"Alegremos, Alegremos!
Que gente va tenemos!"

In the course of an hour or two they generally became wearied of this
violent exercise, and then they all sat down and recounted the evil deeds
they had done since their last meeting. Those who had not been malicious
and mischievous enough towards their fellow-creatures, received personal
chastisement from Satan himself, who flogged them with thorns or scorpions
till they were covered with blood, and unable to sit or stand.

When this ceremony was concluded, they were all amused by a dance of
toads. Thousands of these creatures sprang out of the earth, and standing
on their hind legs, danced, while the devil played the bagpipes or the
trumpet. These toads were all endowed with the faculty of speech, and
entreated the witches to reward them with the flesh of unbaptised babes
for their exertions to give them pleasure. The witches promised
compliance. The devil bade them remember to keep their word; and then
stamping his foot, caused all the toads to sink into the earth in an
instant. The place being thus cleared, preparation was made for the
banquet, where all manner of disgusting things were served up and greedily
devoured by the demons and witches; although the latter were sometimes
regaled with choice meats and expensive wines from golden plates and
crystal goblets; but they were never thus favoured unless they had done an
extraordinary number of evil deeds since the last period of meeting.

After the feast, they began dancing again; but such as had no relish for
any more exercise in that way, amused themselves by mocking the holy
sacrament of baptism. For this purpose, the toads were again called up,
and sprinkled with filthy water; the devil making the sign of the cross,
and all the witches calling out, "_In nomine Patrica, Aragueaco Petrica,
agora! agora! Valentia, jouando goure gaits goustia!_" which meant, "In
the name of Patrick, Petrick of Aragon, now, now, all our ills are over!"

When the devil wished to be particularly amused, he made the witches strip
off their clothes and dance before him, each with a cat tied round her
neck, and another dangling from her body in form of a tail. When the cock
crew, they all disappeared, and the sabbath was ended.

This is a summary of the belief which prevailed for many centuries nearly
all over Europe, and which is far from eradicated even at this day. It was
varied in some respects in several countries, but the main po