with sugar until it is soft, but has just not begun to burst. Any remaining water is strained off, and the grain is put on a plate and sprinkled with grated walnut. Coliva both looks and tastes very good—it is not unlike the frumenty prepared in Yorkshire.
The great funeral feast or “praznic” is held after the return from the cemetery. As many people as possible are invited, and tables are spread not only in the house for the priests and chief guests, but also in the courtyard. The feast may even be served in two or three relays. The traditional dishes are “carne cu prune,” stewed beef with prunes, and “pilaf,” stewed rice with meat, but meat with cabbage or potatoes may also be given. Very little wine is drunk, and everyone when drinking begins by spilling some wine and saying, “Fie-i ţărîna uşoară.”
Each guest is given a colac and a candle for the soul of the dead. “A da colac şi lumânare,” “To give colac and candle,” is a common proverb, meaning to give up something (S. page 296).
Other rolls of traditional form are taken to the cemetery; the priest goes to fetch them, takes some himself and gives the rest to poor people and children. As the priest gets the lion’s share of all the eatables prepared in honour of the dead, he is sure to be well fed whoever else may go hungry. The expression, “burtă de popă,” “The priest’s stomach,” is proverbial. Even the pigs and hens of the popa have obvious stomachs, for the pigs are fattened on colaci and the hens on coliva.
After the burial a candle is still kept burning, incense burnt, and bread and water placed where the dead man breathed his last, for the soul is supposed to linger round the place of death for three days. T. Stratilcsco says that after the three days the soul is supposed to find its abode above the door lintel, and accordingly a piece of linen is put for it to rest on (S. page 296).
After the first great death feast, the relations still remain
