IN BELIEFS AND OMENS 95 



ical heroes named Hesie was thus ordered 

 by heaven. One day the Princess Shung 

 was bathing in a stream, when a swallow 

 flying above let fall an egg upon her mouth, 

 — and from this egg the Prince was born. 



The Arabs call the swallow the " Bird of 

 Jesus," and the Algerians consider her sacred 

 like their priests, and not to be touched by 

 human hands. In certain tales of the Mid- 

 dle Ages we read that one important duty 

 of the town guards of German villages was 

 to announce with trumpets the springtime 

 arrival of the swallows, for the old Germans 

 held the bird in high esteem, even fabling 

 her an assistant of the Lord in the making 

 of heaven. According to a Belgian fable, 

 swallows were the bringers of water to earth. 

 The children of Portugal will tell you that 

 every day the swallows fly up into the sky 

 and wash the feet of God, and if one of them 

 is harmed it " makes the Mother of Jesus 



weep." 



About her mud nest cluster charming say- 



