Page:Chinese Life in the Tibetan Foothills.djvu/220

 The speckled snake, ma pan (麻斑), believed to be poisonous.

Wu shao (烏稍), a grey snake, reckoned to be poisonous.

Wu pang (蜯), a grey tailless snake or one whose tail does not taper like the other species. It boldly faces men and when attacked shows no inclination to ﬂee.

Chüeh shê and shou kung (守宮), the lizard. The Chinese fear these entering the tea-cups and leaving poison.

The snake's body is very cold, its teeth of the finest, its bite the most venomous. On seeing it every Chinese gets a fright, and generally speaking the belief is that they should be killed, with exceptions which will be given. The saying runs that if you see a snake and do not kill it, in the next life you will be dumb. Snakes in private homes and temples must not be killed. Those in private houses are believed to be the spirits of the ancestors come back in this form to present themselves to the family, and incense is often offered inviting them to go.

Those in temples are called shén shê, spirit snakes; it is said that the god of literature and the city god are snakes and come to receive the incense at the altar. It is said if one goes very early to the bedroom of the city god in his temple one will ﬁnd two snakes asleep on the bed.

Besides this 眞武足踏龜蛇, the chên wu idol or Liu Ch'ang shêng has his foot on tortoise and snake, that is, he is able to subdue them.

Country people declare that by suddenly entering a bamboo grove a snakes' gathering, shê hui, may be seen; but on being disturbed they ﬂee in all directions.

Snakes have a propensity for stealing living creatures such as chickens, rabbits, etc., and in so doing it is believed that the ancestor is only taking his due. Such are some of the ideas which run in the minds of the people regarding snakes, and we now turn to the king of the scaly tribe. The dragon bore nine sons something as follows:—

Hsieh chai (獬豸), a fabulous monster like a deer, which it is said can discriminate between right and wrong.