Page:Journal of American Folklore vol. 12.djvu/110

 9S Journal of American Folk-Lore.

6. It one dreams of a snake, it is the sign of some enemy under- taking to injure him. If the snake bites him, then the troubles that arc coming will be too much for him ; if he kills the snake, the trouble will arise, but be will overcome it.

7. To dream of horses is always a good sign, but when the horse is black the good fortune will come sooner than if it were white.

8. To dream of being at a wedding is always a sign of bad luck.

9. If one dreams of seeing a preacher it is a sign that he is going to sec the devil.

10. If one dreams of a person dressing, it is a sign of coming trouble. The person putting on the clothes is the one who will be afflicted.

11. To dream about a baby is always a sign of misfortune. If the babe is still in the womb, it is not as bad luck as if it is born. From first to last, the larger the babe the worse the luck. The person who has the babe is the one who will surfer the misfortune. 1

SUPERSTITIONS.

When the left eye twitches it is bad luck. When the right eye twitches it is good luck.

If one's left ear rings, he will hear bad news ; if his right ear, good news.

If the palm of one's right hand itches, his debtor wants to pay him money. If the left palm itches, then he is going to pay out money.

If one's feet itch, he is going to travel. If his face burns, some one is speaking evil of him.

To sneeze is a sign that some one is talking about you.

When one has pimples on his face it is a sign that his mother stole an egg while she was pregnant with him.

When one hiccoughs, it is a sign that he has stolen the dough of the priest.

In some parts of Armenia people account for an eclipse of the sun or moon by saying, "There is war going on somewhere." In other parts they believe the devil to be between them and the eclipsed ob'ect. In the places where this latter view is held they will beat drums, tin pans, yell, and make all the noise possible, so as to drive the devil away. As the eclipse passes away they rejoice in their success. If the eclipse occurs in January, it is believed there will be little produce raised the following season. If in February there will

died to sec an Armenian family one evening and found a young man crip- pled by having a foot crushed. His sister, a young woman about nineteen years of age, had dreamed the night previous of his having a small baby. She had warned him that morning, but the evil was not to be averted. He was thrown out of work for about two weeks.

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