Page:The Ballads of Marko Kraljević.djvu/232

 it, as she always does, the "suitor" produces rakija—the просачка буклија mentioned on p. 38, line 334—and the bargain is sealed.

A full-dress Serbian wedding is an imposing affair, and it may be well to state very briefly the names and functions of the chief personages in the cavalcade. They are catalogued in the two ballads entitled "The Marriage of Djuro of Smederevo," p. 159, and in "The Marriage of Stojan Popović," p. 168.

Every Serb family has a patron saint whose ikon hangs in a conspicuous place in the house and each year, when the saint's day comes round, the family holds a celebration known as the "Slava" or "Krsno ime."

It is a social duty to call on one's friends on the day they hold their Slava, and I have before me a sort of Slava directory published in Belgrade for the convenience of the inhabitants. This little book is entitled "Имена Свечара" and contains a list of saints' days with the dates on which they fall. Under the name of each saint are