The Ainu People
"Ainu" means "human." The Ainu people regard things useful to them or beyond their control as "kamuy"(gods). In daily life, they prayed to and performed various ceremonies for the gods. These gods include : "nature" gods, such as of fire, water, wind and thunder ; "animal" gods, such as of bears, foxes, spotted owls and gram-puses ; "plant" gods, such as of aconite, mush-room and mugwort ; "object" gods, such as of boats and pots ; and gods which protect houses, gods of mountains and gods of lakes. The word "Ainu" refers to the opposite of these gods.
Origin
Scholars have advocated various theories about the origin of the Ainu people. The theories include the Caucasoid (Caucasian) Theory, the Mongoloid Theory, the Oceania Race Theory, the Old Asian Race Theory, and the Solitary Race Theory. Some scholars have recently advocated the following hypothesis into which the Mongoloid Theory has developed. Mongoloid peoples once were of two types : Southern Mongoloid and Northern Mongoloid. Before the Jomon Period (several tens of thousands of years ago), the Southern Mongoloid started moving northward and settled the Japanese archipelago, including Okinawa, over a long period of time. Later, the Southern Mongoloid played a major role in the Jomon Period throughout Japan. However, in the Yayoi and Tumulus Periods, the Northern Mongoloid came across the sea to Japan in great numbers. The ethnic Japanese (non-Ainu) are the people who have evolved rapidly through the strong influences of these migratory processes. On the other hand, the Ainu in Hokkaido and the Tohoku region and the Ryukyu people in Okinawa are the ones who have hardly affected by this process.
Religion
The Ainu believe that gods or their incarnations are found in every phenomenon and object, including natural phenomena from the sun, moon, thunder, wind, water and fire, to animals, plants, and implements that are related to human life. On every occasion, prayers are offered and various ceremonies observed. There is the house guardian, the god of fire, the god of windows, the god of the hearth, the god of entrances, the god of yards, the mountain god, the sea god, the lake god, the river god, the nursing god, the hunting god, animal gods of bears and owls, and the gods of pots, mortars and boats. Thus, numerous gods usually guard man and provide food, while at times disciplining him harshly. These gods, however, are not absolute beings. Man is able to argue with them when they commit errors regarding man. Gods are of help to man and therefore are appreciated by him, while man is also expected to serve gods. Gods and man exist in a relationship of mutual assistance.
The gods, disguising themselves as men and leading lives similar to those of man at "kamuy moshir" (eastern Heaven), at all times guard man and send down food such as salmon and deer to the "Ainu moshir" (homeland). The gods also disguise themselves as animals, plants and objects : for example, they pretend to be bears by wearing bear skins and bestowing food, animal skins, daily utensils such as pots and bowls, and boats. On the other hand, through ceremonies, man offers wine, dried salmon, and "inaw," sacred shaved stick, which are supposed to delight the gods. In addition to the above gods, there are also evil gods and other malevolent deities who cause man disease and mishap. In particular, smallpox (called "pakorkamuy")was so feared that magic ceremonies were observed to scare away its related evil gods.
Sending Spirits Back
There are various ceremonies throughout the year, including ceremonies to send back spirits, a religious ceremony for ancestors, a ceremony for the completion of new house, and a ceremony to launch the year's first fishing of salmon and shishamo smelt. Sending spirits back, the most frequent of these ceremonies, treats and sends back the gods, who disguise themselves as animals, plants and objects, descend to the human world and supply food and other daily necessities. The ceremonies include "iyomante," "hopunire" and "iwakte," of which "iyomante," a ceremony for the sending back of the spirits of bear cubs is the most important. "Iyomante" is observed between January and February when the fallen snow is heavy. A I to 2 years bear, which is captured in a hibernation den during winter, is sent back to the divine world by offering a splendid feast.
The "iwakte" also is a ceremony to send back the spirits of disused daily necessities and festival-related articles which have become unusable from damage or age. The sending back of spirits of small animals, such as squirrels and hares also was called "iwakte" in some districts. Ash from a hearth and the bran of millet including yard millet were gathered at a certain site and returned to the divine world.
