Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 11, 1900.djvu/403

 Cairene Folklore. 383

Coptic months, which are still used in the popular calendar. To those which he has collected I can add one more : it is said of Tuba or January : " Ma tekhalli el-'aguza kerkuba," (Let not the old woman leave her bit of furniture.) That is to say, it is too cold to part with any furniture however poor.

It is said of the fish called binni (the oxyrrhinchus of the ancients, which was sacred at Esna) : " ana '1-binni ; in tilqa ahsan minni, matakulni," (I am the binni ; if you find anything better than me, don't eat me.)

The cock says : " bed wurrhuf," (make loaves of eggs) ; the kite says : " b'elf," (for a thousand piastres) ; the crow says : " bess el-qobd," (there's only the cashing) ; the dog concludes : " bela hels," (without any nonsense).

Nursery rhymes : — " Del el-qotta fat ; Weddelo seba' lifat," (The cat's tail has passed by ; give it seven twists !)

The moth says to the candle : " En-nar wala 'ar " (the fire or disgrace).

" Yom el-hadd, makallimshi hadd ; yom el-etnen, akallim etnen," (Sunday I will tell no one ; Monday I will tell two.)

" Abu-qirdan zara' feddan, Nusso melukhiya wenusso bedingan," (The stork sowed an acre, half of it with corchorus olitorius, and half of it with egg-plant.)

Said to the fingers of children : (i) taking first the little finger, " saraq el-beda," (it has stolen the &^'g) ; (2) taking the third finger, " shawaha," (it has grilled it) ; (3) taking the middle finger, " qashshar-ha," (it has shelled it) ; (4) taking the first finger, " 'kalu," (it has eaten it) ; (5) taking the thumb, " iddini wahida hetta wala akallim sahbu," (give me a piece or I will tell its owner) ; " la, mush 'auz," (no, I won^t) ; (6) clapping the hands together, " darabu bil- kaff," (they have given him a slap).

In the villages, the boys during the day play a game called madrab with small balls, bats and the hands ; at night when the moon shines, they play a game called khala