Among the southern Slavs if a girl wants to know what sort of husband she will get, she covers the table on Christmas Eve, puts on it a white loaf, a plate, and a knife, spoon, and fork, and goes to bed. At midnight the spirit of her future husband will appear and fling the knife at her. If it falls without injuring her she will get a good husband and be happy, but if she is hurt she will die early. There is a similar mode of divination for a young fellow. On Christmas Eve, when everybody else has gone to church, he must, naked and in darkness, sift ashes through a sieve. His future bride will then appear, pull him thrice by the nose, and go away.{32} In eastern Europe Christmas, 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.