BULGARIA AND ITS WOMEN 



387 



a girl is young and pretty, her abundant 

 curly hair, into which is braided bright 

 threads or ribbons, with often a flower 

 in her ear, her bright color heightened by 

 tlie gay embroideries, and her slender fig- 

 ure, which the straightness of her dress 

 cannot spoil, make her an attractive vis- 

 ion. Of course, these gala costumes are 

 laid aside during the working days, for 

 there is much work, especially in the 

 summer, when the days are long. 



The food is very simple : black bread 

 and an onion for breakfast, bread and 

 ripe olives for the noon meal, and a sim- 

 ilar meal at night. So it is the Bulgarian 

 peasant is uniformly healthy. 



The Bulgar lives with his songs. Bul- 

 garia's famous poet, Slaveikoff, says of 

 them : "These, in truth, are always with 

 him through the changes of life, from 

 the cradle to the grave. If he plows or 

 if he sows ; if he gathers in the harvest 

 or garners his grain, there is no help- 

 meet like a song; it is the royal comrade 

 on his journey; when he lies on the bed 

 of sickness it consoles him. Usually the 

 song lives in the voice of the singer. Of 

 instruments it is the flute he loves the 

 best, for it will sing to him more truly 

 than all of them what the melodies con- 

 tain of softness and of Oriental sorrow." 



The: water supply and its social uses 



A girl in a Bulgarian village is not 

 without her amusements. One of her 

 tasks involves a social pleasure, for which 

 she has a keen zest. As in the Bible 

 times, all the water for a village must be 

 drawn from one or two wells or springs, 

 and these watering places or fountains 

 are the scene of much sociability. Hither 

 come all the youths and maidens of the 

 village, and it is doubtful whether they 

 hasten away as quickly as they might. 

 The girls wear yokes on their shoulders, 

 from which depend the pails they are to 

 fill with the fresh water. Often the 

 youths fill the pails for them ; then, in 

 return for such gallantry, they whisper 

 a request for the flower over the maiden's 

 ear ; or, bolder, perhaps, they steal the 

 blossom. I was told of one fellow who 

 annoyed a girl by taking the flower she 

 was reserving for a more favored SAvain ; 

 so that the next time she filled her flower 



with snuff, and when Ilya filched it and 

 put it to his nose he was mastered by 

 racking sneezes, while the other boys 

 laughed and hooted. 



The youth of Bulgaria, as you see, are 

 allowed to meet freely, the sexes not be- 

 ing kept apart as are the Moslems. There 

 is coquetting and courting about the foun- 

 tain and home gatherings in the even- 

 ings. JNIarriages spring from mutual at- 

 traction and choice rather than the ar- 

 rangement of families, as do Armenian 

 and Turkish alliances. 



There are husking-bees and quilting- 

 bees where the young people meet, but 

 the most popular form of social enter- 

 tainment is the sedanka. Here assemble 

 the young men and women of the village 

 and adjoining farms, chaperoned by 

 some old woman, who putters about the 

 hut, boiling corn on which the guests may 

 regale themselves. The young people sit 

 about the open fire in a circle, Stoiko next 

 to his Keetsa, Vasilka closely pressed by 

 Nancho, every laddie seeking his lassie. 

 Then some one sings a verse of a song, 

 and when he has ended the chorus takes 

 up a refrain and chants it. Some one 

 else follows, using an old stanza ; or, if 

 he likes, composing a new one, and again 

 the chorus follows him. 



This continues till all that they have 

 to express has been said. Then the ses- 

 sion ends, perhaps with a feast on the 

 boiled corn, or perhaps with a folk dance. 

 The Bulgarian peasant song is a long step 

 ahead of Turkish or most Oriental music, 

 not only in being more melodious, but 

 also in having parts. I have often heard 

 Bulgarian girls sing duets that were 

 charming in their naive harmonies. Their 

 national song, which they all sing with 

 enthusiasm — ^"Shumla Maritza" — is spir- 

 ited and effective. "Shumla Maritza," or 

 "Hail Maritza," takes its name from a 

 river where a decisive victory was once 

 won by the Bulgarians. 



ways and means of courtship 



The Bulgarian folk dances are danced 

 in a row or circle, the leader generally 

 waving a bright handkerchief and turn- 

 ing and twisting about his line of fol- 

 lowers, like a mild game of "crack the 

 whip". There is stamping In ragtime, 



