132 IMAGES AND NAMES. 



evil ; or lie will decide by whether a leaf tastes sweet or bitter, 

 or whether he bites it clean through at once, or whether drops 

 of water will run down his arm to the wrist and give a good 

 answer, or fall off by the way and give a bad one.^ In British 

 Guiana, when young children are betrothed, trees are planted 

 by the respective parties in witness of the contract, and if either 

 tree should happen to wither, the child it belongs to is sure to 

 die.^ A slightly different idea appears north of the Isthmus, 

 in the Central American tale, where the two brothers, starting 

 on their dangerous journey to the land of Xibalba, where their 

 father had perished, plant each a cane in the middle of their 

 grandmothei-^s house, that she may know by its flourishing or 

 withering whether" they are alive or dead.^ And again, to take 

 stories from the Old World, when Devasmita would not let 

 Guhasena leave her to go with his merchandise to the land of 

 Cathay, Siva appeared to theni in a dream, and gave to each a 

 red lotus that would fade if the other were unfaithful ;* and so, 

 in the Grerman tale, when the two daughters of Queen Wilo- 

 witte were turned into flowers, the two princes who were their 

 lovers had each a sprig of his mistress's flower, that was to stay 

 fresh while their love was true.^ 



On this principle of association, it is easy to understand how, 

 in the Old World, the names of the heavenly bodies, and their 

 position at the time of a mane's birth, should have to do with 

 his character and fate ; while, in the astrology of the Aztecs, 

 the astronomical signs have a similar connexion with the parts 

 of the human body, so that the sign of the Skull has to do with 

 the head, and the sign of the Flint with the teeth.^ Why fish 

 may be caught in most plenty when the Sun is in the sign of 

 Pisces, is as clear as the reason why trees are to be felled, or 

 vegetables gathered, or manure used, while the moon is on the 

 wane, for these things have to fall, or be consumed, or rot; 



1 Williams, ' Fiji,' p. 228. 



2 Rev. J. H. Beruau, ' Missionary Labours in British Gruiana ;' London, 1847, 

 p. 59. 3 Brasseur, ' Popol VuL ;' Paris, 1861, p. 141. 



* Somadeva Bliatta, vol. i. p. 139. 



^ J. and W. Grimm, ' Kinder- und Hausmarclien ; ' Gottingen, 1857-6, vol. iii. 

 p. 328. ^ Kingsborough, Vatican MS., vol. ii. pi. 75 ; vols. v. and vi. Expl. 



