RANSVESTIA

belief was current among some people of the western world at least 2,000 years ago.

Early one September, after a disagreement over a matter of principle with the Director of Admissions at my University, I resigned my position and left for Europe. I had wanted a trip for some time, particularly to Yugoslavia, primarily I suppose, because, like Mount Everest, it was there and I had never been there. France and Germany were also on the agenda, which was flexible enough to be changed at whim or fancy.

In Paris, my first stop, I was put up by an Embassy friend with whom I had worked a few years earlier. I told him my plans and desires and out of a clear blue sky he asked if I would care to be attached as an observer to a French trade mission to Yugo- slavia. I, of course, agreed and eight days later was on my way.

It was in Belgrade that I met Ioza Vilfanji who inter alia made a casual reference to this old superstition. The mention of this jogged my memory and I remembered having seen a refer- ence to this couplet in the Life of Tiberius. My curiosity piqued, at an opportune time I asked M. Vilfanji what he knew about the verse and if he believed that it could work. I also mentioned that I had seen a reference to it made by Tiberius Caesar some 1,900 years ago.

Vilfanji stated that, although he personally did not believe in it, many women in the Balkans did and some claimed that it was still being practiced successfully. He went on to say that one of his female relatives certainly believed in it and would be most interested in hearing that the superstition was known so many years ago. At my request and in his company I met with the lady, Madame Nic, at her home in Montenegro.

Amenities concluded and explanations made and accepted, the lady asked me why I was interested in this superstition and wasn't I concerned as to the effect the explanation might have on

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