, 1876-11-25
NQOhmmIIiedan Superstition.

! Eugene schuyler, an aCCTCulteu hSctI OI
the United States in that country, We
make the following extracts on the
above subject
According to the Koran when an an.
imal is killed for food, its throat must be
cut in order that the blood may all run
out. BY transfer of ideas the melon is
treated in the same way. First, its
throat is cut-,that is, small incision is
made in the end tarthcst from the stem
then its head is cut off by slicng off II
small piece; after that it is cut up length
ways, aud with one or two dcXtcrous
turns of the knife the flesh is removed
from the rind and cut into small thin
slices, which are pushed out alternately
10y the knife. When a man drinks wa
ter, he should first take one swallow
while repeating to himself the name of
Allah, and then take two swallows, after
that he can gulp down as much as he
pleases. When person hiccoughs it is
common to say, "Iou stole something
from me-" This is supposed to be good
luck. If you sncezc when speak to you
it shows that am right If person
snceze three times it is very unlucky'
Yawning is sinful and most dangerous
practice, and arises from a sinful place in
your heart, hazzi shaitan, which is get
ting ready for thcreception ofau evil spir-
it. Mohammed never yawned, for when
he was four years old he was one day
seized in the desert by the angel Gabriel,
who bounced upon him like bird and
cut out the evil place from his heart. II,
therefore, you yawn, you should always
put up the hand with the palm outwards,
so as to ward off the evil spirits which
will at once come to you. Among the
more puritanical folk, laughter is also
bad and il is said that ITanify, one OF
the Mussulman doctors, lost half OF Asia
for Islam, by laughing. Whistling is
also bad. II a husband whistle, some
thing will happen to his wife, and if
children whistle, their father or mother
will die. Whistling, too, is supposed to
bring wind,a and the Kirghiz frequently
whistle for that purpose. A buzzing in
ones ears shows that man is dead, and
a prayer is always repeated. There is
beautiful legend connected with this,
In heaven there is a tree on each leaf of
which is written the name of some soul,
and what men call buzzlng in their
ears is the rustling of one of these leaves
as it falls from the tree. If the noise in
your ears be ringing as of bells, then it
is q Christian soul whose leaf has fallen,
and who is to die; and so for each faith
the noise is different. There also exist
many similar superstitions with regard
to the twitchings Of different parts of the
body, called tentakmak. There is lit
tie bird named karlagatch, the forGcd
tail of which is always trembling. This
tail, if you keep it about you, will al.
ways ward off i'll luck. 1t is therefore a
very common part of womans head
dress There is another belief, too, about
the karlagatch. If, when you first see
this bird in the spring, you dig a deep
hole in the ground under the big toe of
your right foot, you will find a coal.
With this coal in your hand 20 and
stand in front of a mosque, bearing, also
a slim rod. You then watch every one
who passes and at last there will be n
girl wearing large hat. You touch her
with the rod, and make her stop and go
into the mosque with you, and you can
tncn obtain her hat, which will make
you invisible, and allow you to wander
unseen wherever you please.
Among the Kirghiz the magpie (aka)
is very ominous bird, and they careful
ly watch its comings and goings. If
Kirghiz hears one Of these cry, he goes
out to look. If the magpie be on the
east, it means guests on the west,
journey if on the north, bad luck if
on the SOUTH some remarkable event.
With regard to the crow, there are similar
superstitions, and among otherg it is said
that the karga. or ordinary crow, and
the kok'karga, or the green crow OF the
steppes, never met until the Russians
came. Before that the black crow flew