Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 7, 1896.djvu/166

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144
Folklore Firstfruits from Lesbos.


(3.) Charm against insects.—Take a black knife; in the evening stick it in the spot where they come, and say:

(Symbol missingGreek characters)

"Ananôs ananída.
I got three naughty bairns together:
One a wasp, one caterpillar,
And a swarming ant the other.
Whate'er ye eat, whate'er ye drink.
Hence, hence avaunt,
To the hills and mountains flee,
And unto each fruitless tree."

Leave the knife there till morning; then pull it out, and off they go.

When he had finished these charms, the old man took a glass of water, and bade me drink; he then took a sip himself out of the same glass, and, with a wave of the hand, quoth he—"(Symbol missingGreek characters)—you may have the right to do them," he left us. Thus I appear before the Folk-Lore Society as a wizard, duly ordained by a "sacrificial feast," and (shall I say?) in right of diabolic succession.

I add one more charm.

(4.) Love Charm.—At the site of ancient Arisba, near Kalloni, the girls go to an (Symbol missingGreek characters), or lonely shrine, of St. Mary, on her holy day, and sing:—

"(Symbol missingGreek characters)

"St. Mary, make to pine with love my darling, not that