Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 1, 1890.djvu/444

438 sword or an axe. Sometimes he pretends to cut down a bush from the path, a reminiscence, Mr. Mainoff believed, of the time when obstacles really stood in the way when proceeding to carry off a bride by force. As soon as the party is seen approaching by the people at the bride’s house the gates are barred, and a dialogue ensues:

The bridegroom’s party tries to open the gate, but in vain; and only after a long parley, and after promising to