HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Wingham Advance, 1919-12-25, Page 7. 0, I ..1I
Superstitions
and Christmas
Many old beliefs, custoxue and Mt-
pai�atitione ,have been handed down
through the eenturieee to the preeent
day. No other holiday' has such au
abundiince of old +custom* and observ-
Pe wee ae Christmas.
The Chrestmae tree, the reletletoe,
fi the holly and the evergreen all have
A halo of superstition about them,
Tire Christmas tree with its emer-
ald bougbe and •illuminated with daz-
xiing lights, is of Teutonic origin.
In ancient timeee the Teutons be -
!jetted the sun ascending higher and
higher in the heavens was the
spreading and blossoming of an deer -
Moue tree. Thus to -day the Christ -
Mae tree le trimmed with lights to
,represent a heavenly sun tree, the
Lights signifying the lightning, the
$olden apples, nuts and other decor-
ations of gold indicate the sun and
the star at the top is supposed to be
tY$cal of the one that guided the
Three Wise Men of the East.
There la a tale that the fir tree
ie the tree of life, and that when Eve
picked the fruit from the tree it was
shrivelled and withered and that we
duty know of the tree of lee by its
evergreen leaves.
The 'Yule -log which glows on tho
'.open-. hearth at Christmas is a tree
;ankh; handed down by the Scandi-
elavlans from the period when they
-aCiuiiled great fires in honor of the
god. Thor. The Yule -log played a
"very important part in the 'Christmas
,Geaekration in some parte `of Eng -
deed. • It is believed if a part of
the lag was carefully preserved to
:light the fire the following year the
house would be secure against fire,
or »if.:a squinting person Entered the
house while it was burning all kinds
Of misfortune would occur to the
he usehold, It was oleo considered
an 'ill -omen If a barefooted person
entered the room while the log was
in blaze.
Thee mistletoe under which a man
meg Jtise a maiden unreproved as
long as there are berries .on its
beaiaehea, le the same plant which
the Druids of ancient times used in
their WWoreirip. The officiating priest,
41 in white robes and holding a
Iden sickle, out the plant, which
'Wei, received on a cloth of spotless
whtte. The mietletoe was supposed
td. be• a protection against witches
lull- evil-minded persons.
Large slime were given the Druids'
fer a .piece to hang around the neck
Ire .a charm. An old superstition was
that one could see ghoets and talk to
theta if'a sprig. was held in the hand. '
Woe betide the maiden who was not
ki under h
Wetted e the mistletoe, o , for she
Would have no chance to marry until
the next year. In fact, a branch
of thlatietoe in the house meant a
Arosperoue year, good health and good
foortutte.
The holly la held n
Y i the same high
regard, according to tradition. The
holly has n special potency when
Sporn in the shape of a wreath. If
ft. wee worn on Christmas Eve the
Wearer could see visions of epirit
forme singing Christmas songs. An
Iengglieh belief le that not a bit of
holly *hall remain in the house by
To�a soap and other things were given.
c ui t7 t What inoat imaginethe world that was for
�7 l 9� ® 8! we
o d
• the Twelfth Night, or iniefortune in
sone manner will occur,
The mince pie is supposed to com-
memorate, in its ingredients of
Oriental mixture, the offerings made
by the Wise Men of the East. Three
Plee must not be consumed in one
houee, or there will be trouble of
some kind is au old superstition of
the English people,
The favorite Cbristutae dish, the
plum pudding, enuet not all be eaten,
but a portion kept for New Year's
if one wishes success in their future
undertakings.
The custom of giving Christmas
gifts is of ancient origin. The old
Romana made use of earthern boxes
at their festivals. These boxes were
hung up to receive contributions, The
money was elipped through a hole. In
later Years the priests ueed to place
aboard shipe boxes for alms to be
opened at Christmas. A mass was
said for the contributors, and so the
box calve to be called a Christmas
box. Our preeent custom of dis-
tributing boxes and presents at
Chrietmae time is derived from this.
St. Nicholae is the children's patron
Saint. There le a story of the good
old Bishop Nicholas, who lived in •.
Asia Minor, that be wished to aseist
a poor old nobleman who was too
proud to ask for help, When the old
nobleman couldbe eeen fast asleep
through the window the good St.
