DK. TH. NEUMANN. 87 



complained that the death of this, their ancestor, who had 

 lived with them such a long time in peace would surely 

 bring them mischief. The same negroes call other 

 snakes their brothers and punish every body severely 

 who kills or hurts any such animal. Even in compara- 

 tively highly civilized countries, as in some provinces of 

 Italy, Sardinia for instance, the peasants tell strange 

 stories about the power of speech and the gift of fore- 

 telling the future which certain snakes possess. Conse- 

 quently, whenever one appears in the hut of a farmer or 

 a shepherd, these good people believe that they may 

 expect great fortune which the snake has come to 

 announce to them. They pet them, talk to them, invite 

 them to stay, bring all kinds of delicacies to induce this 

 strange visitor to tarry, and are disconsolate if the snake 

 goes away. Among Russian and even Thuringian 

 peasants the same belief can be found : for them a snake 

 is a messenger of coming wealth and fortune. 



Our own Indians, the Sioux, Dacotas and other tribes, 

 consider snakes worthy of their reverence, and when- 

 ever they meet one they believe that the matter they 

 have on hand, be it a battle or a hunting expedition, or 

 the election of a new chief, will come to a favorable end. 



No wonder that such views from the earliest times 

 tended to strengthen the belief that snakes must be 

 beings quite different from what they seem. People 

 might indeed be justified to a certain extent when they 

 surrounded with mystery these animals, which apparent- 

 ly were nothing but tail and head, which crept on the 

 ground like worms, which seemed to prefer abodes that 

 no other living being would like to choose, and which in 

 so many cases were able to inflict deadly wounds. 

 What else could they be but examples of a deviation 

 from the straight ways of nature, as the enemies of pro- 

 gress, lurking in the dark, always ready to do mischief ? 

 Much oftener than gods or good spirits they were 



4:3 



