(With a handful of broom
For his festal night,
St. John now is come
His fires to light.)
He even jumps over it—on a donkey—
S. João comprou um burro
Para pular as fogueiras
E depois de as pular todas
Deu-o de presente ás freiras.
(St. John bought a donkey to leap over the fires, and when he had leapt over them all he gave it as a present to the nuns.) Possibly the donkey enables him to go from one fire to the other, from hill to hill, and village to village.