Farewell Song — of Cats. From the Ritual Life of the Kyrgyz in the Early 20th Century. Part - 7
Departure of the bride to her husband's village
Halas Cholonkulov
kainazar
The next day (after the kız oyun and wedding night. — B.K., S.G.) the bride's parents lay out all the dowry in the orgyo, all the household items — jaiyp berdy (put on display)72, so that the participants of the toya can inspect it during the feast. If the dowry is rich, with many robes and other clothing, they stretch ropes from the orgyo to the father-in-law's yurt, etc., as needed. The groom's parents, after inspecting the dowry, either accept it or demand additions, naming some valuable item.
In the orgyo, a koshoje, the former maiden's headdress of the bride, is hung...
...In the morning, preparations for the departure begin. There is mourning. Before the departure, the bride's hair is braided into two braids, and she resists73. Then she is dressed in an elechek74, and she is ready to leave. Upon departure, perhaps just before leaving her father's house, her elechek is removed, and a showkelyo is put on her, which she wears until she reaches her husband's village, after which she removes it. She leaves with her mother.
The groom remains aside and officially does not see his father-in-law until the very departure. In one or two years, he will visit them with gifts75.
Zhanyzak
solto
At the time of departure, the bride wears a showkelyo. Before that, her hair is braided into two braids. She puts on an elechek while bowing to her father-in-law.
r. Bolshoy Kebin
Zhanteli
No longer than one day after the wedding do the guests and the bride stay in her father's village.
Jinish aji
In the morning, the bride gets up and goes to her father's yurt. When the groom leaves, the sister-in-law cleans the bed, and the unpacking of the orgyo begins under the guidance of the groom's mother.
They all set off together as a caravan. Before the departure, the girls and women say goodbye to the bride and sing the farewell song — kosok76 one by one with her.
During the wedding ceremony, the bride still wears a tebetey. The showkelyo (or elechek) is put on the bride in the morning, in her father's yurt, before departure, when everything is ready to leave and the horses are saddled. The bride cries; married women dress her. Before this, her hair was braided into two braids.
Zhanteli
The next day (after the nikyo. — B.K., S.G.) preparations for the journey begin, the dowry is loaded, women cry and sing kosok, taking turns covering themselves with a kymkap with the bride. The bride wears a showkelyo (and the elechek is in the trunk), and on her hands are embroidered gloves made of black velvet. Upon arriving in the groom's village, she removes the showkelyo and puts on the elechek, removes both the gloves, and both are kept until the next wedding.
In the morning after the wedding, the hair is braided into two braids, and the groom's father gives the women (married) who did this a good horse or another valuable gift. At that moment, the bride is also dressed in a showkelyo. Thus, her clothing changes only after the wedding.
Sagimbay
In the morning (after the wedding night. — B.K., S.G.) they call the mullah, who marries the young couple. After this, they depart for the groom's village.
Kydyr
At departure, no matter how many women are present, each approaches the bride and, covering themselves with a chapana, sings the farewell song — kosok.
r. Tyup
The day before (the departure to the husband's village. — B.K., S.G.) after the toya, the bride was brought into the yurt, and after giving her a dish with meat, they greased her braids with fat, braided her hair into two braids at the back, and put on an elechek. She puts on a soyke, mounts her horse, and they all depart for her husband's village.
At the departure of the bride from her village, the women sing kosok (from the verb koshu — "to add"77).
Zhettitor
kavak (cheriki)
When the bride's hair is braided into two braids, they apply the fatty tail fat left from the toya on them.
Comments:
72 Jaiyp berdy — literally, "hung, laid out".
73 Like the change from a maiden's headdress (first tykyia, then tebetey) to a woman's (shokudo), from old clothing to new, and the braiding of the maiden's braid into two (the woman's hairstyle) — a symbol of the transition of the girl to another age group. The greasing of the hair during braiding with oil, fat, or milk (among the Altai Turks, for example) presumably signifies wishes for prosperity and well-being in the new family life. The custom of braiding hair likely had a universal character, although it had its peculiarities among different peoples. For example, among the Tuvans, the maiden's braid was immediately braided by her mother after the engagement was secured, and in some regions into two braids, in others — into three. Before this, the groom and bride's hands (not hair) were greased (Potapov L.P. Essays... p. 246). Among the Uzbeks - Kipchaks, married women braided the hair into two braids and dressed the bride in wedding attire (Shaniyazov K.Sh, op. cit. p. 320). In the Khorezm Uzbeks, the bride's hair was braided into 40 braids by her mentor (Lobacheva N.P. Wedding ritual... p. 48). Among the Khakass, when braiding the bride's braids, they greased her head with the bone — the right front shank — of the livestock slaughtered for the wedding (Traditional worldview of the Turks... II. p. 66), etc. As Toleubaev A.T. writes, the braiding of one maiden's braid into two women's symbolizes the end of solitude and the beginning of married life. He provides examples of the braiding of the maiden's braid among the Kalmyks, Teleuts, and Buryats (Toleubaev A.T. op. cit. p. 27).
74 As kindly informed by Lobacheva N.P., the elechek was worn by a young woman only after the birth of her first child. Immediately after the wedding, she was given a showkelyo to wear on her head. The material of F.A. Fielstrup only indicates a certain degeneration of the rite.
75 See note 33.
76 Kosok — a lament, a dirge (mourning) in verses for the deceased or the bride when she is sent to the groom's village (Yudakhin K.K. op. cit. p. 411).
77 Kosh (not koshu. — B.K., S.T.) — one of the meanings of the verb, indeed, "to add", and another — "to lament in verses for the deceased or the bride" (Yudakhin K.K. op. cit. p. 410).
Marriage. From the ritual life of the Kyrgyz in the early 20th century. Part - 6
