Page:Folk-lore of the Holy Land.djvu/80

56 belief that if, at a meal, a loaf, or even a slice of bread, happen accidentally to fall or otherwise get into such a position that it stands on edge on the table, it is a sign that Mar Jiryis is invisibly present as a guest, and has condescended to bless the repast.

The story of St George and the Dragon is, of course, well known in Palestine. The saint’s tomb is shown in the crypt of the old Crusaders’ Church at Lydda; and at Beyrût the very well into which he cast the slain monster, and the place where he washed his hands when this dirty work was done. The following is, briefly, the tale generally told by the Christians:— “There was once a great city that depended for its water-supply upon a fountain without the walls. A great dragon, possessed and moved by Satan himself, took possession of the fountain and refused to allow water to be taken unless, whenever people came to the spring, a youth or maiden was given to him to devour. The people tried again and again to destroy the monster; but though the flower of the city cheerfully went forth against it, its breath was so pestilential that they used to drop down dead before they came within bowshot.

“The terrorised inhabitants were thus obliged to sacrifice their offspring, or die of thirst; till at last all the youth of the place had perished except the king’s daughter. So great was the distress of their subjects for want of water that her heart-broken parents could no longer withhold her, and amid