Page:Journal of American Folklore vol. 12.djvu/544

 1 96 Journal of American Folk-Lore.

Hesiod, in his " Works and Days," tries to encourage the laggard farmer by saying, " But if you shall have ploughed late, this would be your remedy : When the cuckoo sings first on the oak foliage, and delights mortals over the boundless earth, then let Zeus rain three days and not cease, neither over-topping your ox's hoof nor falling short of it ; then would a late plougher be equal with an early one." There would seem to be a grim humor in this advice, for such a rain would help the forward farmer even more than the lag- gard. The reference to the cuckoo is interesting, inasmuch as it has come down through the centuries as the best-known animal sign of rain. We have the cuckoo pluvialis, and, in our own country, it is called the "rain crow." It has a mournful, monotonous cry once heard never to be forgotten. It is a rare bird, though noticed by myself in New England, and again after reaching Washington. Hesiod also points out that the first call of the crow as it migrates northward is an indication that spring is nigh.

The earliest large collection of weather signs we owe to Theophras- tus, belonging to the fourth century b. c. He says, after speaking of signs derived from domestic and other animals, "but for the most part signs derived from the sun and moon are the most important." In this he refers, in part at least, to the waxing and waning moon,, but mostly as to the appearance of the sun and moon, when clouds are hovering near. He says : "The ends and beginnings of lunar months are apt to be stormy, because light fails from the fourth day before to the fourth day after new moon. The obscuration of the moon occurs in a similar way to an eclipse of the sun." He gives the call of the tree toad as a precursor of rain, and this has come down to us as another valuable prognostic. He also says : "An ass shaking its ears is a sign of storm." A modern version of this sign is given. as follows : An English philosopher, while driving out with a friend, stopped to ask a shepherd boy the way. As he was about to drive on, the boy warned him that it was going to rain, but the philo- sopher, not seeing a cloud in the sky, drove on. Sure enough, in an hour and a half the rain came in torrents. The next day the philo- sopher determined on learning the boy's secret. On seeing him, the boy refused to divulge, but on clutching the proffered guinea in his hand he said, " Do you see that old black wether over there ? Well, when he stands facing the wind, shakes his head, stamps his foot, and snuffs up the wind, it is a sure sign that it will rain in an hour or two." Of course, if we are to give credence to such a sign, there should be more than one sheep in a large flock having the same or like impulses.

There are many who believe that animals have a finer sense in distinguishing coming weather changes than man can have, even

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