798 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



sons of three different surnames, all unlike one's own, and begging a 

 little rice to eat. 



If one, who is walking along a road, has a sudden attack of colic, 

 he procures three paper bags that have held incense, and burns them 

 on the spot where he was when he began to feel the pain, to jiacify the 

 . demon of the locality. A demon's day is man's night, and man's night 

 is a demon's day ; therefore candles are lighted when offerings are 

 made to demons by daylight. 



If a fly falls into the porridge, if a magpie chatters on the roof, or 

 if two chickens tight, it is a sign that a guest is coming. 



A cock that crows before midnight foretells a death in the family. 

 Spirit-money must be burned, a hoop must be put in the front door 

 at its top, and the crowing fowl must be given away or sold. No one 

 would knowingly buy a fowl that crowed before midnight, and, if it 

 were sold, no one would dare use the cash received for it. 



When a person commits suicide by hanging, the beam from which 

 the body hung is cut out from the roof and burned, or thrown into 

 the river to be carried away by the current. The floor underneath the 

 feet of the hanging corpse is also dug up and replaced by new material. 

 Thus the evil influence which would inhere in the spot is eradicated 

 from the house. 



If a pot of money is found, a rice-flour cake is put in the place of 

 each coin taken, and spirit-money is burned as an offering to any spirit 

 that might be irritated by the removal of the treasure. 



No one picrks up a girdle found in the road, through fear that some 

 one may have been hung by it, and that the spirit may follow and 

 worry the possessor. If a single coin or other article is found, it is 

 picked up with fear ; but if a pair or an even number of things be 

 found, they are taken without anxiety, for odd numbers are unlucky, 

 while even numbers are lucky. Three is a paiticularly unlucky num- 

 ber. Three persons, therefore, never sit together at a table, and no 

 couple marries when there are six years of difference in age, because 

 six is twice three. 



It is not considered respectable for an old man to be without a 

 beard, nor for a young man to wear one. A youth ^\ ho puts on an air 

 of wisdom is called a beardless old man. "When a man decides to let 

 his beard grow, his sons and sons-in-law make a feast for him, and 

 congratulate him on his longevity. No one who has once grown a 

 beard cuts it off, as such an act would inevitably bring disasters upon 

 his family. 



If one sneezes on New-Year's-eve while preparing for bed, he fears 

 misfortune during the next year, unless he goes to three families of 

 different surnames, and begs from each a little cake, sha])ed like a tor- 

 toise, and in common use at the end of the year as an emblem of long 

 life. These cakes must be eaten by the sneezer before midnight. 



Sneezing is generally a sign that somebody is thinking of one. A 



