kept as a keepsake (S. page 292). The body is dressed in new clothes, and the hands are folded on the breast ; a long, thin, soft bees-wax candle is taken, bent in and out to take the form of a cross and put into the hands of the corpse. In the centre of the cross a silver coin is placed, usually an old coin no longer in use. The ring is left on the finger of married people, and an unmarried girl would be dressed like a bride and have a ring placed on her finger (S. page 292).
The measure of the body is taken for a coifin either by means of a long reed or by a bit of string, care being taken not to measure off too great a length, as otherwise some one else would die. The reed is put into the coffin, the string plastered up over the door (S. page 292).
When the body is put into the coffin, the feet are tied together; they are untied when the coffin is put into the grave. The body, with the exception of the head, is covered by a white veil or shroud, the “guilgiŭ” or “pânza.” The Roumanians have proverbs equivalent to our “To go on till the last gasp.” “Pâna’n pânzele albe,” “Until the white veil,” or “Pâna’n guilgiŭ,” “Until the shroud.”
An eikon is usually placed on top of the shroud. Sometimes things used in ordinary life are also put into the coffin. Thus a shepherd might be buried with his crook and whistle. In the coffin of the mother of a family, dolls may be put to represent the children she has had (S. page 293).
In most parts of the old kingdom of Roumania, the corpse is kept in the house for three days, but in Bessarabia it is the priest who decides when the burial is to take place, and he may fix it even for the day after the death.
In towns, for example Bucharest, long black flags are hung out at the gate posts to show that there is someone dead in the house. Black tablets with the name of the dead person, in silver letters, are also placed outside, and it is an act of respect for anyone to go in and visit the dead. It is noticeable that one does not say “Good day,”
