Page:The nomads of the Balkans, an account of life and customs among the Vlachs of Northern Pindus (1914).djvu/59

 men of a family. This is probably mainly a matter of convenience, since the women do the cooking, and does not necessarily imply any idea of inferiority. To a certam extent girls are kept secluded in that fashion dictates that they should not be seen out of doors unaccompanied by a brother, first cousin, or some elderly relation such as an uncle, aunt or one of their parents. This rule does not apply when they go to the spring for water or to the river to wash clothes. Further at dances at weddings and festivals no young men are allowed to dance with girls other than their sisters or first cousins who are blood relations according to the canons of the Greek church. But whole families will go out for picnics together and in general both sexes meet as equals. The superior status of women, which strikes one forcibly on coming from a Greek to a Vlach village, is probably due to a difference in marriage customs. In Greece it is the common thing for a man to be at home on his name-day to all his friends and relations, and Greeks in the villages are sometimes in the habit of paying calls on Sundays. But the fully developed social system as regards calling which the Vlachs possess is, as far as our knowledge goes, totally unknown in Greece. Further the Vlach custom according to which a whole village or parish is at home to everybody else on the festival of the parish church is, we believe, peculiar to Hachs. The freer social life of the Vlachs, partly due to frequent travels, gives them in this respect better manners and a broader outlook on life. Consequently the !ach women never become what the Greek village women so often are, drudges in the houses of their husbands, who often deem them little better than cook- housekeepers.

A frequent form of entertaining is lunching in the pine woods, especially in K'urista at the Făndănă. This is the favourite spot at Samarina for a picnic, but every Vlach -illage has its special place which must be provided with an ice cold spring, smooth green turf for dancmg and a few pines to give shade. The food at such an outing is always supplied by a lamb which should be killed, roasted and eaten on the spot. The lamb is dressed and placed on a wooden