have to give is but a little out of much, verily firstfruits; enough to show that anyone who could stay long in the place, and really get to know the natives, would get a bookful of harvestings without difficulty. A few further items but not many, are given in a little book of Lesbian tales, by Georgeakis (Paris, Maisonneuve).
On the evening of our arrival at Eresos, it so happened that our host was bitten by a large wasp. Far be it from me to wish ill to any man, except the enemies of England; but if it was fated that our host should be bitten by a wasp, I am glad that this befel on that very day. For no sooner had he sat down to drink his evening mastich, than up came an old man, the gardener, and proceeded to cure it. After a little coaxing he was persuaded to tell his charm, and here it is.
(1.) Charm to cure wasp-sting.—πίθι—έλε—ήλε—άγρα, spit four times on the place ; do this thrice, and wind up with πίθι. (πίθι, "drink," is the old imperative, not now used in common speech. What the other words mean is not clear; perhaps άγρα means "catch.")
Two more charms the old man told.
(2.) Charm for a horse that has sivallowed leeches.—(This takes effect at a distance.) Take a reed and say:
μά τήν πέτραν πού πατώ
το καλάμι πού κρατώ
τρέμει πέτρα, τρέμω 'γώ
κι άμύαλοι κι άκώαλοι
"By this stone on which I stand,
By the reed that's in my hand,
Quakes the stone, and I quake too,
And you creatures without bone,
Brainless creatures, so do you!"
Blow three times through the reed towards the sun.
