Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 10, 1899.djvu/480

440 marvellous characteristics of that favourite, the horse; the sacred and supernatural nature of the peacock and the swan; the capabilities of the dreaded scorpion. Beliefs relating to the heavenly bodies are necessarily legion, and those relating to eclipses and the moon and stars find a place here, as do also the worlds outside that which man inhabits, heaven and hell and their inhabitants, hûrîs and such-like. The parts of the human body and their uses give rise to many beliefs, such as the correct foot to start with, the marks of hands and feet on rocks and other places, both natural and marvellous, the head and the shaving thereof. We have also most interesting references to the world-wide belief in a flood or deluge, clearly in one instance more or less indirectly based on the Biblical story. And lastly, there are many data for arriving at a clear notion of the peasant ideas of the Deity and the confusion of mind they are troubled with on the subject, owing to the intermixing of Hindu and Musalman teaching in so many parts of India.

Customs having their roots in popular beliefs are from their very nature, not only perpetually alluded to in the stories of the folk, but are a productive source of incidental narrations; e.g., the aspect of the shrines as the remnant of sun-worship. Of these the old-world and universal idea of refuge, asylum, and sanctuary, as it is variously called, and as likely as not owing its inception and extension to sacerdotal pretensions and exclusiveness, is perhaps the most favoured in legend and folklore. In practical application it everywhere consisted of protection to strangers against their enemies, so long as they paid their way and only so long. The well-known Oriental conception of hospitality and its obligations is sanctuary pure and simple, both in theory and practice. Indeed, the Indian and Eastern notion of hospitality cannot be distinguished from sanctuary, and when the Pathan treats his enemy or a guest worth plundering to the best cheer in his power, gives him a fair start, and then prepares to try and murder or rob him, he