78 THE CAROLINA MOUNTAINS 
ing in the preparations for that season of high Hving 
and neglect of work which is the negro's perquis- 
ite, inherited by him from the days of slavery. 
"Christmas" about Traumfest does not mean a 
niggardly twenty-fifth of December ; it means that, 
and all the days following, until sunset of New 
Year's Day. To be fair, however, one must add that 
in these modern, trying times, the week-long holiday 
is very much interrupted by daily labor. It is a fic- 
tion more than a fact, yet it no doubt adds a certain 
feeling of festivity to the day's work, a feeling that 
one is somehow having an extra good time, though it 
might be hard to tell just where to put your finger 
on it. 
