IV.

CHARM FOR A COW AGAINST SNAKE-BITE.

N. N. rose up,

Got up very early,

And met the accursed on the way,

And he poisoned him as one bitten by the poisoned fly.

The Lady Mother heard it from heaven.

She took the staff in her hand,

And came down upon a silver ladder.

Do not cry, and do not low, O “Thursday one.”

Come with me to that old woman, that she may say the charm (disenchantment) for thee,

With water from the well,

With three stalks of elder-tree,

With twigs of hazelnut tree,

With a knife that has been found and with silver coins.

These charms were told in the year 1913 by a woman who was believed to be in her 109th year.