Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 21, 1910.djvu/353

Rh "At Rohtak town there is an old widow who has a great reputation for the power of curing fever, which she acquired because she married three husbands in succession. This is said to be a common belief in India. The patient, or some one sent on his behalf, drinks water from her hand, and is thereby cured."

Touching with the hand or foot is not the only method of bringing about contact between the healer and the sufferer. The gift of food or drink, as above, breathing, spitting, and rubbing with earth or ashes may be equally efficacious:—

"In the village of Nârlî, Tahsîl Kasûr, there is a Brahman who has the power of curing anyone who is suffering from paurî (yellowness of the eyes). The patient is cured by eating khîr (rice cooked with milk) cooked by the Brahman." (Lahore.)

"The Sonî Khatrîs of Nangroha in Tahsîl Nawashahr in Jullundur District have a peculiar power. Anyone who cannot see in the night-time goes to the house of a Sonî and asks him for a piece of bread, which is given to him and which he eats. This cures the night-blindness." (Ludhiâna.)

"In the villages of Ban Bodla and Zamîngai in Kasûr, there are Bodla Fakîrs who received power from their ancestors to cure dogbite by spitting in the mouth of the patient. This cure is exercised gratis."

"The Sayyids (descendants of the Prophet Mohammed) of Baras village in Tahsîl Karnâl, who are descendants of Sâlâr Chishtî, have the inherited power of curing hydrophobia by filling the mouth with water and throwing it over the patient's face, and then turning him out of the village." (Karnâl.)

"The Dalewânî Aroṛâs of Jâmpur, who are Hindus, can cure hydrophobia by spitting on a little earth and giving it to the patient to apply to the bite. Their ancestors obtained this power by the blessing of their Pîr, the saint of the shrine of Dera Dîn Panâh." (Dera Ghâzi Khân.)