CHAPTER VII

Village scenes--National dances--The picturesque peasant costumes--Peasant girls who powder and paint--An idyllic scene--A country wedding--Peasant simplicity.

When staying in the country, I always took great delight in witnessing the village scenes. Roumanians, as I have already mentioned, are a musical race. They also love dancing. Some of their country-dances are very pretty. The principal one is the “Hora,” and it is danced by any number of people to the music of a violin. A number of young men and girls take hands and form a large ring. They then begin a slow and stately step, the music gradually increasing in speed, and their movements also, till they become fast and furious. Music and dance then suddenly stop. Another dance is the “Sârba,” which is danced by two people, either men or women. They stand side by side, each with one hand resting lightly on the other’s shoulder. Then the dance begins, and when well done it really affords a most interesting spectacle, so varied and intricate are the steps employed. There is far more individual dancing in these national dances than in ours.

On Sunday afternoons dancing on the village green is the great amusement, and when one comes on the company unexpectedly, and they are not too shy to continue, it is an interesting sight. The girls, dressed in their varied and picturesque costumes, the crimson, blue, and gold of which flash here and there with the movements of the wearers, the young men clad in snowy-white garments, make a pretty picture, backed as it is by the surrounding foliage, and bathed in brilliant sunshine.

I must describe the dress of the young peasant, as it is rather curious. A very tight pair of breeches is worn, of a white thick sort of flannel, sometimes embroidered, and sometimes simply bound with black. The snowy shirt is adorned with a row of thick lace, and is not tucked into the breeches, but hangs straight down. It is, however, caught in at the waist by a very broad leather belt (in which he keeps what money he may have). Sandals on the feet tied on with leather thongs, and a high cap of sheep-skin with the woolly side out, complete the costume of the young gallant. If he wants to be very smart on Sunday he wears a flower behind his ear to have in readiness for his sweetheart. If the weather is chilly he wears a loose short jacket over the shirt, but in winter he has a long sheep-skin coat which covers him completely.

One would imagine that the peasants in those remote districts would be very unsophisticated and quite ignorant of the various little ways and means by which the women in city life seek to enhance their charms. This, however, is not the case. It is quite a common thing to see the peasant girls “done up” with powder and paint to as great an extent as their town sisters. The complexion of the Roumanians is rather dark, but as they prefer the white and red of fairer races they do their best in imitation.

It is very interesting to walk through a village on a summer evening. Most of the people are sitting at their doors enjoying the cool air. A song is heard in the distance, then another group takes it up, till the music swells into quite a volume of sound as the singers draw nearer. Sometimes a wood-fire is burning outside the house, and round it friends and neighbours gather, either singing or relating stories till far into the night. As we look round on the dark eager faces lit up by the firelight, then at the towering mountains which surround us, and the great golden moon hanging midway in the dark sky, we realise that we live in a beautiful world.

The little country churches are very quaint. They are generally built in a circular form, with no seats, just a mat on the stone floor on which the priest stands. There is always a sort of vestibule, and in this is the “bell,” or rather gong. It is a large metal tray, and worshippers are called to church by repeated strokes made on it with two stout sticks. A boy wields these sticks, and though at the beginning the strokes are slow and measured, as the hour of service draws nearer they become quicker and quicker till there is a regular hail of them. Then they suddenly cease. The effect is curious and even comical. The country priest is not at all so severe or so reserved as his town brother. On the contrary, if anyone of a better class visits a country church the priest will be quite willing to enter into conversation in the intervals of the service, and he will by no means forget to refer to the needs of the church, the poverty of the parish, and to explain what a godsend it would be to them to get a new altar-cloth.

Sometimes a family from Bucarest will have a fancy to celebrate a wedding in the country. It is a very jolly event indeed. Everyone wears Roumanian costume, the procession goes on foot to the little church, and after the ceremony there is feasting and dancing till all hours.

But it is the real peasant wedding that is most interesting. People are invited from far and near. The visitors arrive at the church in _karutza_ (ox-waggons) all decorated with flowers. That of the bride has a regular canopy over it, under which she sits embowered in flowers of all colours.

She is accompanied to the church by her mother or some other near relative, and given into the keeping of the young man, who awaits her at the altar. The service is then proceeded with, and is followed by the “holy dance” and the exchange of rings. But I shall never forget the shock I experienced at the first country wedding at which I was present, when I saw the bride meekly lift the husband’s hand at the end of the service and kiss it. One may see by that that suffragettes have not yet propagated their theories in Roumania.

The visitors at a country wedding do not go empty-handed. Even on the day before the ceremony presents begin to arrive--very often presents in kind, loaves and cakes of all sorts; eggs, butter, fruit, meat, and wine. All this is very necessary indeed, when there are so many to be fed, as the feasting is often kept up for two or three days. One of our maids who had been invited to a wedding told me afterwards, “Oh, miss, it was grand; not like the town weddings, when you get only a glass of wine and a bit of cake. No, indeed; we feasted and danced and amused ourselves for three days!”

Generally speaking, the peasants are very ignorant, and unfortunately the townspeople are only too ready to take advantage of their ignorance when the country folk adventure among them. Seldom having money to handle, the peasants have only a slender knowledge of the currency of their own country, and at one time they used to be defrauded by the tradespeople in consequence. The currency consists of _lei_ and _bani_; equivalent to francs and centimes. There are no Roumanian gold coins, those current in the country being French. The one-, two-, and five-franc coins are of silver, as is also the fifty-bani piece. The five-bani piece, made of nickel, is exactly the same in size and appearance as the silver fifty-bani piece, and the peasants, unable to recognise the difference in the metals, were often fleeced. Some time ago, however, the attention of the Government was directed to the matter, and all five-bani pieces issued since are distinguished by a hole pierced through them.