Page:The Mythology of All Races Vol 3 (Celtic and Slavic).djvu/381

Rh attached to the family, especially to children; and in time of harvest, when there is no one in the house, he keeps watch over the home and looks after the cattle. Frequently two snakes live in the house, a male and a female; and similar ideas concerning snakes called Zmek, Smok, or Ćmok are widely current among other Slavs as well.

The worship of family genii is often closely associated with myths about dwarfs, those about the Ludki ("Little People") being particularly common. In the belief of the Lusatian Serbs these Ludki were the first inhabitants of Lusatia (Lausitz), where they lived in ages long past and had their own king. They were pagans and could not endure the ringing of bells, but later they left the country, so that now they are rarely seen. They were small in stature, their heads were disproportionately large, and their eyes protruded; they dressed gaily and wore big hats or red caps upon their heads. They spoke their own language, which was a much altered form of Serbian, and had a peculiar mode of talking by following up any positive assertion by a negative expression of the same idea. They lived partly in human dwellings and partly in woods, on mountains, and also underground, their abodes resembling bakers' ovens and being furnished like an ordinary house. The Ludki grew corn, picking the kernels with an awl; and when the ears had been thrashed, the grain was ground between two stones. This coarse and sandy flour was made into bread by placing the dough between two smooth stones and keeping it underground till it became hard; but it was necessarily sandy, coarse, brown, and doughy. Moreover they consumed roots of plants and wild fruit; in case of need they borrowed bread from human beings ; and they often cut grain in time of harvest, stole pods and turnips, and carried away anything suitable for food. They were familiar with all sorts of handicraft, especially with the smith's trade; and it was they who taught mankind the art of building houses.

Fond of music and singing, the Ludki knew how to play