“ Lord, what fools these mortals be! ” THE MYTHS AND FABLES OF TO-DAY By Samuel Adams Drake Illustrations by Frank T. Merrill BOSTON LEE AND SHEPARD MCM BOSTON LEE AND SHEPARD MCM Copyright, 1900, by Samuel Adams Drake. All rights reserved. The Myths and Fables of To-day. Norwood Press J. S. Cushing & Co.—Berwick & Smith Norwood, Mass., U.S.A....

“Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious.” To say that superstition is one of the facts of history is only to state a truism. If that were all, we might treat the subject from a purely philosophical or historical point of view, as one of the inexplicable phenomena of an age much lower in intelligence than our own, and there leave it. But if, also, we must admit superstition to be a present, a living, fact, influencing, if not controlling, the everyday acts of men

“Why this is the best fooling when all is done.”— Twelfth Night. The trite saying that “children and fools are soothsayers” goes straight to the heart of those familiar superstitions with which the folk-lore of childhood abounds. We, the children of a larger growth, often call to mind with what avidity we listened in our childhood’s days to the nursery tales of giants, dwarfs, ghosts, fairies, and the like creations of pure fancy. We still remember how instantly all the emotions of our childish

There is a certain class of so-called signs, that from long use have become so embedded in the every-day life of the people as to pass current with some as mere whimsical fancies, with others as possessing a real significance. At any rate, they crop out everywhere in the course of common conversation. Most of them have been handed down from former generations, while not a few exhale the strong aroma of the native soil itself. Of this class of familiar signs or omens, affecting only the smaller a

“Authorized by her grandam.”— Macbeth. If you sneeze before breakfast, you will have company before dinner. If you pick the common red field lily, it will make you freckled. A spark in the candle denotes a letter in the post office for you. To hand a cup with two spoons in it to any one, is a sign of a coming wedding in the family. If a cat is allowed to get into bed with an infant, the child will be strangled by the animal sucking its breath, or by lying across its chest. If my right ear burns,

Of the things closely associated in the popular mind with good or bad luck, what in short one may or may not do to obtain the favors or turn aside the frowns of fortune, the list is a long one. We say “God bless me!” when we sneeze, as an invocation to good luck. Then, for instance, it is considered lucky to find a cast-off horseshoe, or a four-leaved clover, or to see the new moon over the right shoulder, or to have a black cat in the house, especially one that comes to you of its own accord. T

“I’ll do, I’ll do, and I’ll do.”— Shakespeare. Under this heading we shall first call attention to those plants having the alleged power to cure disease or protect from evil influences. But before doing so, we would suggest that the reader turn to his standard or popular dictionary. He will there find the magical word “abracadabra” defined as a charm against fevers. In former times, the young, unrolled fronds of the male fern were supposed to guard the wearer against the Evil Eye or witchcraft;

What are the supposed attributes of certain precious stones but another form of superstition? According to the popular lore on this subject, each gem has its peculiar virtue or virtues, with which the credulous owner becomes forthwith invested. Authorities differ so much, however, in regard to this mystical language that there cannot be said to be any settled standard of meaning. If, therefore, we refer only to such precious stones as have some superstition attached to them, we shall do all that

“Now for good lucke, cast an old shoe after me.”— Heywood. The folk-lore of marriage is probably the most interesting feature of the general subject, to the tender sex, at least, with whom indeed none other, in the nature of things, could begin to hold so important a place. In consequence, all favorable or unfavorable omens are carefully treasured up in the memory, quite as much pains being taken to guard against evil prognostics as to propitiate good fortune. Quite naturally, the young unmarrie

“A woman’s story at a winter’s fire.”— Macbeth. We come now to those things considered as distinctly unlucky, and to be avoided accordingly. How common is the peevish exclamation of “That’s just my luck!” Spilling the salt, picking up a pin with the point toward you, crossing a knife and fork, or giving any one a knife or other sharp instrument, are all deemed of sinister import now, as of old. One must not kill a toad, which, though or a grasshopper, possibly by reason of the veneration in whic

Haunted houses have proved an insuperable stumbling-block to those wiseacres who no sooner insist that superstition has died out than the familiar headline in the daily paper, “A haunted house,” stares them full in the face. It is believed that many such houses stand tenantless to-day because of the secret fear they inspire in the minds of the timid or superstitious, who, quite naturally, shrink from living under the same roof with disembodied spirits. It has already been noted that M. Camille F

We approach a still different class of evil omens, or such as are believed by many to “cast their shadows before,” in such a manner as to prey upon the spirits, or show their visible effects in the daily actions of men, usually well balanced, with a feeling akin to respectful fear. Let other forms of superstition be never so mirth-provoking, the reality of this one, at least to those of an imaginative or highly impressible nature, is such that we are sobered at once. What concerns such momentous

It is a matter of common knowledge that certain expert “finders,” as they are called, use a divining-rod for detecting underground springs in New England; in Pennsylvania for the locating of oil springs; and in the mineral regions of the Rockies for the discovery of hidden veins of valuable ores. The Cornish miners, also, have long made use of the divining-rod, or “dowsing-rod,” as they call it, for a like purpose. A further research, probably, might reveal a similar practice in other countries;

All abnormal exhibitions of nature, or in fact any departure from the regular order of things, such as great and unusual storms, earthquakes, eclipses of the sun or moon, the appearance of a comet in the heavens, or of a plague of flies, caterpillars, or locusts were once held to be so many infallible signs of impending calamity. All of our early historians give full and entire credit to the evil import of these startling phenomena, which were invariably referred to the wrath of an offended deit

“ Songe est toujours mensonge ,” says a French proverb; “Dreams go by contraries” says the English proverb,—that is, if you dream of the dead you will hear from the living. Who shall decide, where the collective wisdom of centuries is at such wide variance? To put faith in the supposed revelations of a disordered or overheated brain seems, on the face of it, sheer absurdity, especially when we ourselves may induce dreaming merely by overindulgence in eating or drinking. Yet there are people who

One noticeable thing about certain forms of superstition is their general acceptance by the public at large, like certain moral evils, which it is felt to be an almost hopeless task to do away with. Other good, easy souls choose to ignore the presence of fortune-tellers, astrologers, palmists among their daily haunts. As a matter of fact, however, fortune-telling, astrology, and palmistry have become so fully incorporated with the everyday life of all large communities as to excite very little c