Page:Chinese Life in the Tibetan Foothills.djvu/132

 for which purpose the horoscope is necessary. He mentally carries away the particulars of the horoscope. The bark is then peeled from a growing tree, and the horoscope pasted on the bared part, and anathematized by him for forty-nine days, after which time the piece of the tree with the horoscope is gouged out and taken home, and a small idol made of it, which is also anathematized, till such time as the image speaks ; at this juncture it is believed that the child dies. This little idol is further worshipped and taught to do as it is bid. It may even enter houses and steal for its master. Or it may be let loose in an enemy's house for revenge, intimidation or robbery. This last is practised by the following people: Nuns, ni ku, Tao ku ; hua ku , embroidery women, who very seldom have husbands and are sometimes men in disguise; toothache witch doctors , ya p‘o, who pretend to extract the worm from a diseased tooth by way of the eye; wen p‘o and ch‘ü shêng  p‘o, midwives; or  , medicine mothers; hsiang (相) p‘o, physiognomists; fortune tellers, suan ming  p‘o; and go-betweens in marriages, mei (媒) p‘o.

The above classes, on entering a house, are sure to make trouble. If they are meanly or harshly treated, they may let loose a ghost in the house, which will manifest itself in the following ways: short hair will be found in the rice-steamer, or filth of various kinds will find its way into the rice; reeds become transformed into darts and fly at people; the rope on which tobacco leaves are dried becomes a snake to bite the family; twigs become fire-darts to set the house on fire; a paper image steals the family property; tiles are pulled from the roof of the house in the night, or brickbats are thrown into the house in the night; the house is set on fire at any time, but specially in the night, or the shell of the bamboo sprout becomes a living being to frighten people; or they annoy by making the rooster crow at bedtime and the dogs bark all the night through.