I looked into a pearl well
Song
I looked into a pearl well, I saw my wife, ; In purple, velvet, in a pearl wreath. ; Whose mouth smiles, the judge takes the pledge. ; ; They sat in a circle. They sang the melody. Two children, the witness and the judge, listened in the middle of the circle. Whoever smiled while singing had to give the judge a pledge. When enough pledges had been collected, the witness chose one from the covered pledges and handed it to the judge: ; – My lord judge, what does the criminal whose pledge I have in my hand deserve? ; And the judge imposed the punishment. Two jumps or a somersault, or perhaps a gypsy wheel. ; If the criminal did it, he got his pledge back. Once all the pawns had been redeemed, the game began again.