e or fleck is a sign of
greatness. _Praise her up_. And if you see that she has small hands or
feet, tell her about a gentleman who is wild about pretty feet, and how a
pretty hand brings more luck than a pretty face. Praising and petting
and alluring and crying-up are half of fortune-telling. There is no girl
and no man in all the Lord's earth who is not proud and vain about
something, and if you can find it out you can get their money. If you
can, pick up all the gossip about people."

"But, my aunt, that is all humbug. I wish much to learn real witchcraft.
Tell me if there are no real witches, and how they look."

"A real witch, my child, has eyes like a bird, the corner turned up like
the point of a curved pointed knife. Many Jews and un-Christians have
such eyes. And witches' hairs are drawn out from the beginning [roots]
and straight, and then curled [at the ends]. When Gentile witches have
green eyes they are the most [to be] dreaded.

"I will tell you something magical. When you find a pen or an iron nail,
and then a piece of paper, you should write on it with the pen all thou
wishest, and eat it, and thou wilt get thy wish. But thou must write all
in thy own blood. If thou findest by the sea a great shell or an old
pitcher [cup, etc.], put it to your ear: you will hear a noise. If you
can, when the full moon shines sit quite naked in her light and listen to
it; every night the noise will become more distinct, and then thou wilt
hear the fairies talking plainly enough. When you make a hole with a
stone in a tomb go there night after night, and erelong thou wilt hear
what the dead are saying. Often they tell where money is buried. You
must take a stone and turn it around in the tomb till a hole is there.

"I will tell you something more witchly. Observe [take care] of
everything that swims on water, on rivers or the sea. For so the
water-spirits who live in the water speak to the earth's witches. If a
man sees cloth on the water and gets it, that shows he will get a
sweetheart; the cleaner and nicer the cloth, the better the maid. If you
find a staff [stick or rod] on the water, that shows you will beat your
enemy. A shoe or cup floating on the water means that you will soon be
loved by your sweetheart. And yellow flowers [floating] on the water
foretell gold, and white, silver, and red, love.

"When you find a key, that is much luck. When you pick [lift it] up,
utter a male or female n