Page:Palestine Exploration Fund - Quarterly Statement for 1894.djvu/162

128 open street. As we entered the church the relations were distributing candles, and every man lit his candle whilst the priest was standing talking and awaiting the beginning of the ceremony. Three or four water jars were put beside the baptismal font. The priest pulled up his sleeves and poured the water into the font, and then poured in some oil, blessing it. The child was then handed to him, quite naked, and with one hand on the face, he took it, back upwards, and dipped it in the name of the Father, then took it out and wiped its face, and, the child screaming, dipped it in the name of the Son, the bystanders discussing all the time whether the child would be suffocated, whilst the priest explained to them that his hand was placed in such a manner as to keep away the water from the nostrils and mouth. Then he dipped it in the name of the Holy Ghost, whilst the parents and godparents went round the font. But the noise being so great, the priest, before dipping the child the third time, gave it to the godmother, and rushed into the crowd with clenched fists, but was kept back by the bystanders, whereupon he threatened them, "By God, I'll curse your fathers, and you women, I'll give you dirt to eat"; and then went on chanting about Christ's baptism in the Jordan. The father, thinking the ceremony over, was going out, but the priest pulled him back, saying that the child was not yet baptised in the name of the Holy Ghost, and arguing and cursing, and with the father swearing it would hurt the child, and the godmother taking it into a niche to hide it, the third dip was finally accomplished. When the priest began to exhort them, the father said, "Be quiet, we know all about it, let us be gone; we have heard all that very often." The priest then steptstepped [sic] up to me, and with a superior look, told me, "This is a real baptism—you Westerns have no idea how it is done." I owned never to have seen the like before.

Question 3. Are any presents made when a boy or girl is born, either to the baby or to its parents?

Answer. If it is a boy all relatives assemble in the house on the very day of the birth; a dinner is made for them by the father, and they drop money,, Nukut, every man according to his means, for the benefit of the boy. Of course the money is gathered and appropriated by the parents. When it is a girl, the male relatives may give small sums of money, but are not expected to do so, and the women of the neighbourhood bring torches in the evening and oil-cakes, singing the praise of the parents, and the bride's or bridegroom's (the new born); they also "drop" coins for the benefit of the girl, and these are put away and tacked on the child later on. Friends or distant relations also bring a sacrifice; Kawad (see Quarterly Statement, 1893, p. 320). The first person giving the news of a boy's birth to the father, says,, Bshara, "Good news." , Khair in shallah, "Something good, please God," says the father. "What will be my reward?" asks the news bringer. The father, having an inkling of what it may be,