" HOLY RUSSIA." 295 



any. January 28 is another date on which the house- 

 hold domovois of certain parts of Russia are believed 

 to get into tantrums. When angry, they sometimes 

 stop the breath of the sleeping members of the house- 

 hold and produce nightmare. On January 28, there- 

 fore, a pot of mush or stewed millet, to which he is 

 very partial, is set on the table for the domovoi before 

 the family retire. 



Wizards and witches still flourish in rural Russia in 

 great numbers. They interfere in all manner of ways 

 with the moujik's prosperity and peace of mind — 

 almost as much so, in fact, as his other and more tangi- 

 ble enemies, the priest and the policeman. 



When a milch cow dries up sooner than the peasant 

 thinks she ought to, he has no doubt whatever that 

 she is being milked by the witches. To keep the 

 witches out of the cow-shed crosses are chalked or 

 painted on the doors. If the witches brave the crosses, 

 indicated by a lack of improvement in the milk-giving 

 capacity of the cow, the moujik will try the experi- 

 ment of a church candle, such as are burned before the 

 shrines and ikons of the saints. 



As a matter of fact, the visitor sees these crosses every- 

 where in rural Russia. A cross is erected on the frame- 

 work of a house in process of building, and crosses are 

 seen on the ceilings of inns, houses, sheds, stables — 

 everywhere. The first impression of all naturally is that 

 you have stumbled upon an extremely God-fearing, 

 reverential set of people. This impression is intensified 

 by the spectacle of the people themselves making the 

 sign of the Cross at well-nigh every turn, and at every 

 act performed. 