Marriage
The Ainu people had various types of marriage. A child was promised in marriage by arrangement between his or her parents and the parents of his or her betrothed or by a go-between. When the betrothed reached a marriageable age, they were told who their spouse was to be. There were also marriages based on mutual consent of both sexes. In some areas, when a daughter reached a marriageable age, her parents let her live in a small room called "tunpu" annexed to the southern wall of her house. The parents chose her spouse from men who visited her.
The age of mdrriage was 17-18years old for men and 15-16 years for women, who were tattooed. At these ages, both sexes were regarded as adults.
When a man proposed to a women, he visited her house, ate half a full bowl of rice handed to him by her, and returned the rest to her. If the woman ate the rest, she accepted his proposal. If she did not, and put it beside her, she rejected his proposal. When a man became engaged to a woman or they learned that their engagement had been arranged, they exchanged gifts with each other. He sent her a small engraved knife, a workbox, a spool and other gifts. She sent him embroidered clothes, coverings for the back of the hand, Ieggings, and other handmade clothes. According to some books, many "yomeiri" marriages, in which a bride went to the house of a bridegroom with her belongings to become a member of his family, were conducted in the old days.
The yomeiri marriage was conducted in the following manner. A man and his father brought to the house of a woman betrothal gifts, including a sword, a treasured sword, an ornamental quiver, a sword guard, and a woven basket (hokai). If they agreed to marry, the man and his father would bring her to their house or the man would stay at her house for a while and then bring her to his house.
At the wedding ceremony, participants prayed to the god of fire. Bride and bridegroom respectively ate half of the rice served in a bowl, and other participants were entertained.
Pregnancy
When a wife was two - three months pregnant, the gods of fire, birth, entrances, etc. were prayed to for the health of the wife and baby. At five months, the prayer for "cyakutai" (wearing a maternity belt) was performed. The loincloth of the husband or father-in-law was used as the maternity belt. When she was seven months pregnant, a ceremony was held to purify her body.
Birth
When a pregnant woman was near term, a delivery room was established at the left side (shiso) of the fireplace. The pregnant woman gave birth while holding on to an "over-the-shoulder" rope (a rope for delivery) hanging from an overhead beam. Another woman who had given birth delivered the child. While the pregnant woman was giving birth, even her husband and children were required to go outside. At the fireside, an elder supplicated various gods, including those of fire, birth, entrances and lavatories, for easy delivery.
If the delivery was a difficult one, various magic ceremonies would be carried out a different one in each geographic area. In the Shiraoi area, a woman who sat beside the expecting mother raised her in her arms and let the mother-to-be pound something in a mortar.
Naming
New born babies were named "ayay" (a baby's crying), "shipo," "poyshi" (small excrement), "shion"(old excrement), etc. Children were called by these "temporary" names until the ages of two to three. They were not given "permanent" names when they were born. Their tentative names had a portion meaning "excrement" or "old things" to ward off the demon of ill-health. Some children were named based on their behavior or habits. Other children were named after impressive events or after parents' wishes for the future of the children. When children were named, they were never given the same names as others.
Coming of Age
Men were regarded as adults at the age of 15-16. They wore loincloths and had their hair dressed properly for the first time. Women were also considered adults at the age of 15-16. They wore underclothes called "mour" and had their hair dressed properly and wound waistcloths called "raunkut," "ponkut," etc. around their bodies. When women reached age 12-13, the lips, hands and arms were tattooed. When they reached age 15-16, their tattoos were completed. Thus were they qualified for marriage.
Family
Ainu families were nuclear ones which consisted of parents and children. When the children got married, they left their families and lived separately. Therefore, no more than one couple lived in a house.
Sacred Dances
It was believed that every day of life was made possible, and that peaceful harmonious life was ensured only by the gods' protection and supply to man of food for subsistence. Therefore, the Ainu dedicated various dances to the gods by holding various festivals that would enable families and "kotan " (villages) to live peacefully. Furthermore, dances were meant for people to share the feelings of joy and sorrow with the gods, and therefore played an important role in daily life.
