Shall decay
If thou takest this animal!”
Another “thieves’ benediction” is as follows: The owner goes at midnight with the animal or object to be protected to a cross-roads, and while letting fall on the ground a few hairs of the beast, or a bit of the thing whatever it be, repeats:—
“Ada hin tute,
Ná ává pál menge,
Dav tute, so kámáv;
Pçuvuseyá áshuná!”
“This home is not good,
Here I give (thee) blood!”
“The gypsies call the quail the devil’s bird (Ciriclo bengeskro), and ascribe diabolic properties to it. (Vide Cassel, 6 and 162.) The daughters of the Nivasi appear as quails in the fields by day, but during the night they steal the corn. To keep them away it is held good during sowing-time to place in each of the four corners of the field, parts of a quail, or at least some of the feathers of a black hen which has never laid an egg. This superstition is also current among the Roumanian peasants of the Siebenbürgen.”