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the golden bough-第85章

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ognise the familiar garment and to slip into it。 The garment containing the soul is then placed on or beside the child; and if the child does not die recovery is sure to follow; sooner or later。 Similarly some Indians catch a man's lost soul in his boots and restore it to his body by putting his feet into them。

In the Moluccas when a man is unwell it is thought that some devil has carried away his soul to the tree; mountain; or hill where he (the devil) resides。 A sorcerer having pointed out the devil's abode; the friends of the patient carry thither cooked rice; fruit; fish; raw eggs; a hen; a chicken; a silken robe; gold; armlets; and so forth。 Having set out the food in order they pray; saying: We come to offer to you; O devil; this offering of food; clothes; gold; and so on; take it and release the soul of the patient for whom we pray。 Let it return to his body; and he who now is sick shall be made whole。 Then they eat a little and let the hen loose as a ransom for the soul of the patient; also they put down the raw eggs; but the silken robe; the gold; and the armlets they take home with them。 As soon as they are come to the house they place a flat bowl containing the offerings which have been brought back at the sick man's head; and say to him: Now is your soul released; and you shall fare well and live to grey hairs on the earth。

Demons are especially feared by persons who have just entered a new house。 Hence at a house…warming among the Alfoors of Minahassa in Celebes the priest performs a ceremony for the purpose of restoring their souls to the inmates。 He hangs up a bag at the place of sacrifice and then goes through a list of the gods。 There are so many of them that this takes him the whole night through without stopping。 In the morning he offers the gods an egg and some rice。 By this time the souls of the household are supposed to be gathered in the bag。 So the priest takes the bag; and holding it on the head of the master of the house; says; Here you have your soul; go (soul) to…morrow away again。 He then does the same; saying the same words; to the housewife and all the other members of the family。 Amongst the same Alfoors one way of recovering a sick man's soul is to let down a bowl by a belt out of a window and fish for the soul till it is caught in the bowl and hauled up。 And among the same people; when a priest is bringing back a sick man's soul which he has caught in a cloth; he is preceded by a girl holding the large leaf of a certain palm over his head as an umbrella to keep him and the soul from getting wet; in case it should rain; and he is followed by a man brandishing a sword to deter other souls from any attempt at rescuing the captured spirit。

Sometimes the lost soul is brought back in a visible shape。 The Salish or Flathead Indians of Oregon believe that a man's soul may be separated for a time from his body without causing death and without the man being aware of his loss。 It is necessary; however; that the lost soul should be soon found and restored to its owner or he will die。 The name of the man who has lost his soul is revealed in a dream to the medicine…man; who hastens to inform the sufferer of his loss。 Generally a number of men have sustained a like loss at the same time; all their names are revealed to the medicine…man; and all employ him to recover their souls。 The whole night long these soulless men go about the village from lodge to lodge; dancing and singing。 Towards daybreak they go into a separate lodge; which is closed up so as to be totally dark。 A small hole is then made in the roof; through which the medicine…man; with a bunch of feathers; brushes in the souls; in the shape of bits of bone and the like; which he receives on a piece of matting。 A fire is next kindled; by the light of which the medicine…man sorts out the souls。 First he puts aside the souls of dead people; of which there are usually several; for if he were to give the soul of a dead person to a living man; the man would die instantly。 Next he picks out the souls of all the persons present; and making them all to sit down before him; he takes the soul of each; in the shape of a splinter of bone; wood; or shell; and placing it on the owner's head; pats it with many prayers and contortions till it descends into the heart and so resumes its proper place。

Again; souls may be extracted from their bodies or detained on their wanderings not only by ghosts and demons but also by men; especially by sorcerers。 In Fiji; if a criminal refused to confess; the chief sent for a scarf with which to catch away the soul of the rogue。 At the sight or even at the mention of the scarf the culprit generally made a clean breast。 For if he did not; the scarf would be waved over his head till his soul was caught in it; when it would be carefully folded up and nailed to the end of a chief's canoe; and for want of his soul the criminal would pine and die。 The sorcerers of Danger Island used to set snares for souls。 The snares were made of stout cinet; about fifteen to thirty feet long; with loops on either side of different sizes; to suit the different sizes of souls; for fat souls there were large loops; for thin souls there were small ones。 When a man was sick against whom the sorcerers had a grudge; they set up these soul…snares near his house and watched for the flight of his soul。 If in the shape of a bird or an insect it was caught in the snare; the man would infallibly die。 In some parts of West Africa; indeed; wizards are continually setting traps to catch souls that wander from their bodies in sleep; and when they have caught one; they tie it up over the fire; and as it shrivels in the heat the owner sickens。 This is done; not out of any grudge towards the sufferer; but purely as a matter of business。 The wizard does not care whose soul he has captured; and will readily restore it to its owner; if only he is paid for doing so。 Some sorcerers keep regular asylums for strayed souls; and anybody who has lost or mislaid his own soul can always have another one from the asylum on payment of the usual fee。 No blame whatever attaches to men who keep these private asylums or set traps for passing souls; it is their profession; and in the exercise of it they are actuated by no harsh or unkindly feelings。 But there are also wretches who from pure spite or for the sake of lucre set and bait traps with the deliberate purpose of catching the soul of a particular man; and in the bottom of the pot; hidden by the bait; are knives and sharp hooks which tear and rend the poor soul; either killing it outright or mauling it so as to impair the health of its owner when it succeeds in escaping and returning to him。 Miss Kingsley knew a Kruman who became very anxious about his soul; because for several nights he had smelt in his dreams the savoury smell of smoked crawfish seasoned with red pepper。 Clearly some ill…wisher had set a trap baited with this dainty for his dream…soul; intending to do him grievous bodily; or rather spiritual; harm; and for the next few nights great pains were taken to keep his soul from straying abroad in his sleep。 In the sweltering heat of the tropical night he lay sweating and snorting under a blanket; his nose and mout
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