Dances on festival occasions include basic ones accompanied by songs such as "upopo" performed by sitting singers and "rimse" sung by dancing participants, many of which are performed in groups.
For "upopo", women sit in a circle and sing to the rhythm created by beating the lids of "shintoko" (hokai). It is a prelude to various dances to make the occasion merry.
"Rimse," which originally meant to make a banging sound, refers to a dance and song combination derived from a dance parade. When something disastrous or catastrophic happened in a village, the villagers would brandish their swords up and down while beating the ground with their feet to scare away evil spirits.
For example, during "iyomante" ,a ceremony for sending bears' spirits back to Heaven, people would celebrate the departure of the bear god, performing various dances during the ceremony. Furthermore, in a feast which would last far into the night, the participants would stand one after another and begin dancing. As the excitement mounted, the circle would grow bigger and they would begin dancing "iyomante rimse," a dance to send bears' spirits back to heaven.
There are sorts of work-related dances which are performed when people prepare for a festival ; these include a "brewing dance" which symbolizes the actions of pressing steamed rice grains and filtering the juice, and a "pounding dance" representing the actions of pounding grains in the mortar. In the Shiraoi district, for example, the shout of the "pounding dance" is "hessa ho" or "hessa oh ho." It is said that adding such a rhythm to what seems a simple action seeks to enhance participants' delight or the efficiency of work. However, if "hessa" is considered a transformation of "fussa," it is assumed that this dance is certainly possessed of magical elements, for "fussa" is a kind of magical word.
There is also a dance to act out the "intimidation of evil gods", which is performed on festive occasions. It is called "emush rimse," a sword dance. This soul-stirring dance is performed by men who brandish their swords vigorously, crossing their blades violently with each other to the accompaniment of courageous shouts, and occasionally beating the beams of their houses. Like "ku rimse," a bow dance, it is one of the few men's dances.
Oral Literature
The Ainu people originally did not have an alphabet. Therefore, they have orally transmitted literature such as tales, Iegends, experiences, and morals for everyday life from generation to generation.
" Yukar" are the tales of heroes. They are also called "yayerap," "sakorpe," or "haw" in some areas. Yukar are called "hawki" in Sakhalin. The hero is an orphan boy called by various names, including "Poiyaunpe," "Pon-shinutapkaunkur," "Pon-otasamunkur," and " Yayresupo," depending on the area. The narrator of yukar sits at the fireside and recites the adventure stories of this boy all night, beating the fireside with a stick called "repni. "
In some stories, the heroes are men ; in others, they are gods whose appearance resembles men. In a story in which heroes are gods, gods with such names as "Aeoynakamuy," "Ainurakkur" and "Okikurmi" descend from the heavens to the human world and experience various dramatic events with man. In the lburi and Hidaka districts, such stories are called "oyna." However, in other areas, such stories are included in " kamuy yukar" as described below.
Stories in which heroes are "natural" gods such as animal ones are called "kamuy yukar. " The narrator recites animal gods' experiences with morals, repeatedly inserting words called "sakehe " between phrases.
The oral literature of the Ainu is not only "recitative" as described above, but also "narrative uepeker " which is usually translated as, "an old tale," is called "tuitak" in some areas and "uchashkuma" in Sakhalin. Although uepeker is translated as an old tale, it is not a fictitious one but a real one with experiences of those who lived in olden times. Tales called "ikopepka" or "upashkuma" more closely resemble legends than do those called "old tale."
" Yaysama" is oral literature in which a woman sings an impromptu song of her emotions. Most words have been handed down from generation to generation. This is why it can be said to belong to oral literature.
" Upopo" is a festival song sung by women who sit in a circle, beating the lid of a container called "shintoko." The words are not long and are sung repeatedly in a round or a chorus.
