Keli pastebėjimai apie žaidimą „Ražemuko gaudymas“
Some Remarks Regarding a Game “Hunting Ražemukas”

Summary/Abstract: The subject of the article is the only known description of a game called “Hunting Ražemukas”. The purpose is to find out whether this game is an authentic prank devised by the Lithuanian inhabitants of the Lithuania Minor, or whether it is a loan from other national traditions. This game was recorded in the end of the 19th century, most probably in the locality of Galbrasčiai, by Kristupas Jurkšaitis, a cultural figure of the Lithuania Minor, and published in Litauische Märchen und Erzählungen (1898). The game is described as follows: some person completely unaware of the game was handed a sack, told to stand by the staircase leading to the loft and to wait for ražemukas, which was going to be chased to the opening and had to be caught into the sack. The other people would make an enormous noise upstairs, allegedly chasing ražemukas, and then pour a bucketful of water down onto the person waiting bellow. Jonas Basanavičius reprinted the description of this game in 1903 in his folklore collection Lietuviškos pasakos yvairios (‘Various Lithuanian Folktales’). No more information regarding this game could be found in Lithuanian press, which is also an indication of the game possibly being a borrowing. Considering the rapid processes of assimilation taking place in the end of the 19th century in Lithuania Minor, and resulting in Lithuanians being exposed to strong German cultural influences, the analogues of this game were primarily sought in the German press. The earliest recording of the game was a description of the so-called Rosemockjagen from the middle of the 19th century, found in the Neue Preuβische Provinzial-Blätter (1848). The periodical also contained a remark of the game being known in Semba and Lithuania provinces. E. Lemke described the game in her book Volksthümliches in Ostpreuβen (1884). This author repeated similar information, only mentioning a different name for the mythical being, i.e. Roschbock. The researcher interpreted this denomination as ‘a roebuck’. Meanwhile folklorist and author of lexicons from Eastern Prussia, Hermann Frischbier mentioned a name Rosemock in his “Vocabulary of the Prussian Language”, presenting three meanings of this word: 1) an invented ghost, a spook; 2) a restless person; 3) a devourer, monster. An East Prussian researcher Wilhelm Gaerte analyzed this game, devoting a whole chapter from his book Volksglaube und Brauchtum Ostpreussens to its interpretation. He also presented several more examples, trying to trace back the etymology for the name of this game. W. Gaerte interpreted the word Rosemock as ‘a rampageous buck’.

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