Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 3, 1892.djvu/326

318 is numerous ; from the second, the Russian, whose forests are many, and whose people are numerous ; from the third, the Kasak, who has little hair on the head, and is but a small people. 2b. S. or L. S. is born of F. M. or F. The character of the parents is reflected in L. S. A single remark or several descriptive points in the narrative hint at the nature, habits, or habitat of (L.) S. This is a variant of the above, the only difference being that the father is inanimate from our point of view. Thus the dog (5a) is the result of the union of the lowest class of the women of Pohjola and the Wind. To account for the dog's hunting propensities, he is swaddled and cradled by the old wife of the Forest. His domesticity results from having had his teeth rubbed with honey by the best girl in Pohjola. Having Wind for a father of course accounts for his fleetness of foot. The snake is the child of the girl of Death who is made his own by the East Wind as she lay asleep on a meadow (iie). That this was done unawares was probably intended to point to the crafty nature and perhaps the habitat of snakes. Many maladies which are induced by spells are the children of Louhiatar, who swallowed some iron groats which had been pounded by the Death-god's daughter (43d, and thus originated them. The remark that she gave birth to them in the bloody hut of Hiisi's home, hints at their horrible nature, as it indicates a fiendish birthplace. Other examples are the Lizard (13a). Fire (42f), Injuries from Spells (43a, b), Sharp Frost (49b). In the following North American example the difference is that L. S. originates from F. M. instead of F. M. The Tsimshians of British Columbia believe that man is born from a union between the Raven-god and an Elderberry bush. After the Raven-god had formed the world, and every living creature but man, he decided to make a race endowed with qualities that would allow them to have