Page:Weird Tales volume 36 number 02.djvu/44

 uperstitions

The Superstition attached to lighting three cigarettes with one match is supposed to date from the time of the Crimean War.. In olden days, all Russians recognized the strict rule that during the services in the Russian churches, only the high priest was allowed to light the three candles at the alter with one taper! The influence of the priests penetrated to all classes, and people were taught to look upon anything connected with the priesthood as forbidden fruit or forbidden ground to them. During the war, Russians prisoners passed on this belief to their English captors!