DOG-LORE AND SUPERSTITION 



was young, to each and to every kind of animal a duty was 

 assigned. The dog and cat were relieved of menial duty, 

 because of the faithfulness of the one and the cleanliness of 

 the other, and a written document was given them in attesta- 

 tion thereof, and the dog took charge of it. He buried it 

 where he kept his stock of old bones, but this privilege of 

 exemption so roused the envy of the horse, ass, and ox, that 

 they bribed the rat to burrow underground and destroy the 

 charter. Since the loss of this document the dog has been 

 liable, on account of his carelessness, to be tied or chained 

 up by his master, and the cat has never forgiven him." * 



It must be remembered that in matters of superstition 

 many Chinese still roam in the dark mazes through which the 

 mediaeval astrologers, soothsayers, and diviners led our 

 bewildered ancestors. A dog which is completely black is 

 believed to be able to frighten away spirits, and to this day a 

 Chinese witch-doctor who wishes to expel a particularly 

 malignant devil will ruthlessly slay a black dog in which not 

 one white hair is found, gather its innocent blood into a bowl, 

 and sprinkle this gore before the spirit with a wooden sword, 

 accompanying the ceremonial with mumbled prayers, charms, 

 and spells to support the sacrifice and exorcise the fiend to 

 eternal perdition. Not in China only has the dog been made 

 to suffer for utilitarian mankind. " To tame a lion, they used 

 to beat a little dogge before him." " What, man ! " says 

 Shakespeare, "there are ways to recover the general again: 

 a punishment more in policy than in malice ; even so as one 

 would beat his offenceless dog to affright an imperious 

 lion." f 



* Hanawer, Palest., " Animal Folklore," Palest. Exp. Fund, 1904, p. 265, 

 f This may throw light upon a curious passage dealing with the use of hunting- 

 tigers in Marco Polo's narrative, " The Grand Khan has many leopards and lynxes 

 kept for the purpose of chasing deer, and also many lions, which are larger than the 

 Babylonian lions, have good skins, and of a handsome colour, being streaked length- 



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