AINO FOLK-TALES
Introduction
TWELVE hundred years ago a Chinese historian stated that "On the eastern frontier of the land of Japan there is a barrier of great mountains, beyond which is the land of the Hairy Men." These were the Aino, so named from the word in their own language signifying "man." Over most of the country of these rude and helpless indigenes the Japanese have long since spread, only a dwindling remnant of them still inhabiting the island of Yezo. Since the early days when a couple of them were sent as curiosities to the Emperor of China their uncouth looks and habits have made them objects of interest to more civilised nations. Many European writers have described them, but hardly any with such opportunities as Mr. Basil Hall Chamberlain, Professor of Philology at the Tōkyō University, who has taken down from the Ainos the present collection of their tales, and prefaced it with an account of their ways and state of mind. It would hardly be for me to offer information on a subject so excellently handled, but the request of the Editor of the Folk-Lore Journal that I would write an Introduction enables me to draw attention to the views put forward by Professor Chamberlain in another publication, which, being printed in Japan, may be overlooked by many English folk-lore students, even of those interested in the curious Aino problem.
As is well known, the hairiness of the Ainos marks them sharply off from the smooth-faced Japanese. No one can look at photographs of Ainos without admitting that the often-repeated comparison of them to bearded Russian peasants is much to the purpose. The likeness is much strengthened by the bold quasi-European features of the Ainos contrasting extremely with the Japanese type of face. Of p. vicourse all this has suggested a theory of the Ainos belonging to the Aryan race; and, although the idea comes to nothing when examined strictly, its existence is an acknowledgement of the special Aino race-type. Mention must also be made of an anatomical peculiarity of the Aino skeleton, consisting of a remarkable flattening of the arm- and leg-bones. On the whole it is evident that the Ainos are an ancient race in this part of Asia, and so far isolated that anthropology has not yet the means of settling their physical connection with other Asiatic tribes. Professor Chamberlain's careful examination of the Aino language leads him to a similar result. It is made not only from his own knowledge, but with the advantage of working with the Rev. John Batchelor, who has lived as a missionary among the Ainos for years, and written the Grammar printed as a part of these Aino Studies. In structure the resemblances which the Aino presents to Japanese are outweighed by the differences; and, though it may ultimately prove to fall into a north-east Asiatic group of languages, this is so far from being made out that it is safest for the present to treat both race and language as isolated. Inasmuch as the little civilisation now possessed by the Ainos has in great measure been learnt from the Japanese, it is natural that their modern language should have picked up numbers of Japanese words, from the name of kamui which they give to their gods, down to the rice-beer or sake in which they seek continual drunkenness, now their main source of enjoyment. One purpose which their language serves is to prove how widely they once spread over the country now Japan, where place-names alone remain to indicate a former Aino population. Some of these are unmistakeably Aino, as Yamashiro, which must have meant "land of chestnut trees," and Shikyu, "place of rushes." Others, if interpreted as Japanese, have a far-fetched sense, as, for instance, the villages of Mennai and Tonami, which, if treated as Japanese, would signify "inside permission" and "hares in a row"; whereas, if taken to be originally Aino they may bear the reasonable sense of "bad stream" and "stream from the lake." The inference from records and local names, worked out with great care by professor Chamberlain, is "that the Ainos were truly the predecessors of the Japanese all over the Archipelago. The dawn of history shows them p. viito us living far to the south and went of their present haunts; and ever since then, century by century, we see them retreating eastwards and northwards, as steadily as the American Indian has retreated westwards under the pressure of the colonists from Europe."
