Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 1 1883.djvu/228

 coming in, treacherously admires it. "How beautifully the bougatha has succeeded! how spotless! how white! "Can anything be more cruel? Soon afterwards the unfortunate washerwoman feels a sharp pain in her finger; she has been struck by the "evil eye," and there is but one remedy: to cut off some part of the neighbour's dress, some frayed tatter of her well-worn jacket, burn it in the candle, and apply it to the aching finger.

Cooks have a responsibility connected with the three-legged iron trivets on which they set their saucepans over the charcoal stove: when no longer wanted, they must be careful not to leave them standing, but to place them with the feet horizontally—otherwise any relation likely to pay the family a visit will be prevented from coming.

When a pair of scissors is left gaping on a table it is said that the Archangel Michael's mouth is open, ready to take the soul of some one member of the family.

There is a simple and easy method of overcoming the malignity of the "evil eye," the remedy is valuable in proportion to the injury inflicted by the unconscious glance. Take three fine cloves, stick them solemnly on a pin, burn them a moment in the flame of the candle and wave them about in the air. If one of the cloves bursts, the effect is attained, if not, take another three and recommence—the bad influences must be indeed tenacious (or the spice-box mutually damp) that can prevent the desired explosion of the clove, always provided the trial be made with the needful patience and with unwavering faith in its efficacy.

A person invited to two marriages taking place on the same day must only accept one of the invitations; to attend both weddings would bring misfortune on the second couple.

Do not be too eager to compliment a mother on the birth of an infant, but remain at least half an-hour in the house before entering her room, lest rejoicing should turn to lamentation.

Such and similar superstitions, of which the number is infinite, trivial as they seem in themselves, possess a certain interest, some in their evident derivation from sources of the highest antiquity, others, in their connection with like beliefs amongst the peasantry throughout Europe; everywhere modified and shaped by local circumstances, but all springing from the same dread of unknown and mysterious influences, of which the most potent and the most universally feared is the power of the "evil eye."