The Pacific commercial advertiser., 1908-12-20
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Some [ Traditions
of the Snake


From the beginning Of time. wher
he first made his bow 10 the public il
the Garden of Eden, the serpent ha!
ever played a spectacular role in thai
curious vaudeville of the imagination
that We call popular superstition.
BY no means, however, has he al
ways taken the wicked fairy part-or
occasion even the devil a saint may
be-and some of the most interesting
folklore presents him as a benevolent
being.
Particularly true is this of the
"'house snakes,' guardians of home
and fireside. These the old Teutons
believed had a special affection fol
lonely little ehildren-were quite
chummy with the youngsters, in fact
going so far as to drink milk with
them, while in some mysterious way
the lives of child and reptile were Sc
bound up together that if the snake
were killed the little one would pine
away. House snakes in ancient Prus
sia were even more revered. For the
most part they were eGddled IN cosy
comfort under the stoves, but at sacrl-
fetal seasons were coaxed to crawl NJ
on a carefully laid table covered with
spandy, Sunday go-to-meeting cloth
and beguiled into tasting certain
dishes prepared for them. such conde-
seension being looked upon as good
omen for the future, which would be
black indeed if the snakes turned
pouting away, says the Los Angeles
Times.
Closely connected with this rever-
ence for snakes comes the magic-work-
ing snake stones. Very ancient are
some of these found in India, and TO
this day the inhabitants of a village
would not dare to point TO one of the
snakes carved upon the stones, know
ing that such profanity would be in
stantly punished by his finger rotting
and falling off. Yet a lonely-hearted
woman. bold in her excess OF longing,
win draw near and lay an offering of
flowers before a stone, or even touch
the head of carver snake with red
paint, with the trembling hope that
she NAV be blessed with children.
Far afeld from India, but akin to
these snake stones, are certain charm
stones of Scotland. with rude patterns
scratched on their surface and each
stone pierced with two holes Accord
ing to tradition, these stones were
made BY seven vipers, who shaped
them with their teeth, while the king
of the vipers carried them to their
destination on his tail.
Another marvellous stone connected
with folklore of serpents is beaut1-
full and very brilliant one that the
Cherokee Indians eonjured with. This
they will tell you once adorned the
head of a monstrous snake, its glitter
attracting the red man s attention to
the reptile But So well protected by
a guard of other snakes was this re-
markable creature that for long time
it was impossible to attack it. FL
nallv a bold eonjurer, incasing himself
in leather impenetrable to ser
pent 3 bite,' succeeded in surprising
and killing it. The glittering stone
torn from its head he hid for many
years in a place unknown save to two
women - and the modern skeptic
claims that even one may not be trust
ed to keep a secret!-but later it
came into the possession of the tribe.
But head and shoulders above the
common herd of serpents is the snake
Of the following legend:
A poor Greek youth, his rags re-
deemed by the tender heart that beat
put stop to the killing Of
snake bv some cruel gamin of the
street. In gratitude the snake eoaxed
MS father to bestow upon his rescuer
/ certain magic ring, evidently kind
IF family heirloom, and upon its pres
sntation the old snake thus addressed
he lad: FIf thou art ever in need
IF ANYTHING lick the seal and a black
nan will appear. Command him to do
whatever thou wilt and he will per
form it. -
As soon as the lad reached home with
he ring he began at the lowest rung
# the ladder of desire by filing the
empty shelves Of the cupboard, grad
lally working up to the topmost ambi-
lion of his heart, the hand of fair
princess, her stern papa s consent won
1y the instantaneous appearance OF a
,astle, followed by paving path with
yold from the castle to the king 5
palace.
The Zulus and other primitive peo-
lies regard snakes as ancestral ghosts,
he notion arising partly from the un-
,anny nature of the serpent, partly
rom its fondness of living near graves
md then crawling into houses, as
hough it might be revisiting an old
home.
According to certain tribes in NADIA
yasear, at death mobiles pass into snakes,
middle classes into crocodiles and the
over classes into eels. 1t must not
De supposed, however, that each noble
lad a snake to himself. One reptile
vas considered quite roomy enough to
1old a number of men, women and chill
lren.
As for the snake itself, various are
he beliefs concerning its Immortality.
There is an old Spanish superstition
hat the snake, feeling death s ap-
,roaeh. quietly draws himself out of the
kin, grows, develops, takes on scales,
sprouts wings, until at the final word
le has become a full-fedged dragon,
when by good fortune he discreetly
into the wilderness. In Jap
IN a snake spends a thousand years IN
he mountains, another thousand in the
water. and then evolves into a dragon. |
Even more remarkable is the following |
Id cobra tradition. A thousand years |
icing this creature 5 allotted time, IN |