Next the mother of the family brings in the bundle of straw which was left standing outside.  All the young children arrange themselves behind her in a row.  She then walks slowly round the hall and the adjoining rooms, throwing handfuls of straw on the floor and imitating the cackling of a hen, while all the children follow her peeping with their lips as if they were chickens cheeping and waddling after the mother bird.  When the floor is well strewn with straw, the father or the eldest member of the family throws a few walnuts in every corner of the hall, pronouncing the words:  “In the name of God the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Amen!” A large pot, or a small wooden box, filled with wheat is placed high in the east corner of the hall, and a tall candle of yellow wax is stuck in the middle of the wheat.  Then the father of the family reverently lights the candle and prays God to bless the family with health and happiness, the fields with a good harvest, the beehives with plenty of honey, the cattle and sheep with young, and the cows with abundant milk and rich cream.  After that they all sit down to supper, squatting on the floor, for the use of chairs and tables is forbidden on this occasion.

[The roast Pig; the drawing of the water.]

By four o’clock next morning (Christmas Day) the whole village is astir; indeed most people do not sleep at all that night.  It is deemed most important to keep the Yule log burning brightly all night long.  Very early, too, the pig is laid on the fire to roast, and at the same moment one of the family goes out into the yard and fires a pistol or gun; and when the roast pig is removed from the fire the shot is repeated.  Hence for several hours in the early morning of Christmas Day such a popping and banging of firearms goes on that a stranger might think a stubborn skirmish was in progress.  Just before the sun rises a girl goes and draws water at the village spring or at the brook.  Before she fills her vessels, she wishes the water a happy Christmas and throws a handful of wheat into it.  The first cupfuls of water she brings home are used to bake a special Christmas cake (chesnitsa), of which all the members partake at dinner, and portions are kept for absent relatives.  A small silver coin is baked in the cake, and he or she who gets it will be lucky during the year.

[The Christmas visiter (polaznik).]

All the family gathered round the blazing Yule log now anxiously expect the arrival of the special Christmas visiter, who bears the title of polaznik.  He is usually a young boy of a friendly family.  No other person, not even the priest or the mayor of the village, would be allowed to set foot in the house before the arrival of this important personage.  Therefore he ought to come, and generally does come, very early in the morning.  He carries a woollen glove full of wheat, and when the door is opened at his knock he throws handfuls of wheat on the family