Their parents make them stand in a corner, with their faces to the
wall. They must not look round, for if they do nothing will happen.
But if they are not inquisitive, ask no questions, and stand quite
still, a shower of nuts and apples suddenly falls on the floor behind
them. They are told that these have been thrown down from heaven by
St. Martin, and they at once turn round and scramble for them.
There is another thing which is sometimes done on St. Martin's Eve.
The father, or some big boy, comes into the younger children's
bedroom, dressed up as the saint, with a beard and robes, and asks how
the children have been behaving. If he is told they have been good, he
gives them apples or sweetmeats; but if he hears they have been
naughty, he pulls out a whip, throws it down, and leaves the room.
At Malines, and perhaps elsewhere, the children of poor people have a
little procession of their own on St. Martin's Day, when they dress up
and go about singing from house to house. One of them, who is dressed
as St. Martin, carries a large basket, into which the people at whose
doors they ring put apples or money.
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