Nicholas climbed to the top of the
chimney and dropped a purse filled
with money down the ehimney, think-
ing it would fall on the hearth,' but
the purse fell into the nobleman's
stocking, which was hanging to dry
by the fire. The gift was discovered
the next day and used as a marriage
portion for hie slaughter. After that
whenever the nobleman's daughters
were of a marriageable age he hung
up a Stocking, and the girl was sure
to be provided for.
A legend told, which helps toward
explaining the idea of the "Man in
the Moon," le that apeasant desir-
ing to eat some cabbage went to a
neighboring garden to pick some. As
soon as bis basket was heaped with
cabbage, he was wafted to the moon
and condemned to sit there forever
as a punishment for having stolen on
Christmas Eve, and he can still be
seen there on Christmas Eve.
There are numerous quaint beliefs
how the cattle act at Christmas time.
In the German Alps it M believed
they are gifted with a speech on
Christmas Eve, but if one played
eavesdropper he would hear of some
forthcoming misfortune. In some
place the bees aro thought to sing
Intheir hit i
yes on the ere before
Christmas.
In England the robin is
Imo o nas the Chricemae bird.
In Holland they have a procession
of young men led by one who carries
a long pole, on the end of which is
a lighted star. The procession passes.
through
the 'villagesa
ges (singing ing Christ-
mas
eonge. This etar ie supposed to
represent the star of Bethlehem.
!Money is gathered from the crowd*,
who came out to greet the youths,
In Sweden a custom that le nearly
univereal is to tie a sheaf of corn to
a pole which, le placed in the yard for
the b!rde for their Ghr1etmae dinner.
•
Christmas •
(From a letter written by two mis-
sionary children, Helen and Raymond
Cowiee, In South Africa. Quoted from
the children's book, "in Circles of
Light.')
"We have bad such a funny Christ -
ilea Four miles from bare there is a
little Zulu church. Those Christians
Neave had a Christmas tree before, but
1tever had any white friende with
themhi
T s year they wanted us to
comate:'
"We hired a team and six oxen, and
started about 0 o'clock.' It was a blaz-
ing hot day. Our kitchen boy said,
'Oh, the sun is big to,day.'
"Our driver was a big heathen fel-
law, with heaps of beads on, and we
had a little -boy to lean the oxen. Af-
ter riding two hours we came to the
top of a steep hill, and below lie, .half-
way down, was the chapel. The oxen
were outspanned and we scrambled
down the hill.
"The chapel had an iron roof, mud
walls, and six tiny windows. A hun-
dred natives were crowded into it, and
Sia lot of heathen outside were peeping
in. The house was o full there was
no room for the tree on the floor, eo
they had hoisted it away up to the
beanie overhead. It looked so funny
upside~< down, hung up by the trunk.
The tree was mimosa, covered thick
with thorns, on which they had stuck
n lot of handkerchiefs and shirts, and
i►Il
the cloth things, Ori the floor un-
der the benches were ,pans Ana baskets
fell of presents the people had bought
for each other—piece of bread done up
in bier and lots of cakes of yellow
sot*, and some tin epoone. The grand-
est thing We saw was a glans sugar-
bowi. Before the imesente were given
they had two hours of singing and re-
citations. 'Thirty-six school children
Metaled to the platform. Four little
girls in h la
tr slad ove zskyeblluuee ribbons sat to
to-
gether. Moet of them were white.
They recited a great many verses
ettbeut Jeans. It was nice fo hear the
Ohe+istreao ntory toldin this way to a1I
Oases people, After the exercises, one
emit of the rope was untied, and the
tree was carefully lowered almost on
e1 heads of the people. AU the shirto
leted bandkerehiefe Were picked offend
it was hoisted up again. Then the
"Mother called one of the girls ane
asked her what the ;feather* meant.
She said every feather meant the ,pro-
mise of a hen! Wasn't that a funny
Way to give presents? Mother. was
given a bag of potatoes.
"Out in the yard were . three big
black pots—two with rice all cooked,
the other full of soup. This was their
feast, They had gone fourteen miles
to buy the bread for dessert. We did
not stay to the feast, but came home
in our ox -cart, sunburned, and, Oh, so
thirsty !But we had lots a fun,"
1 SAW THREE E SRP
S
9
I saw three ships come sailing in,
On Christmas day, on Christmas
day:
I saw three ships come sailing in,
On Christmas day ire the morning.
