no THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



raals ; but one of the peasant's sons had, in eating, broken open a 

 bone, in order to get at the marrow within, and next morning when 

 the god commanded the goats to get up, one of them limped on the 

 hind-leg, because of the broken bone. At first Thor was in a gi-cat 

 rage, and threatened to destroy the whole family, but finally allowed 

 himself to be pacified, and accepted the two sons as hostages. 



In the peasant drama we have now before us, the gods Thor and 

 Loki are replaced by a colonel and a lieutenant-colonel, and, instead of 

 two goats, there are two horses and one goat ; also the two sons of the 

 peasants are here designated as Wallachians. Everything is of course 

 much distorted and changed, but still all the principal features of the 

 drama, which space forbids me here to enlarge upon, are clearly recog- 

 nizable the killing of the goat and its subsequent resurrection, the 

 rage of the colonel, and the transferment of the two Wallachians into 

 his service, being all parts of the performance. 



At midnight, or sometimes later, when the guests are about to 

 depart, there prevails in some villages a custom which goes by the 

 name of den Borten a&tVmzc/? dancing down the bride's crown or 

 head-dress. This head-covering, which can only be described as re- 

 sembling a chimney-pot hat without brim or crown, and from which 

 depend long streamers of ribbon reaching to the ground, is the sign 

 of her maidenhood, which she must lay aside now that she has become 

 a wife, and it is danced off in the following manner : All the married 

 women present, except perhaps a few very old and decrepit ones, join 

 hands, the two brideswomen taking the bride between them. Thus 

 forming a wide circle, they dance backward and forward, round and 

 round the room, sometimes forming a knot in the center, sometimes 

 far apart with outstretched arms, till suddenly, either by accident or 

 on purpose, the chain is broken through at one place, which is the 

 signal for all to rush out into the court-yard, still holding hands. 

 From some dark corner there now springs unexpectedly a stealthy 

 robber, one of the bridesmen, who has been lying there in wait to rob 

 the bride of her crown. Sometimes she is defended by two brothers 

 or relations, who, dealing out blows with twisted handkerchiefs or 

 towels, endeavor to keep the thief at a distance ; but the struggle 

 always ends with the loss of the head-dress, which the young matron 

 bewails with many tears and sobs. The brideswomen now solemnly 

 invest her with her new head-gear, which consists in a snowy cap and 

 veil, held together by silver or jeweled pins, which are sometimes of 

 considerable value. 



"When the young couple go to church the day after the wedding, 

 they are met at the church-door by a group of masked figures who 

 surround them, singing and hooting, and playfully endeavor to sepa- 

 rate the young matron from her husband. If they succeed in so doing, 

 then he must win her back in a hand-to-hand fight with his adversa- 

 ries, or else he must give a piece of money as her ransom. In general 



