20-24 septembrie 2009 - Biblioteca Metropolitana Bucuresti

466 Xhemile ABDIUthe will of “The Good”, which men could not alter. Thus, still today, whentalking about what have happened to someone, the expression used as acomment is, “it was written since the three”. (MITRUShi, 1972: 116)The first bath of the baby takes place after three or seven days. Thewater is kept in usual pots and it is added some salt to reinforce the skin,a metal coin (invoking the hope that the child would become strong as themetal) as well as sugar to make the child sweet in the relations with others.In the area of Zadrimë people used to put in the water of the first bathalso herbs and flowers so that the child would grow fast as the grass andbeautiful as the flower. Such action was related to the cult of plants. Thewater of the first bath is thrown on the fruit trees so that the harvest will beabundant and good.The selection of the name takes place after three or seven days afterbirth. It is a very important act related to the fate of the child. The Christianpart of the population gives mainly names of the saints. The Muslim part ofthe population used to give names of Turkish – Arabic origin. The child isoften given the name of the grandparents, mostly from the father’s ancestors.In addition to the religious names, names of birds or animals particularfor their power were given to boys while names of flowers were given tothe girls. When there were many daughters in a family, according to thecustom, the youngest one is given the name of her mother. The selectionof the name was a family celebration where the family and the relatives ofthe husband participated. About thirty to forty people were participating tosuch celebrations. Before the meal, the guests used to offer to the newbornchild gifts such as shirts, woolen socks, etc.A very important custom for the after-birth period is the first haircut.This was done by the godmother of the child. The hair was cut in threeplaces. It was considered as a good thing if the mother kept the hairthat was cut. Further to this ritual, the family of the child and that of thegodmother became very close to each other. Before starting the meal, thegodmother takes the child, and using scissors put in a plate, cuts the hair.The godmother also gives a certain amount of money. She uses a coin totouch the place where the hair was cut so that the link between the twofamilies will become be stronger. The mother of the child has then to offera gift to the godmother. The Canon of Leke Dukagjini says the followingon the haircut:God parenthood of first haircut709. Godfather and godmother hood, which result from holding a childduring his first haircut belong to those legal bonds which are indissoluble.