Page:Chinese Life in the Tibetan Foothills.djvu/214

 If a person sneezes, the first thing he will say is "Who is speaking about me?" If a person's ears ring, some evil is being spoken of him. If ears burn a law suit is impending. A burning face indicates the loss of property. The god of the bed is worshipped on the moving from one house to another, and when a new bed is brought, in order that peaceful slumbers may come to the family. Soldiers sharpen their swords once yearly on the thirteenth of the fifth moon. Kites are flown by men on the ninth of the ninth moon as a medium for carrying off evil influences from the home. If a kite should fall on any person's house it is reckoned to be very unlucky and no one would dare to go and claim it. Children often wear a small mirror on the front of their hats in order that the demons may see their ugly faces and depart.

If a man should dream that he has swallowed the sun and moon or pearls, he will eventually have a rich son. To dream of much water is to get great riches. To dream of fire is to get honours by learning. People who are troubled by evil dreams go and tie a knot on a shrub known as the mêng hua, dream flower. If an old man has a red nose it is the sign of the greatest happiness. If the house is infested with rats, many people keep what is called a shên mao êrh, or spirit cat, pasted up in the kitchen. This is also called a Kien chou (簡州) mao êrh because they are made at that place. This is simply the picture of a cat painted on a piece of yellow paper. It is reckoned very unlucky to howl or shout on a hill-top as a gale of wind and rain may follow.

The terror of the nine-headed monster (蟲) is great in some places. This would appear to be a flock of wild geese flying in the shape of the character nine. If these pass over a city at night many people rush out of doors to drive them off as it is believed that if it drops pus, the family will become poor; if it drops blood, the whole family will die.

The Chinese believe that there is such a monster and the contention of the heads for the ascendancy makes it drop blood.

Houses whose doors open on some public path sometimes have wooden screens set up in front of the doors to keep