FABLE AND FOLKLORE 147 



treatise 06 on that dreaded visitation (especially feared 

 among Italians) alludes to the matter only casually, and 

 expresses the opinion that the alleged ill-luck is a relic of 

 the ancient cult of Juno — a lingering fear that in some 

 way her anger may be excited by the plucking of the 

 feathers of her favorite bird ; while the idea that so long 

 as these plumes are kept in the house no suitors will come 

 for the daughters points to the old attribute of spite or 

 jealousy in love or matrimonial matters with which Juno 

 was always accredited in Pagan times. 



It occurs to me, also, that the fact that the revered 

 peacock throws away (moulds) its quills every year sug- 

 gests to a superstitious imagination that they may be 

 distasteful to the bird, and hence something to be avoided 

 by careful devotees. Nevertheless, on Easter Day in 

 Rome, when the pope is borne in magnificent state into 

 St. Peter's, he waves over the heads of the reverent wor- 

 shippers assembled there a fan (flabbellum) of ostrich 

 feathers on which have been sewn the eye-spots from 

 peacock plumes, the latter, we are told, signifying the 

 all-seeing vigilance of the Church — against foolishness as 

 well as downright evil, let us hope ! 



No bird is more often employed symbolically in Chris- 

 tian art than the pelican, which, like the peacock became a 

 representative of salvation through the self-sacrifice of 

 Christ. How this developed from the supposed habit of 

 resuscitating her nestlings by feeding them blood from 

 her bosom, after they had been murdered by the father, is 

 explained in another chapter. It is said that the story 

 originated in Egypt, with reference to a vulture. St. 

 Jerome, however, first gave it a theological application, 

 teaching that similarly those dead in sin were made alive 

 again by the blood of the Christ. The form — still 



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