AMONG THE TRAN SYLVAN IAN SAXONS. 257 



after the baptism, nor should it be held near an open window. A very 

 efficacious preservative against all sorts of evil spells is to hang round 

 the child's neck a little triangular bag stuffed with grains of incense, 

 wormwood, and various aromatic herbs, and with an adder's head em- 

 broidered outside ; a gold coin sowed into the cap will likewise keep 

 the spirits away. 



Two godfathers and two godmothers are generally appointed at 

 Saxon peasant christenings, and it is customary that one couple should 

 be old and the other young ; but in no case should a husband and wife 

 figure as god-parents at the same baptism, but each one of the quartet 

 must belong to a different family. This is the general custom ; but in 

 some districts the rule demands two godfathers and one godmother for 

 a boy two godmothers and one godfather for a girl. 



If the parents have lost other children before, then the infant should 

 not be carried out by the door in going to church, but handed out by 

 the window, and brought back in the same way. It should be carried 

 by the broadest street, never by narrow lanes, else it will learn thieving. 



The god-parents must not look round on their way to church ; and 

 the first person met by the christening procession will decide the sex 

 of the next child to be born a boy, if it be a man. 



If two children are baptized out of the same water, one of them 

 will soon die ; and if several boys are christened successively in the 

 same church, there will be war in the land as soon as they are grown 

 up. Many girls denote fruitful vintages for the country when they 

 have attained a marriageable age. 



If the child sleeps during the baptismal ceremony, then it will be 

 pious and good-tempered ; but if it cries, it will be bad-tempered or 

 unlucky ; therefore, the first question asked by the parents on the re- 

 turn from church is generally, " Was it a quiet baptism ? " and if such 

 has not been the case, the sponsors are apt to conceal the truth. 



In some places the christening procession returning to the house of 

 the parents finds the door closed. After knocking for some time in 

 vain, a voice from within summons the godfather to name seven bald 

 men out of the parish. When this has been answered, a further ques- 

 tion is asked as to the gospel read in church ; and only on receiving 

 the answer, " Let the little children come to me," is the door flung 

 open, saying : " Come in ; you have hearkened attentively to the words 

 of the Lord." The god-parents next inquiring, " Where shall we put 

 the child ? " receive the following answer : 

 " On the bunker let it be, 

 That it may jump like a flea ; 

 Put it next upon the hearth, 

 Heavy gold it will be worth ; 

 On the floor then let it sleep, 

 That it once may help to sweep ; 

 On the table in a dish, 

 It will grow then like a fish." 

 vol. xxxi. 17 