As with their language, so with their folk-lore, which largely shows itself adopted from the Japanese. In the present collection the stories of the Salmon-king (xxxiv.), the Island of Women (xxxiii.), and others, are based on episodes of Japanese tales, sometimes belonging to world-wide cycles of myth, as in the theme of the mortal who eats the deadly food of Hades (xxxv.), which has its typical example in the story of Persephone. On reading the short but curious tale (xvi.), How it was settled who should rule the World, one sees at once that the cunning Fox-god has come in from the well-known fox mythology of Japan; and as to the very clever mythic episode of looking for the sunrise in the west, I find, on inquiry of a Japanese gentleman living in Oxford, Mr. Tsneta Mori, that this belongs to the tale of the Wager of the Phœnix, known to all Japanese children, and in which the Phœnix is plainly derived from China. On the other hand, there is much genuine Aino matter in the present collection. For instance, we learn from Professor Chamberlain's above-mentioned treatise why it is that Panaumbe ("on the lower course of the river") does the clever things, while Penaumbe ("on the upper course of the river") is the stupid imitator who comes to grief. It is simply the expression of the dislike and contempt of the coast Ainos, who tell the stories, for the hill Ainos further up the rivers. It is needless to mention here the many touches of Aino ideas, morals, and customs, which their stories disclose, for it is in noticing these that much of the interest consists which the reader will feel in perusing them. Their most important characteristic indeed is insisted on by Professor Chamberlain, in remarks of which the value must not be overlooked. Of all the difficulties felt by the student of folk-lore the greatest is that of judging how far those who tell and listen really believe their childish wonder-tales of talking beasts and the like, or how far they make and take them as conscious fun. We ourselves are at the latter sceptical end, and many peoples we can examine are in a halfway state, not altogether disbelieving that big stones may p. viiionce have been giants, or that it is a proper incident in a hero's career to be swallowed by a monster and get out again, but at the same time admitting that after all these may be only old wives' tales. Even savage under contact with civilised men are mostly in this intermediate state, and thus Professer Chamberlain's statement as to the place of folk-lore in the Aino mind, made, as it has been, under his personal scrutiny, is a document of real consequence. He satisfied himself that his Ainos were not making believe, like Europeans with nursery tales, but that the explanatory myths of natural phenomena are to them theorems of physical science, and the wonder-tales are told under the impression that they really happened. Those who maintain the serious value of folk-lore, as embodying early but quite real stages of philosophy among mankind, will be grateful for this collection, in spite of its repulsive features, as furnishing the clearest evidence that the basis of their argument is not only theoretical but actual.
EDWARD B. TYLOR.
Prefatory Remarks
I VISITED the island of Yezo for the third time in the summer of 1886, in order to study the Aino language, with a view to elucidate by its means the obscure problem of the geographical nomenclature of Japan. But, as is apt to happen on such occasions, the chief object of my visit soon ceased to be the only object. He who would learn a language must try to lisp in it, and more especially must he try to induce the natives to chatter in it in his presence. Now in Yezo, subjects of discourse are few. The Ainos stand too low in the scale of humanity to have any notion of the civilised art of "making conversation." When, therefore, the fishing and the weather are exhausted, the European sojourner in one of their dreary, filthy seaside hamlets will find himself,-at least I found myself,-sadly at a loss for any further means of setting his native companions' tongues in motion. It is then that fairy tales come to the rescue. The Ainos would not suggest the ideas themselves. To suggest ideas is not their habit. But they are delighted to follow it when suggested. Simply to repeat something which they have known by heart ever since the days of their childhood is not such an effort to their easily-tired brains as is the keeping up of a conversation with one who speaks their language imperfectly. Their tongues are at once loosened.
In my own case, I found myself, after a short time, listening to the stories for their own sake,-not merely as linguistic exercises; and I ventured to include a few of them in the "Memoir on the Ainos" which was published a few months ago by the Imperial University of Japan. Some remarks in a review of this "Memoir," contained in Nature of the 12th May, 1887, have encouraged me to believe that anthropologists and comparative mythologists may be interested in having laid before them something more than mere samples of the mental products of a people which is interesting for three reasons,-interesting because its domain once extended over the entire Japanese archipelago, interesting because absolutely nothing certain is known as to its origin and affinities, interesting because it is, so to speak, almost at its last gasp. I have, therefore, now collected and classified all the tales that were communicated to me by Ainos, in Aino, during my last stay in the island, and more latterly in Tōkyō, when, by the kind assistance of the President of the University, Mr. H. Watanabe, an exceptionally intelligent Aino was procured from the North, and spent a month in my house. These tales form the paper which I now have the honour to offer for the acceptance of your learned Society.
