A boy with a
large crystal goblet, dashed it into the clear lymph, and presented it
to me. The superior fell into eulogy of his favourite Valclusa, and I
drank not only this but several glasses, with circumstantial
criticisms on its excellence; so that the superior seemed delighted at
my having rendered such ample justice to the water he so loudly
praised, _Entre nous_,--the excellence of his wine, and the toasts
that we had drunk to the health of innumerable loyal and virtuous
individuals, rendered me a greater amateur of water-bibbing than
usual.
After some time we returned, and saw a lamb roasting for supper in the
open air; a hole being dug in the earth, chopped vine-twigs are burnt
below it, the crimson glow of which soon roasts the lamb, and imparts
a particular fragrance to the flesh. After supper we went out in the
mild dark evening to a mount, where a bonfire blazed and glared on the
high square tower of the convent, and cushions were laid for
chibouques and coffee. The not unpleasing drone of bagpipes resounded
through the woods, and a number of Bulgarians executed their national
dance in a circle, taking hold of each other's girdle, and keeping
time with the greatest exactness.
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