The ballad - Index of

The Ballad
priests of Mars in the earliest days
somewhat as follows :
of Rome ran
" Help us, O Lares (repeated thrice),
And, O Mars, let not plague or ruin fall
upon our people
(thrice).
Be content, fierce Mars.
Leap the threshold. Halt ! Strike ! (thrice)
In alternate song call upon all heroes (thrice)
Help us, O Mars !
(thrice)
Leap Leap Leap Leap Leap !"
! ! ! !
Second,
a translation of the ancient initiation
ceremony, curiously similar to baptism, formerly
practised among the Maoris when a child (in the
present instance a girl)
was about three months
old. The child was laid on a mat before the
priest, and the women and girls chanted :
Women. "We wish this child to be immersed."
"
Priest. Let it be sprinkled.'
Women. "We wish the child to live to womanhood."
fo
Priest. Dance for Atua " (the god or spirit).
Women, (An unintelligible phrase.)
"
Priest. It is sprinkled in the waters of Atua/
Women. "The mat is spread."
Priest. "Dance in a circle."
Women. "Thread the dance."
From this point the chant becomes wholly un-
a fact interesting in itself, as show-
translatable ;
ing that traditional phrases may outlive their
intelligibility. Dieffenbach, who recovered this
chant, could get no hint from the natives of the
meaning of the latter portion, which they did not
understand themselves.
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