I ask thee now, as I asked this, And all thy answer’s kiss on kiss. W. F. H. Besides, it seems very evident from the last line that the situation did not admit of the calmer and more sober observation which forms the necessary condition for a reliable answer to the question. I am, therefore, obliged to attempt to reply to the question myself; but I readily admit my deficiency in the essential qualification of being able to do so in a satisfactory manner. Moreover, the literary material at my disposal is exceedingly inadequate, and, for that reason, I cannot claim any universal application for my treatment of the subject. In the first place it seems indisputable that a woman gives a decided preference to a man with a beard; at all events a heiduke sings in a Roumanian ballad: “I am still too young to marry; my beard has not yet sprouted. What married woman then will care about kissing me?” Că simt voinic neinsorat; Nici mustete nu m’a dat: Cum simt bun de sărutat La neveste cu bărbat? To judge from the part the heidukes play in the ballad literature of the Roumanians and Serbs, they must be very experienced in everything that has to do with women and love, and their testimony must therefore be accepted as being sufficiently reliable. Besides, we find the same taste among women in Northern Europe. In Germany there is said to be nothing in a kiss without a beard: _Ein Kuss ohne Bart ist eine Vesper ohne Magnificat_ (a kiss without a beard is like Vespers without the Magnificat); or, still more strongly, _Ein Kuss ohne Bart ist ein Ei ohne Salz_ (a kiss without a beard is like an egg without salt). The young girls in Holland also incline to this point of view: _Een kussje zonder baard, een eitje zonder zout_ (an egg without salt), and they have in the Frisian Islands some who share their taste: _An Kleeb sanner Biard as äs en Brei sanner Salt_ (porridge without salt). Lastly, the Jutland lassies also take the same view of the matter--in fact they are, if I may say so, even more refined in their requirements; a kiss is not only to sound, but it must have some flavour about it--it ought to be strong and luscious: _At kysse en karl uden skrå og skaeg er som at kysse en leret vaeg_ (kissing a fellow without a quid of tobacco and a beard is like kissing a clay wall), say those who express themselves in the most refined manner; but there are others who are not so particular in the choice of words, and these latter say straight out: _Å kys jen, dæ hveken røger eller skråer, de æ som mæ ku kys æ spæ kal i r._, (kissing one who neither smokes nor chews tobacco is like kissing a new-born calf on the rump). On the other hand, a person should not be too wet about the mouth--that they do not like; _e.g._, the scornful saying: “He is nice to kiss when one is thirsty,” or, as the German girls say: _Einen Kuss mit Sauce bekommen_ (to get a kiss with sauce).