It would, no doubt, be possible to treat the subject of Aino folk-lore in great detail. The gloss might easily be made longer than the text. Each story might be analysed according to the method proposed by the Folk-Lore Society; a "survey of incidents" might be appended to each, as in Messrs. Steel and Temple's charming "Wide-Awake Stories," from the Punjab and Cashmere. More interesting to the anthropologist than such mechanical dissection of each tale considered as an independent entity would be the attempt to unravel the affinities of these Aino tales. How many of them, what parts of them, are original? How many of them are borrowed, and whence?
To carry out such an investigation with that completeness which would alone give it serious value, would necessitate a greater expenditure of time than my duties will allow of, perhaps also fund of multifarious knowledge which I do not possess. I would, therefore, merely suggest in passing that the probabilities of the case are in favour of the Ainos having borrowed from their only clever neighbours, the Japanese. (The advent of the Russians is so recent that they need hardly be counted in this connection.) The reasons for attributing to the Japanese, rather than to the Ainos, the prior possession (which, by the way, by no means implies the invention) of the tales common to both races, are partly general, partly special. Thus it is a priori likely that the stupid and barbarous will be taught by the clever and educated, not the clever and educated by the stupid and barbarous. On the other hand, as I have elsewhere demonstrated, a comparative study of the languages of the two peoples shows clearly that this a priori view is fully borne out so far as far as the linguistic domain is concerned. The same remark applies to social customs. Even in religion, the most conservative of all institutions, especially among barbarians, the Ainos have suffered Japanese influence to intrude itself. It is Japanese rice-beer, under its Japanese name of sake, which they offer in libations to their gods. Their very word for "prayer" seems to be archaic Japanese. A mediæval Japanese hero, Yoshitsune, is generally allowed to be held in religious reverence by them. The idea of earthquakes being caused by the wriggling of a gigantic fish under the earth is shared by the Ainos with the Japanese and with several other races.
At the same time, the general tenour and tendency of the tales and traditions of the Ainos wear a widely different aspect from that which characterises the folk-lore of Japan. The Ainos, in their humble way, are addicted to moralising and to speculating on the origin of things. A perusal of the following tales will show that a surprisingly large number of them are attempts to explain some natural phenomenon, or to exemplify some simple precept. In fact they are science,-physical science and moral science,-at a very early stage. The explanations given in these tales completely satisfy the adult Aino mind of the present day. The Aino fairy-tales are not, as ours are, survivals from an earlier stage of thought. Even if not invented of recent years they fit in with the present Aino view of things,-so much so, that an Aino who recounts one of his stories does so under the impression that he is narrating an actual event. He does not "make believe" like the European nurse, even like the European child, who p. 4 has always, in some nook or corner of his mind, a presentiment of the scepticism of his later years.
So far as I can judge, that "disease of language" which we call metaphor, and which is held by some great authorities to have been the chief factor in the fabrication of Aryan myth, has no place in Aino fairy-land; neither have the phenomena of the weather attracted more attention than other things. But I speak subject to correction. Perhaps it is not wise to invite controversy on such a point unless one is well armed for the fight.
Failing an elaborate analysis of the Aino fairy-tales, and a discussion of their origin and affinities, what I venture to offer for your Society's acceptance is the simple text of the tales themselves, renderd into English. Nine of them have already been printed in the Aino "Memoir" already referred to. One has been printed (but not quite in its genuine form, which decency was supposed to forbid) at the end of Mr. Batchelor's grammar included in the same "Memoir." All the others are now given to the world for the first time, never having yet appeared in any language, not even in Japanese.
I would draw special attention to the character of the translation, as being an absolutely literal one in the case of all those stories which I originally wrote down in Aino from the dictation of native informants. As time pressed, however, I sometimes had the story told me more rapidly, and wrote it down afterwards in English only, but never more than a few hours afterwards. In such cases, though every detail is preserved, the rendering is of course not actually literal. This, and the fact that there were several informants, will account for the difference of style between the various stories. I have appended to each story either the words "translated literally," or the words "written down from memory," together with the date and the name of the informant, in order that those who use the collection may know exactly what it is that they are handling. In all such matters absolute accuracy, absolute literalness, wherever attainable, is surely the one thing necessary. Not all the charm of diction, not all the ingenious theories in the world, can for a moment be set in the balance against rigid exactness, even if some of the concomitants of rigid exactness are such as to spoil the subject for popular treatment. The p. 5truth, the stark naked truth, the truth without so much as a loin-cloth on, should surely be the investigator's sole aim when, having discovered a new set of facts, he undertakes to present them to the consideration of the scientific world.
