214 ANDREW JACKSON HOWE. 



is borrowed; and what assurance have we that the 

 Danish tale was not taken from an Aryan fable? 

 In fact, a kindred tale is in the folk-lore of Norway, 

 Sweden, and Persia, and in each country the leading 

 features of the legend are almost identical. 



The Persian archer is armed with an ashen bow 

 and a hazel arrow ; therefore, his weapon embraces a 

 double charm. In some regions, the divining staff or 

 wand is a " wish-rod," the virtues of the implement 

 depending more upon its shape than upon the nature 

 of the wood. The shepherds' crook was a favorite 

 shape for the sorcerers of Greece and Rome. In 

 Egypt a species of reed or palm was used to prog- 

 nosticate events ; arid a soothsayer could not practice 

 his arts till fifty years of age. And, like hags, the 

 older they were, and the more repulsive in looks, the 

 deeper were they endowed with mystic wisdom. 



" 'Tis the sunset of life gives me mystical lore, 

 And coming events cast their shadows before." 



The more profound the ignorance of a people the 

 stronger is the belief in supernatural influences. In 

 the jungles of Africa and Australia, the devil is pre- 

 sumed to have more power than the Almighty, hence 

 there is more attention given to the former in worship. 

 The devil is the personification of evil, and has always 

 ascribed to him a human form, though his pictures re- 

 semble mythological Pan one foot is like that of a 

 goat, and budding horns are seen on the forehead. It 

 is a question what the cornua signify or typify. Pan 

 has them, and they are thought to be a remnant of 

 goatlike character; but horns are also symbols of 

 strength and power. Jupiter sometimes is depicted 

 with ram's coils on the sides of his head; and the 



