St. Landry democrat., 1890-12-20

CROSSES ssh that they form one OF the
-. .Y- ~ symbols of our Saviour. If
, succeed it is q favorable omen.
BELIEFS OF THE SEASON.
The stories that are told about Christ
mas, particularly in the Gail Thai, u
valley in Carinthia inhabited almost ex-
cluslVely by Slavs, are most remarkable,
and seem to have been hardly even colored
by Christianity. The belief that horses
and cattle talk in human language with
each other on the night between the 24th
and 25Ch of December is universal there.
Whether the rocs and channels enjoy the
same privilege or are subject to the same
penalty seemed to be an open question,
rs few persons care to wade through the
snow, to climb mountain, or even to take
up their abode i'll Il wood, IN order to
listen 10 their disCourses. Even with re
spect to domestic animals everything has
not hitherto been rendered as clear as
we should like it to be. For example, a
village priest was kind enough to furnish
rs with the following story, which was
written down ut once, as much as pos
slble in his own words. 1t is a sin to
ltSttI ~ N11it lIlt dfllIlIdlS Say, CtIltl IL
always brings i'll luck A farm servant
from distance did not believe the story
a sin which, it may be feared, was
shared both by the present writer and
his informant. Still he retained such
half belief as induced him to hide him
self in the stable. The two horses which
it contained talked to each other as fol-
- ia Il, hor ~, l.
this day week" Yes, the servant is
heavy And the way to the church
yard is long and Steep The man took
to his bed and died He was buried that
day week. Here we have at least the
Christian idea of u sin that is punished
ii little too heavily, one is inclined to
think-but what are we to say to the
following story, which WAS told in the
Slav dialect of Carniola by travelling
workman, at once translated into Ger
man and noted down The story was
read aloud in rough German, which was
translated almost sentence by sentence
to the narrator, who firmly believed in
the truth of the tale, and corrected by
him in one or two small points, which
were directly altered 1t is evidently a
far older, or at least more authentic, ver-
sion than the last:
HOW TO HEAR THE ANIMALS TALK.
No one can hear the animals talk I'M
less he has boots with nine soles and
fern leaves in them. There was a farm
servant (knecht) in the Gail Thai who
had a pair of very strong shoes made,
which We're afterward frequently re-
paired, SO that they had the requisite
number of soles, though he did not
know it. He lived in loft above stall
where two oxen were kept, and between
the loft and stall there was a trap door,
which he often left open One Christ
mas eve he Went to visit q girl with
whom he was in love in village about
a mile and half away. The path led
through wood, in which there We're
great number of ferns. He staid too
long and fastened back in such hurry
that he did not stop to fasten his boots,
the laces of which had become loose. 1t
is to be supposed that this was the rea-
son why some fern leaves got into them
AS soon as he had reached the loft he
heard great lamentation below, and
called trough the traphole to ask what
We rEs matter. As no answer was
given lie put out his lantern, but re-
ed standing. What are you COM
planning about" asked a voice below.
why should not complain, answered
a second voice, "when in six months |
am to be Slaughtered" ''That is quite
true, but | have a better reason to
lament, for | shall be slaughtered in two
days for a funeral feast, and you in six
months for a marriage, which is better"
who will die, them" Our mistress"
How You know she has cat that
always sits beside her at meals and eats
out of her plate. Tomorrow there will
be a great dinner, and the cat will come
as usual. but she will be angry and push
it roughly away. It will spring to the
top of the stove; there it will stay for
time, but when the soup is brought in it
will jump down upon the table, and
from thence over the tureen and its mis-
tress' head. In doing this it will let a
hair fall, and that hair will choke her."
Here the conversation ended. Next |
morning the servant looked gloomy
among his jovial fellows, and his mas
ter asked him what was the matter. |
For a long time he refused to reply, but
at last he entreated his master to have |
the cat killed at once. It was no use
telling a story that nobody would be-
lieve, he said, but his whole manner
made such an impression on the propri-
etor that he consented to his request.
The wife, however, said she was fond
of the cat; it had been long in the house,
and if it We're killed for mere fancy
she herself would go away. Everything,
of course, happened exactly as the oxen
had foretold. In six months the master
married again, and said: II don't like
to see that OK; it used to draw with one
that was slaughtered at my first wife's
funeral. Have it killed for dinner"
One does not quite envy the wedding
guests their beef This was not, how.
ever, the moral the narrator drew from
the story. He said: zone can see how
much more cattle know than one thinks;
if the servant had not happened TO have
fern leaves in his boots they would have
spoken just as they did, and nobody
would have known anything about it,"
We for our part can only leave the story
to those who are interested in such mat
ters, in the hope that it will not prove
as indigestible as the beef was likely to
be.-London Saturday Review.
a New Christmas Game.