When this ceremony is concluded, the girls sit on benches and set to work, or, in default of work, they sing and converse.
§ 6. The preceding section narrates what takes place at the house of the bride on the day before the solemnisation of the wedding. Now we must turn to the house of the bridegroom, to see what happens contemporaneously there. In the morning a number of girls, who have been invited, come trooping into the room carrying sticks, the heads of which are covered with women’s caps, and adorned with ribbons. Placing themselves in a row before the oldest members of the family, they sing:
“Bless us, silver-haired old man; bless us, aged mothers; bless us to invite guests to your house. The bell, hanging by a silver chain to the top of your house, has begun to ring. The sound of the bell is heard around your house. This bell bodes luck to you.”
The old man settles what relations must be asked to the feast, and blesses them, with the words: “Go, and may the Lord preserve you.” The girls take their departure, and every one whom they invite must give them a present. On their return, they sing:
“We have made visits in truth. What an extraordinary number of relations! We have had great trouble to see them all; we have waded in water up to the waist, in mud, up to the knees.”
After taking some refreshment, they go to heat the bath-house for the bridegroom, but, before doing so, ask a blessing: “Give a blessing, grey-haired old man, that a thoroughly good bath may be heated auspiciously.”
He replies: “Depart, and may the Lord be with you.”
day the bride visits at the bridegroom’s house, and brings him presents, but he must be absent, either at a neighbour’s, or hiding in an outhouse.
