Then a piece of salted bread is given to the horse, and the owner spits
seven times into his eyes, by which he is supposed to lose all fear for
supernatural beings. According to the gypsies, horses, especially black ones,
can see beings which are invisible to human eyes. I have known an old
English gypsy who believed that dogs could see ghosts when men could
not. The mysterious manner in which dogs and horses betray fear when
there is apparently nothing to dread, the howling of the former by night,
and the wild rushes of the latter, doubtless led to this opinion. The bread
and salt will recall to the reader the fact that the same was given at the
ancient mysteries apparently for the purpose of strengthening the neophyte
so that he should not fear the supernatural beings whom he was supposed
to meet. It is curious to find this peculiar form of the sacrament
administered to a horse. Another protective charm is common among the
Southern Hungarian gypsies. The dung of a she-goat dried and powdered is
sifted on a horse's back and this spell recited:--
"Miseçes prejiá,
Andrál t're perá!
Trádá čik busčákri
Miseçes perákri,
Andral punrá, andral dumno,
Andral yákhá, andral kánná!
Nevkerádyi av ákána,
Ač tu, ač to čá mánge:
Ač tu, áč tu, áč kathe!""Evil be gone
From thy belly!
Drive away she-goat's dung
Evil from the belly,
From the feet, from the back,
From the eyes, from the ears
New-born be now,
Be thou, be thou only mine
Stay thou, stay thou, stay here!"In the Hungarian gypsy-tribe of the Kukuya, the following method of
protecting horses is used: The animal is placed by the tent-fire and there a
little hole is dug before him into which ninefold grass and some hairs from
his mane and tail are put. Then his left fore-hoof is traced on the ground,
and the earth within it is carefully taken out and shaken into the hole, while
these lines are repeated:--