WHAT HAPPENS AT THE RISE OF THE NEW-MOON.

When the new-moon is risen, the night that men see her, they send word to each other saying: "The new-moon has risen." And all men are glad, and pointing at her they do

thus: they say to her: "Arro l ) (or Helal) 2 ), [may we be] blessed!" and then they say [lifting the right arm]: "This is my right arm," and [lifting the left arm]: "This is my

left arm." And they all ask to be blessed by her; but the women who are at home ask their blessing by knocking at their doorposts. And they say thus: "The moon brings so

much luck ! Be thou to us a messenger of happiness and of luck ! Let our fate be better through thee : may our distressed ones be eased ; our strangers arrive [safely] ; our

people at home be [safe] in the morning; our pregnant ones bring forth ; our women in childbed see [their children] creep [until they walk] ; our little ones grow up ; our adults subsist ;

our pasturing flocks return at night; our flocks at home be [safe] in the morning, through thee! O Lord, the evil of Balla and Kalla 3) ; the evil of the envious ; the evil of [the

robber] who does not spare himself, and who does not wish that we have property; the evil of him who is girded [to war against us] and who is still sitting [but planning to do

so] keep away from us! From bad things deliver us: from the rumbling in the sky, from the creeping on the earth ; from the wrong of the strong, from the curse of the weak deliver us! The evil of him who does not fear nor~ love, who does not spare nor do well; the evil of what the eye sees and the heart fears or, of what the heart fears and the ear hears keep away from us. By thy good fortune make us to praise thee ! We shall praise thee for our property and our people. With luck and good fortune rise for us !" With all this and the like they ask for blessing. And when they have finished the prayer, the women pick up a few grains of salt and drop them into the fire upon.

1) The meaning of ^arro is not known ; shepherds shout ^arro when they separate the flocks.

2) Helal is considered to be a name for the new-moon; ge c ez helal.

3) Balla and Kalla are probably Balau and Kalau, Hamitic tribes, who formerly must have been considered dangerous enemies of the Mansa c .

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Last modified: 10/13/09