The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1895-10-24
FEARS AND FBNClES,
SuperStitiOnS and Legends OF Many
Peoples.


farding Friday as an inauspcious day. 10 De-
gin any work on the sixth day OF the week. OF
20 start on a journey is q sure presage OF evil
to come This superstition fingers even among
educated people, but its origin dates back te
very early times.
The day was consecrated BY the old Slsvon.
ians to some goddess akin to Venus or Freyja
and her worship in ancient times accounts for
the superstition now connected with the name
of Friday. In Russia. formerly, the day was
consecrated TO silva, the Lithuanian Secva,
Savonic goddess answering 10 Ceres. In Chrls-
tian times the personality of the goddess be-
came merged in that of st. Prascovis, and she
Is now frequently addressed by the modern
descendants OF her ancient worshipers by the
compound name of Mother Pyatnitsa- Pras-
covia."
As she is supposed to wander about the houses
of the peasants on her holy day and TO be Offend
cd if she finds certain kinds of work going on,
they are Tor at least they used to be- frequently
suspended on Fridays. 1t is a sin, says time
honored tradition, Tor a woman TO sew or spin,
or weave or buck linen on a Friday, and SINH
larly for man TO plait, haste Shoes Irvine cord,
and the like. Spinning and weaving are
especially obnoxious to Mother Friday" for
the dust and refuse thus produced injure her
eyes. When this is done in spite of her, she
Teveuges herself by plaques of sore eyes, whit
lows and agnails. In some places the villagers
10 TO bed early on Friday evening, believing
that ST. Pyatinka will punish all whom she
finds awake when she roams through the cot
tage. I'm others they sweep their floor every
Thursday evening so that she may not be an
noyed by dust or the like when she comes next
day. As for any work done on a Friday, 1t rs
sure TO 20 wrong
Nearly all familiar animals figure in the folk
lore Of primitive peoples, and their individual
peculisrities are often accounted for with great
ingenuity curious legend explains the long
ears of the ass in this wise:
At the time when the Lord created the world
he also made all the animals and gave each one
Its name. When the ass WAS finished it said,
Lord. what is my name?" Your name is
Asst" The ass went away well pleased but
after awhile it forgot its name and went back
10 the Lord. Lord, what is my manner"
Ass"
Soon it came back again. Excuse me, Lord,
what is my manner" Ass, Asst" The ass
turned and went away. but forgot it another
time and came back. Lord, have forgotten
my name" The Lord could not stand it any
longer, but seized its ears and pulled them
sharply, exclaiming: ASS Asst Asst" The
ears were pulled so hard that they stretched,
and that is why the ass has long ears; and why
we pull persons ears TO keep him from for
getting thing.
The Russian peasants have a singular legend
about the spsrrows and swallows to explain
the favor with which the latter usually re-
garded and the ill-repute OF the former.
When the Jews were seeking for Christ in
the garden, says the legend, all the birds ex
cept the sparrow tried TO draw them away
from his hiding place. Only the sparrow at
tracted them thther by its shril chirrup-
ing. Then the Lord cursed the sparrow, aud
forbade that men should eat OF its flesh. In
other parts Of Russia tradition tells that before
the crucfxion the swallows carried off the
nails provided for the use of the executioners,
but the spsrrows brought them back. And
while our Lord was hanging on the cross the
eparrows were malicioUsly exclaiming, "Jif !
Jif!" or He is livingl He is living!" in
order 70 urge on the tormentors to fresh cruel
ties. But the swallows cried, with opposite
intent: /" inner Umeri" "a He is dead He
is dead" Therefore il is that TO kill swallow
is sin, and that It's nest brings good luck to a
house. But the sparrow is unwelcome
guest whose entry into cottage is a presage of
woe As punishment for its sins its legs have
been fastened together by invisible bonds, and
therefore il always hops not being able 10 run.
According to "A old Lithuanian tradition the
shape OF the sole lie due 10 the fact that the Queen
OF the Baltic Sea once ate one-balf of it and
threw the other half back into the sea again.
A legend from Kherson Province ac-
counts for it as follows: At the time of the
Angelic Salutation the Blessed Virgin told the
Archange Gabriel that she would give credit
10 hs words " If fish. one side Of which had
already been eaten. were TO come to life again"
That very moment the fish came TO life and
was put back i'm the water
The flesh OF the horse is considered unclean
because when the infant Savior lay in the
Manager the horse kept eating the hay under
which the babe lay concealed, whereas the OK
not only would not touch il, but brought back
hay on lis horns TO replace what the horse had
eaten.
TIE Old Ritualists will not eat the cray-fsh,
hold hat .f,I ~,
the other hand, the snake is highly esteemed,
for tradition says that when the devil in the
form Of mouse had gnawed hole in the
Ark, and thereby endangered the safety OF
Noah and bis family, the snake stopped up the
leak with its head.
According 10 Bohemian legend. the devil
created the mouse that u nj gbt destroy Gods
cora whereupou the Lord created the cat.
Morse tradition explains why the tail Of
the salmon is fine and thin When the
code went TO catch LOke and punish him AS
the instrument Of BAldur's death. he changed
himself into salmon and jumped into the
river. They made a net and dragged the river
with u TO catch him, but he slipped over tie
net and was making for the open sea. when
Thor caught him in his hand. lie was very
slippery and would have escaped even then.
bad not Thor held him fast by the tail, ever
since which the tails OF salmon are fine and
slim.
Inc existence OF nils rs accounted for in
legendary lore in this wise: When the Lord
was about 10 fashion the face OF the earth he
ordered the devil TO dive in the watery depths
aud bring up handful Of the soil he found at
the bottom. The devil obeyed. but when he
filed bis hand he filed his mouth also The
Lord took the soil, sprinkled il all around,
and the earth appeared. all perfectly fiat The
devil, whose mouth was quite fall, looked on
Tor sometime M silence. At last he tried to
speak. but choked and fed in terror After
him followed the thunder and lightning and
90 he rushed over the whole surface OF the
earth, hills springing up where he coughed
aud sky-cleavIng mountains where be leaped
Many singular theories have been framed
by primitive people 10 account for the origin
OF man. The inhabitants of Thibet have one
which suggests the Darwinian conception of
our eousIuship with the apes Once uron a
time IN Thibet the three gods held council to
determine how the country should be peopled
The first one showed in speech that the
propagation Of the human race conld not be
tecuEed uness one OF them turned himself ipto
ape. The third Of the gods dId this. and
and the goddess kadfoms, was persuaded TO
Change herself into a female ape The pian
succeeded, and from these pr0genitors have
sprung the whole human family. Tie Morse idea
isthst men were created from trees into which
Odin brcathcs spirit aud life reminding us OF
the Mosaic narrative. Tho FIRST mans name
Ask tash), and the first woman's Embla
(em)
There is a Tradition among the North Amcri-
can Indians 10 account Tor the origin OF woman,
which is even more iumiliatin. to the sex Than