Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 15, 1904.djvu/487

 Collectanea, 455

Washerwomen must not beat the baby's clothes, lest it give it a pain in the bowels.

If you take a child through a window it will become a thief.

If an insect is killed in a house where there is a young baby, it will have a bad effect upon the baby.

Miscellaneous.

The barking of a dog while it is asleep tells the hunter of success in the coming day's chase.

If you shut a penknife half-way when a horse is galloping away from you it stops him immediately.

The removal of firesticks from side to side while boiling nut-oil diminishes the quantity of oil.

The peeling of an orange near to a sugar works diminishes the quantity of sugar.

A cricket in the house at night tells of a coming stranger.

Fireflies and moths in the house at night tell of coming strangers.

If a bug drops dead before you it is a bad sign.

If a cock crows in the early part of the night ships are near.

If a cock crows near to the door it is an indication of hasty news.

If two cocks put their heads together male friends are coming to see you.

If two hens put their heads together female friends are coming to see you.

If you turn over your money at new moon it will increase as the moon grows.

The vomiting of a pig in the early dry morning indicates coming showers of rain.

If a looking glass gets broken it causes seven years' trouble

If anything is broken during a marriage festival the marriage life is going to be an unhappy one.

The flogging of a prickly pear situated in a provision ground causes a person who has stolen something from the ground to split up and die just as the beaten plant splits up.

If a certain plant called wangra is in a provision ground every thief that visits the field will die.

People who take false oaths die from swelling.