ABSTRACT

At this time of the year folk-tales of a special type called kukzvanebu are habitually recited in the villages. There is a vague belief, not very seriously taken, that their recital has a beneficial influence on the new crops recently planted in the gardens. In order to produce this effect, a short ditty in which an allusion is made to some very fertile wild plants, the kasiyena, must always be recited at the end.