light clear and bright,
So you take one and I'll take one,
And he will be left without one."

The boys represent the cutters and the girls the oats, and great
merriment prevails as the cutters' arms encircle the waists of the
pretty oats, leaving the unfortunate cutter, whom they all dance
around, bowing scoffingly as they shout:

"No one did want you,
Poor sprite, no one wants you,
You are left alone,
You are left alone."

Many of their games are similar to "Blind Man's Buff," "Hunt the Key,"
and "Hot and Cold," or "Hunt to the Music," the latter being one which
by its modulations from pianissimo to forte indicate the hunters'
nearness to the object sought for. The game of "Blind Feeding the
Blind" causes much amusement among the juveniles; two players sit
opposite each other blindfolded and endeavor to feed one another with
spoonfuls of milk, and their mishaps are very entertaining to the
on-lookers.

Between the hours of ten and eleven comes the grand Christmas supper,
when all adjourn to the dining-room to partake of the annual feast for
which the housewives have long been preparing. The table is usually
tastefully and often elaborately trimmed with flowers and green
leaves. The corners of the long snow-white homespun cloth are caught
up into rosettes surrounded with long calla or other leaves; possibly
the entire edge of the table is bedecked with leaves and flowers. The
butter is moulded into a huge yellow rose resting on bright green
leaves, and the napkins assume marvelous forms under the deft fingers
of the artistic housewives.

The Christmas mush holds the first place in importance among the
choice viands of the occasion; it is rice boiled a long while in milk
and seasoned with salt, cinnamon, and sugar, and is eaten with cream.
Several blanched almonds are boiled in the mush and it is confidently
believed that whoever finds the first almond will be the first to be
married. While eating the mush, each one is expected to make rhymes
about the rice and the good luck it is to bring them, and the most
remarkable poetical effusions are in order on these occasions.

The Christmas fish is to the Swede what the Christmas roast-beef is to
the Englishman, an indispensable adjunct of the festival. The fish
used resembles a cod; it is buried for days in wood ashes or else it
is soaked in soda water, then boiled and served with milk gravy.
Bread, cheese, and a few vegetables follow,