsawé.
kit jiw urtém säj
95 ne'iltilém,
xürém jiw urtém säj
ne'iltilém.
qul noys-qulén xaném xum,
noysin jqji män xum
100 äwin kwol äwimné jqmi;
qul uj-qulén joytém xum,
ujän jäyi män xum
surmin kwol surémrisém jqmitä.
jqmés xum sayin punkém
105 ne'iltilém,
jqmés xum vésin punkém
äwin kwol kwoni-palén
vis'iltilém.
sés-äni pattärisém
110 ta'inéjawé,
kami-äni pattärisém
ta'inéjawé.
ti xotä tqrämlém xalét

xum-pV at kenném
115 xumté anywiméf
xum-pV nilä kenném
xumté pésatimé.
xürém lailép män sim
siylin suj sajkélilém,
120 nilä la'ilép ainin sim
siylin suj sajkélilém.

äyin paul kanätt totawém,
piyin üs kanän totawém.
noysin jqyi saw xum ünléné
125 lilin jür narin paul kanä
joytilém,
ujän jqyi saw xum ünléné
lqu kwolpä kwolin palä
ne'ililém.
130 uj at ranyil-qulém
rqnxawé.
uj nilä rqnyil-qulém
rqnxawé.
äyi jonyil jqmés qul
135 jonyawém,
pV kasin jqmés jonyil
jonyawém.
äwin kwol kiwrän tülawém,
tépin kwol lqän totawém.
140 xürém part pänxwit normän
ünttawém,
Äs-tép sunin normän
ünttawém,
tür-tep sunin pitin
145 ünttawém,
vouta jarmak sunin pitin
ünttawém,
vouta unj xoldn pitin
ünttawém.
150 kätém-ke ne'ilés:
sés-voyi tara neilés,
nolém-ke ne'ilés:
kami-voyi tara ne'ilés.
sqpér-qln sunin inä
155 ünlilém,
kami-qln xoldn piti
ünlilém.
äyi käsin jqmés kwol
sunsilém,
160 pV käsin jqmés kwol
ünlilém.
uj morsin at étem
ta'iltawé,
uj morsin nilä étem
165 ta'iltawé.

äyin kwol kwoni-palén
patile'im,
piyin kwol kwoni-pälén
kwalile'im.
170 aryän-pV kitV it
äyi käsin jqmés kwolém
xöntlilém,
pV käsin jqmés kwolém
xöntlilém,
175 sés-voyi ta'ilin pajp
almilém,
kami-voyi ta'ilin xünt
almilém.
tür-tep sunin pajp
180 almilém,
Äs-tep ta'ilin xünt
xüntmilém.

Numi-Tqrém äsém ünléné
qln sirpä sirin kwol-kiwrén
185 tür-tep ta'ilin pajp
aléntilém,
Äs-tep ta'ilin xünt
totilém.
Numi-Tqrém jäyém ünléné
190 qln xerpä perin kwol-kiwrén
sés-voyi sunin pajp
aléntilém,
kami-voyi ta'ilin xünt
totilém.
195 Kaja-jaj!

Source Colophon

Mansi (Vogul) source text: Munkácsi Bernát, Vogul népköltési gyűjtemény III. kötet: Medveénekek (Budapest: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia, 1893), Fifth Section (Ötödik szakasz), Song II, pp. 254–265. Phonetic transcription by Munkácsi from oral performance recordings, Szaracht River region, western Siberia, 1880s fieldwork. Archive.org identifier: f1vogulnpklt03munkuoft. Public domain.

🌲