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the golden bough-第237章

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use: they poured oil on them and let them fly away; apparently for the purpose of removing ill…luck from the household。 The Huzuls of the Carpathians imagine that they can transfer freckles to the first swallow they see in spring by washing their face in flowing water and saying; Swallow; swallow; take my freckles; and give me rosy cheeks。

Among the Badagas of the Neilgherry Hills in Southern India; when a death has taken place; the sins of the deceased are laid upon a buffalo calf。 For this purpose the people gather round the corpse and carry it outside of the village。 There an elder of the tribe; standing at the head of the corpse; recites or chants a long list of sins such as any Badaga may commit; and the people repeat the last word of each line after him。 The confession of sins is thrice repeated。 By a conventional mode of expression; the sum total of sins a man may do is said to be thirteen hundred。 Admitting that the deceased has committed them all; the performer cries aloud; 'Stay not their flight to God's pure feet。' As he closes; the whole assembly chants aloud 'Stay not their flight。' Again the performer enters into details; and cries; 'He killed the crawling snake。 It is a sin。' In a moment the last word is caught up; and all the people cry 'It is a sin。' As they shout; the performer lays his hand upon the calf。 The sin is transferred to the calf。 Thus the whole catalogue is gone through in this impressive way。 But this is not enough。 As the last shout 'Let all be well' dies away; the performer gives place to another; and again confession is made; and all the people shout 'It is a sin。' A third time it is done。 Then; still in solemn silence; the calf is let loose。 Like the Jewish scapegoat; it may never be used for secular work。 At a Badaga funeral witnessed by the Rev。 A。 C。 Clayton the buffalo calf was led thrice round the bier; and the dead man's hand was laid on its head。 By this act; the calf was supposed to receive all the sins of the deceased。 It was then driven away to a great distance; that it might contaminate no one; and it was said that it would never be sold; but looked on as a dedicated sacred animal。 The idea of this ceremony is; that the sins of the deceased enter the calf; or that the task of his absolution is laid on it。 They say that the calf very soon disappears; and that it is never heard of。

3。 The Transference to Men

AGAIN; men sometimes play the part of scapegoat by diverting to themselves the evils that threaten others。 When a Cingalese is dangerously ill; and the physicians can do nothing; a devil…dancer is called in; who by making offerings to the devils; and dancing in the masks appropriate to them; conjures these demons of disease; one after the other; out of the sick man's body and into his own。 Having thus successfully extracted the cause of the malady; the artful dancer lies down on a bier; and shamming death is carried to an open place outside the village。 Here; being left to himself; he soon comes to life again; and hastens back to claim his reward。 In 1590 a Scotch which of the name of Agnes Sampson was convicted of curing a certain Robert Kers of a disease laid upon him by a westland warlock when he was at Dumfries; whilk sickness she took upon herself; and kept the same with great groaning and torment till the morn; at whilk time there was a great din heard in the house。 The noise was made by the witch in her efforts to shift the disease; by means of clothes; from herself to a cat or dog。 Unfortunately the attempt partly miscarried。 The disease missed the animal and hit Alexander Douglas of Dalkeith; who dwined and died of it; while the original patient; Robert Kers; was made whole。

In one part of New Zealand an expiation for sin was felt to be necessary; a service was performed over an individual; by which all the sins of the tribe were supposed to be transferred to him; a fern stalk was previously tied to his person; with which he jumped into the river; and there unbinding; allowed it to float away to the sea; bearing their sins with it。 In great emergencies the sins of the Rajah of Manipur used to be transferred to somebody else; usually to a criminal; who earned his pardon by his vicarious sufferings。 To effect the transference the Rajah and his wife; clad in fine robes; bathed on a scaffold erected in the bazaar; while the criminal crouched beneath it。 With the water which dripped from them on him their sins also were washed away and fell on the human scapegoat。 To complete the transference the Rajah and his wife made over their fine robes to their substitute; while they themselves; clad in new raiment; mixed with the people till evening。 In Travancore; when a Rajah is near his end; they seek out a holy Brahman; who consents to take upon himself the sins of the dying man in consideration of the sum of ten thousand rupees。 Thus prepared to immolate himself on the altar of duty; the saint is introduced into the chamber of death; and closely embraces the dying Rajah; saying to him; O King; I undertake to bear all your sins and diseases。 May your Highness live long and reign happily。 Having thus taken to himself the sins of the sufferer; he is sent away from the country and never more allowed to return。 At Utch Kurgan in Turkestan Mr。 Schuyler saw an old man who was said to get his living by taking on himself the sins of the dead; and thenceforth devoting his life to prayer for their souls。

In Uganda; when an army had returned from war; and the gods warned the king by their oracles that some evil had attached itself to the soldiers; it was customary to pick out a woman slave from the captives; together with a cow; a goat; a fowl; and a dog from the booty; and to send them back under a strong guard to the borders of the country from which they had come。 There their limbs were broken and they were left to die; for they were too crippled to crawl back to Uganda。 In order to ensure the transference of the evil to these substitutes; bunches of grass were rubbed over the people and cattle and then tied to the victims。 After that the army was pronounced clean and was allowed to return to the capital。 So on his accession a new king of Uganda used to wound a man and send him away as a scapegoat to Bunyoro to carry away any uncleanliness that might attach to the king or queen。

4。 The Transference of Evil in Europe

THE EXAMPLES of the transference of evil hitherto adduced have been mostly drawn from the customs of savage or barbarous peoples。 But similar attempts to shift the burden of disease; misfortune; and sin from one's self to another person; or to an animal or thing; have been common also among the civilised nations of Europe; both in ancient and modern times。 A Roman cure for fever was to pare the patient's nails; and stick the parings with wax on a neighbour's door before sunrise; the fever then passed from the sick man to his neighbour。 Similar devices must have been resorted to by the Greeks; for in laying down laws for his ideal state; Plato thinks it too much to expect that men should not be alarmed at finding certain wax figures adhering to their doors or to the tombstones of their parents; or lying at cross…roads。 In the fourth century of our era Marcellus 
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