Page:The Mythology of All Races Vol 3 (Celtic and Slavic).djvu/368

242 order; he supervises the servants and labourers, does all sorts of work for the master at night, and is especially fond of spinning. The householder who knows how to gratify him will meet with success in everything; he will buy cheap and sell dear, will have the best crops of all, and will never be visited by hail. In order to increase the property of such a master the Domovoy will not even shrink from robbing other people.

The household spirit shares in the joy and sorrow of his home. If an inmate dies, he will show his grief by howling at night, while bitter sobbing and wailing forebode the death of the master of the house, and sorrowful moanings are heard if plague, war, conflagration, or some other calamity is threatening. He is also able to foretell the future. It is only rarely that the Domovoy shows the evil and demoniac side of his character; and then the fault usually lies with the people themselves, who fail to render him due honour, or who give offence by cursing or by bad language, whereupon the infuriated spirit takes vengeance on the cattle, or quits the house and leaves the family unprotected. After his departure the inmates fall ill and die, and even the cattle perish.

People court the favour and satisfaction of the Domovoy by putting aside for him what is left of their evening meal, and the White Russians have a peculiar way of rendering homage to him by placing white linen in the passage leading to the chamber which is his favourite haunt, this being meant as an invitation to join in the meals of the family.

There are different modes of reconciling an angry Domovoy. A cock, for example, will be killed at midnight, and all the nooks and corners of the common room or the courtyard will be washed with its blood. Sometimes a slice of bread strewn with salt will be wrapped in a piece of white cloth and put in the hall or in the courtyard, while the members of the household bow toward all four quarters, uttering certain aphoristic sentences and entreating the Domovoy to cease his anger and be reconciled.