Page:The nomads of the Balkans, an account of life and customs among the Vlachs of Northern Pindus (1914).djvu/65

 dodge where and how they please within the marked area, but if they move outside it they count as caught. WTien one side has finished its innings as the hopping side, the other goes in and the winning side is the one which has caught most of its opponents. If all one side are caught the winners say that they băgară samaru (have put a saddle) upon them, meaning thereby that their opponents are little better than mules or donkeys. This indignity the losers have to wash out by standing treat with sweets or some other refreshment. Other common games are leapfrog known as skamnakia, another Greek name meaning small stools, and a game consisting in a competition to see who can jump furthest after giving two hops from a marked starting-point. This which is cdeâ Arsarire la Treil'a (Leaping the Third) is a more energetic game than it sounds, and a short run is allowed. These are the games most usually played by the boys of Samarina, but of course not the only ones.

Of all forms of amusement dancing is the most usual. Apart from the big festivals when the great village dances take place and weddings which are marked by much rather ceremonial dancing, picnics and most entertainments end with a dance. To the unskilled eye the dances are of the usual South Balkan type, but a little study shows that Vlach dances, although probably none of them can be considered as peculiarly Vlach, may be divided into two classes. The first class are the ring dances at the great village festivals when the greater part of the population will join in (Plate IV 2). Some Vlach villages, for instance Turia, hold such dances every Sunday through the summer. These village dances consist of two or more rings in which all join hands and move round slowly in a circle. The leader of the ring, the man on the extreme right, is the only one who indulges in any elaborate or vigorous step, for the others merely follow him round imitating his steps in a slow and solemn manner. The first or inner ring consists only of men, and the second or outer ring consists of women. However many rings there may be they always come in this order, and the sexes are always kept apart. In such dances the number of performers is limited