, 1888-09-20
VARIOUS OLD SAYINGS
Absurd Old saws That Were Once Be
lieved by Good People.


We are apt to regard various old saws that
nave been preserved to us as the epitome OF
the wisdom of old observers, and possibly Of
some value for that reason, as the Did OBJ
server had so little to distract attention and
thought that his or her observation was
likely to be closer and of more worth than
the generalization Of today, when people are
skipping from point to point and, like roll
ing stones, staying nowhere long enough to
gather any moss. But how many of these
old saws and dicta are painfully absurd on
their face, almost cruel to recall, when we
remember that there were people who had
no recourse but to believe in them; people,
too, who could hardly be blamed in their
day for any sort of belief, while both st.
Augustine and Melancthon had belief in
the existence and horrors of the wehr wolf.
Among these legends are a huge mass of
instructions as to which day of the week, for
instance, is the best one for cutting the hair
and trimming the nails; rules, to be sure,
that are observed by people of more or less
intellect and good breeding today, not, they
will tell you, that they really believe in them,
but that in case the instructions might be
true, they prefer to be on the safe side and
escape the penalties. Instructions also
abound as to the fit day for engaging ser
wants, for starting on journeys, for buying
houses, building, and other matter. Accord
ing to these old dicta, if one puts out of bed
in the morning the left foot first, nothing
could go right for the rest of the day. If one
did not want ghosts to visit the bedside at
night, one must not put the heels of ones shoes
toward the bed in taking them off. In the
same room with a newborn child a fire must
be kept burning, to ward Off the evil spirits
that might make a changeling of it; the
child must never be taken down stairs before
Z - H. - - -
never rise in the world; it must not be shown
itself in the glass before it is three months
old, or it will die; it must not have its little
nails cut in that time, or it will prove a liar;
if its mother touches blade or AK or scissors
on the day of its christening, it win meet its
death by some sharp instrument; if the sign
of the cross be not made over the baby's
mouth when it yawns, the devil will enter in
at it.
To whip a child on Sunday is to ruin it;
but to whip it on a Good Friday is to make
it well behaved all the rest of its life. Nor,
according to these words of wisdom, can a
child be allowed to walk backward, for the
child who walks backward drives its parents
by just SO many steps toward the bottomless
pit; nor may you allow a child to read and
eat at the same time, piless you are willing
to ruin its memor' Other matters, too,
come under the jur ton of these ancient
prohibitions. Tho Wedding ring should not
be too small, unless one wishes for misfort-
une. OF the bridal pair the one who first
kneels in prayer, or first rises from prayer,
is the one who first dies. These and a
thousand others like them are the rem
nants of former days, and we can well
congratulate ourselves that we have escaped
from the prison walls Of reliance on such
notions and can afford to laugh at our fallen
fetters.-Harper's Bazaar.