Page:Brinkley - Japan - Volume 5.djvu/274



A dog is less open to suggestion, but it may be prevented from biting by turning towards it the palm of the hand having the ideograph "tiger" inscribed; and its bite can be cured by rubbing the place with a tiger's bone, or, in default of that commodity, rubbing with the hand and muttering "Come tiger, come tiger." There is an elaborate form of recitation and finger-bending to deter a mad dog from biting, and the bone of a tortoise's foot held in the left hand protects a man against being bewitched by a fox or a badger. Cats are not generally considered dangerous, though it is deemed necessary to keep them away from a dead body by placing a sword near the corpse. To kill a cat is to become accursed to the seventh generation, and if a pet cat strays, it may be immediately recalled by erasing from the calendar the day of the animal's disappearance.

Among the commonest superstitions may be mentioned a habit, among children and women, of hanging out a paper doll (teri-teri-bōzu) to secure fine weather; the custom of standing a broom upside down to drive away an unwelcome guest, or of burning a bit of dried mogusa (Artemisia moxa) on his sandals with the same object; and the care taken by females to