Page:Chinese Life in the Tibetan Foothills.djvu/206

 owed another family five hundred cash, which he promised to return and pay. Soon after his death a litter of puppies came into the house, and on the belly of one was written the name of the man to whom the money was owing; the puppy was given to him and his family became rich.

In connection with the pig there are some curious ideas, which seem to have been imported by Buddhism, such as the following: 曾見孫孫娶祖母爺皮弸鼓打諸親鍋内煮—Already I have seen the grandson marry the grandmother, and the grandfather's skin acting as a drum at the ceremony; while the whole of the friends (become pork) were boiling in the pot to be eaten at the feast. This is transmigration of souls in earnest! If a pig becomes unsettled and snorts in and out of the sty or gets out of the sty and away this is a very unlucky sign; as it may be that it is threatened with an attack of the pig's epidemic. For the last forty years the pigs have been smitten with a disease spoken of as the huo yin tzŭ wên (火印子瘟), or the fire-stamp epidemic; this disease is peculiar and is easily known by the large red marks all over the body of the pig just like the stamp from an official seal. The Chinese say that this is done by demons, and it is attributed to a movement among the soldiers of Hades, and for some years it has been feared that human beings would be afflicted by the epidemic. Is it possible that this is an attempt of the disembodied spirits to gain an entrance to the body of the pig? It is often said of a pig if it thrives well, that it is a huan chang ti (還帳的), that is, someone who owed them or their forefathers some money, come back in the form of a hog to repay the debt.

If a cat comes to the house it is a sign that the mourning clothes will soon be needed. If a cow comes it is also a bad omen; the fear is that some murder or accident involving life may happen, and therefore the animal is seized and kept till a fine is paid which is used to pacify the family gods and restore the peace of the house. The owner of the cow will also have to hang up a red cloth over the door of the dwelling and fire off crackers at the door as he departs with the animal.