30 The Poets and Nature. 



as an example of what his ambition aspires to. Those were 

 lizards worth calling such or he would even like to be a 

 deer, with fine horns. Of course a deer is run down before 

 his eyes, and the lizard repents his aspirings after an exalted 

 station. " It is better," says Herbert, " to be the head of a 

 lizard than the tail of a lion." 



As one of the heralds of Spring, the " lizard of St. Agnes " 

 is a popular favourite in Southern Europe. In Italy it is 

 also called "guarda uomo," man's protector. In Sicily it 

 stands in equal favour, and San Giuvanni, as it is called, 

 must not be killed, " because it is in the presence of the 

 Lord in heaven, and lights the little lamps before the Lord." 

 But if by accident you should do one to death, you must 

 touch the still quivering limbs and say : 



" Not I, not I, did murder you, 

 Little dog of holy St. Matthew." 



The children carry them about as pets in their bosoms, 

 and when they let them go, ask them to intercede before 

 " the Lord " for them. The common green lizard is 

 especially protected, as superstition invests it with power 

 against evil talismans and enchantments, and against 

 venomous snakes. Thus the crest of the Mantuan princes 

 was a lizard in a tuft of camomile, Pliny saying that these 

 creatures, when they have fought with serpents and been 

 bitten, cure themselves with that herb. 



It is unlucky, so English folk-lore avers, for a wedding- 

 party to see a lizard; and that the creature has a painful 

 sting says Suffolk, " as smart as lizards' stings ; " and again, 

 Queen Margaret, "lizards' dreadful stings" is still an 

 article of superstitious belief among the more ignorant. 



The Arabs eat the legless desert lizards, calling them 

 " sand-fishes," so as not to seem to transgress commandment; 

 for the creatures are unclean, one species indeed being 

 specially anathema, for Mahomet has ordered his people 