Of course Aino tales, like other tales, may also be treated from a literary point of view. Some of the tales of the present collection, prettily illustrated with pictures by Japanese artists, and altered, expurgated, and arranged virginibus puerisque, are at the present moment being prepared by Messrs. Ticknor & Co., of Boston, who thought with me that such a venture might please our little ones both in England and in the United States. But such things have no scientific value. They are not meant to have any. They are mere juvenile literature, whose English dressing-up has as little relation to the barbarous original as the Paris fashions have to the anatomy of the human frame.
The present paper, on the contrary, is intended for the sole perusal of the anthropologist and ethnologist, who would be deprived of one of the best means of judging of the state of the Aino mind if the hideous indecencies of the original were omitted, or its occasional ineptitude furbished up. Aino mothers, lulling their babies to sleep, as they rock them in the cradle hung over the kitchen fire, use words, touch on subjects which we never mention; and that preciesly is a noteworthy characteristic. The innocent savage is not found in Aino-land, if indeed he is to be found anywhere. The Aino's imagination is as prurient as that of any Zola, and far more outspoken. Pray, therefore, put the blame on him, if much of the language of the present collection is such as is not usual to see in print. Aino stories and Aino conversation are the intellectual counterpart of the dirt, the lice, and the skin-disease which cover Aino bodies.
For the four-fold classification of the stories, no importance is p. 6 claimed. It was necessary to arrange them somehow; and the division into "Tales Accounting for the Origin of Phenomna," "Moral Tales," "Tales of the Panaumbe and Penaumbe Cycle," and "Miscellaneous Tales," suggested itself as a convenient working arrangement. The "Scraps of Folk-Lore," which have been added at the end, may perhaps be considered out of place in a collection of tales. But I thought it better to err on the side of inclusion than on that of exclusion. For it may be presumed that the object of any such investigation is rather to gain as minute an acquaintance as possible with the mental products of the people studied, than scupulously to conform to any system.
There must be a large number of Aino fairy-tales besides those here given, as the chief tellers of stories, in Aino-land as in Europe, are the women, and I had mine from men only, the Aino women being much too shy of male foreigners for it to be possible to have much conversation with them. Even of the tales I myself heard, several were lost through the destruction of certain papers,-among others at least three of the Panaumbe and Penaumbe Cycle, which I do not trust myself to reconstruct from memory at this distance of time. Many precious hours were likewise wasted, and much material rendered useless, by the national vice of drunkenness. A whole month at Hakodate was spoilt in this way, and nothing obtained from an Aino named Tomtare, who had been procured for me by the kindness of H. E. the Governor of Hakodate. One can have intercourse with men who smell badly, and who suffer, as almost all Ainos do from lice and from a variety of disgusting skin-diseases. It is a mere question of endurance and of disinfectants. But it is impossible to obtain information from a drunkard. A third reason for the comparatively small number of tales which it is possible to collect during a limited period of intercourse is the frequency of repetitions. No doubt such repetitions have a confirmatory value, especially when the repetition is of the nature of a variant. Still, one would willingly spare them for the sake of new tales.
The Aino names appended to the stories are those of the men by whom they were told to me, viz. Penri, the aged chief of Piratori; Ishanashte of Shumunkot; Kannariki of Poropet (Jap. Horobetsu); and Kuteashguru of Sapporo. Tomtare of Yūrap does not appear for the reason mentioned above, which spoilt all his usefulness. The only mythological names which appear are Okikurumi, whom the Aino regard as having been their civilizer in very ancient times, his sister-wife Turesh, or Tureshi[hi] and his henchman Samayunguru. The "divine symbols," of which such constant mention is made in the tales, are the inao or whittled sticks frequently described in books of travels.
BASIL HALL CHAMBERLAIN.
Miyamoshita, Japan,
20th July, 1887.