Sometimes, indeed, the Roumanian seeks covertly to compass the death of a fellow-creature without the excuse of public benefit, and merely from motives of personal revenge. In such cases it is recommended to send gifts of unleavened bread to nine different churches to be used simultaneously on the same Sunday at mass. This will insure the death of the victim.
To the hand of a man who has committed murder from revenge is ascribed the virtue of healing pains in the side.
[CHAPTER XXVIII.]
SAXON SUPERSTITION: REMEDIES, WITCHES, WEATHER-MAKERS.
The superstitions afloat among Saxon peasants are of less poetical character than those en vogue with the Roumanians; there is more of the quack and less of the romantic element here to be found, and the invisible spiritual world plays less part in their beliefs, which oftenest relate to household matters, such as the well-being of cattle and poultry, the cure of diseases, and the success of harvest and vintage.
Innumerable are the recipes for curing the ague, or frīr as it is termed in Saxon dialect. So, for instance:
1. To cover up the patient during his shivering-fit with nine articles of clothing, each of a different color and material.
2. To go into an inn or public-house, and after having drunk a glass of wine go out again without breaking silence or paying, but leaving behind some article of clothing which is of greater value than the wine taken.
3. Drinking in turn out of nine different wells.
4. To go into the garden when no one is looking, shake a young tree, and return to the house without glancing back. The fever will then have passed into the tree.