istmas, and especially Christmas Eve, is the time
for the singing of carols called in Russian _Kolyadki_, and in other Slav
countries by similar names derived from _Kalendae_.{33} More often than
not these are without connection with the Nativity; sometimes they have a
Christian form and tell of the doings of God, the Virgin and the saints,
but frequently they are of an entirely secular or even pagan character.
Into some the sun, moon, and stars and other natural objects are
introduced, and they seem to be based on myths to which a Christian
appearance has been given by a sprinkling of names of holy persons of the
|238| Church. Here for instance is a fragment from a Carpathian song:--

"A golden plough goes ploughing,
And behind that plough is the Lord Himself.
The holy Peter helps Him to drive,
And the Mother of God carries the seed corn,
Carries the seed corn, prays to the Lord God,
'Make, O Lord, the strong wheat to grow,
The strong wheat and the vigorous corn!
The stalks then shall be like reeds!'"{34}

Often they contain wishes for the prosperity of the household and end
with the words, "for many years, for many years." The Roumanian songs are
frequently very long, and a typical, oft-recurring refrain is:--

"This evening is a great evening,
White flowers;
Great evening of Christmas,
White flowers."{35}

Sometimes they are ballads of the national life.

In Russia a carol beginning "Glory be to God in heaven, Glory!" and
calling down blessings on the Tsar and his people, is one of the most
prominent among the _Kolyadki_, and opens the singing of the songs called
_Podblyudnuiya_. "At the Christmas festival a table is covered with a
cloth, and on it is set a dish or bowl (_blyudo_) containing water. The
young people drop rings or other trinkets into the dish, which is
afterwards covered with a cloth, and then the _Podblyudnuiya_ Songs
commence. At the end of each song one of the trinkets is drawn at random,
and its owner deduces an omen from the nature of the words which have
just been sung."{36}

THE TWELVE DAYS.

Whatever the limits fixed for the beginning and end of the Christmas
festival, its core is always the period between Christmas |239| Eve and
the Epiphany--the "Twelve Days."[97] A cycle of feasts falls within this
time, and the customs peculiar to each day will be treated in calendarial
order. First, however, it will be well to glance at the