The Drakos held back the water and the people were athirst,
Athirst was also a lady who was heavy with child.
In Greek legends the Drakos figures as a large uncouth monster akin to the Troll of Norse and the Ogre and Giant of British and Continental fairy tales. His simplicity of mind is only equalled by his might and he is easily bamboozled. He is also regarded as a performer of superhuman feats. As in Ireland there is a Giant’s Causeway, so in Macedonia we find a “Drakos’s Weight” (a big stone to the south of Nigrita), a “Drakos’s Shovelful,” (a mound of earth), a “Drakos’s Tomb,” a rock in the same neighbourhood, resembling a high-capped Dervish, resting against the slope of the hill, and a “Drakos’s Quoits,” two solitary rocks standing in the plain of Serres.
Various superstitions concerning drowning can be easily traced to this belief in mischievous water-spirits. These spirits demand human sacrifices and those who get drowned are supposed to be their victims. Thus, when in Germany a person comes by his death from drowning, the Germans say: “The river-spirit claims his annual sacrifice,” or that “the nix has taken the drowned man.” In India pujas are invariably offered to propitiate these spirits before any member of a family starts on a journey involving the crossing of the deep or of the rivers. While passing over creeks and streams, travellers on the Indian Railways will notice even to-day many a traveller, Hindu and Parsi, male and female, throwing from the train cocoanuts, sugar and flowers in the water in the devout hope of averting accidents. The followers of Islam, however, believe that God Almighty would, by reason of the benign influence of His name, preserve them from drowning. Therefore, whilst starting on a voyage they chant the following couplet from Surah Nooh of the Koran, as a protective from drowning:—
Bismillaheh Majriha O Mursaha inna Rabi-ul-ghafur ul-Rahim, meaning, “The moving and stopping (of this boat, Noah’s Ark) depends upon the influence of the Name of God, for, in truth, our Lord is pre-eminently a Pardoner of sins and merciful.”
In the same way Bengal boatmen cry “Badar,” “Badar,” when a boat is in danger of capsizing, in the hope that the saint Khwaja Khizr would protect them.
Others wear amulets to ward off the danger of drowning. In “Unbeaten Tracks in Japan,” Miss Bird says that the amulet which saves the Japs from drowning is “a certain cure for choking, if courageously swallowed.” Some sailors believe that if a portion of the cowl which covers the face of some children at the time of birth be worn as an amulet round the neck, the person wearing it will not get drowned, while some Bengalees believe that if a person accidentally eats ants along with sweets or any foodstuff, he will not get drowned.[40]
Once, however, a man is in the grip of the water-spirit, to venture to save him is, according to various widespread beliefs, sure to bring on disaster. In several places, therefore, including Great Britain, people show great reluctance to save a drowning person, because, as suggested by Tylor, they fear the vengeance of the water-spirit, who would, in consequence, be deprived of his prey.