Pray whither sailed those ships all
three,
On Christmas day, on Christmas
day?
Pray whither sailed those ships all
three,
On Christmas day in the morning?
0, they sailed into Bethlehem,
On Christmas day, on Christmas
day',
0, they sailed into Bethlehem,
On Christmas day in the morning.
And all the bells on earth shall ring,
On Christmas day, on Christmas
day;
And all the belie on earth shall ring,
On Christmas day in the morning.
And all the angels in tleaven'shall
aing,
On Christmas day, oz} Christmas
day:
And all the angels in Heaven shall
sing,
On Christtmas day in the morning.
And all the souls on earth shall sing.
On Christmas day, on Christmas
day;
.And all the souls on earth shall sing,
On Christmas day in the morning,
Then let us all rejoice amain -
On Christmas day, on Christmas,
day;
Theft let us all rejoice amain
On Christmas day in the morning.
Christm
e
Of all the countries at war per -
taps none make more of the Chriet-
mao festivities than does the German
nation. Many months in advance the
German hausfrau and little madchen
busily ply their needled so that each
one of the family, and near friends as
well, may be rememberea with a
hand; made gift when the great day
Christmas room Is at Iast. opened and
the eplondid tree is seen in all the
homes, when the locked and bolted
Christmas room le at last opened
and the eplendid tree in all its
glory of myriads of tiny tapers,
glistening bails, festoons ot tinsel, gay
paper cornucopias, its branches laden
with toe and bon -bons, and the
"pfefferkuchen" so dear to the chil-
dren's eyes.
The pfefferkucken is a spicy cake;
made in all ohapee, but usually in cir-
cles, figure eights or .stare with a hole
in the centre, that they may be easily
fastened to the tree. These Christ-
mas cakes are made "by the German
bakers in three claase, of differing
quality and cost, so that even the
poorest classes may save ue a few
pfennigs and purchaee them.
The "krinkeln," a traneparent sugar'
candy, and the sweet almond paste
known as " lubecker =rebate" are
both sure to be found on the German
Christmas tree; no matter what its
size, if the good hausfrau Can man-
age to supply them, A figure, usually
of an anugel or fairy, tops the tree*
and on small tablets and chairs under
the laden boughs are heaped up great
piles of daintily wrapped preseinte
neatly inscribed with the Haute of
eaeh member of the family.
No ono is forgotten, Even the Ger-
man Children of tender yeare delight
to give their parents preeents of their
own making, Funny little Christmae
cards painted with astonishingly bril-
liant flowers and birdo are popetar%
While the older children dopy appro-
priate verses in their quaintly formed
writing.
SHOES IN PLACE OF intOc ciN'GS
While little Amerloan and Entteish
Children delight to hang up their
stockings at 'bedtime near the chim-
ney en .Christmas -Eve, the boys and
girls of Prance, Serbia, Bulgaria and
many other countrleo' place their oboes
in a corner, or near the fire, that the
good Pere noel, or the little Christ
Child, may came and fill them with
goodies.
After twelve centuries of Christian-
ity the Serbian obeervanceee of Ciarist-
ivadtide are seal etrbngly marked
With the flavor of their old pagan
praetiees, their very' word for Christ-
Mae being "alaSich;' *Melt Inoue
"The Little God." As in anelent
usto
istant
s
ands
times, the Serbs eacrificed a pig to
the sun god, so to -day in every Ser-
bian home roast pig should ,be the
principal Christmas dish.
CHRISTMAS IN SERBIA
Christmas Eve ie known among the
Serbiane ae "aadnyi Ian," or the day
of the old Badnyak, who is tome sort
of a divinity connected with the
Young Bojich of Christmas day. "Very
early in the morning two of the fam-
i1y'e strong young ;nen, attended by
the younger boys, make their way to
the forest; where, after having crossed.
themselves three times, as is the usual
custom among the. Greek Church fol-
lowers, or after saying a brief prayer,
they select a tree which le to be
known as the Badnyi. Before setting
out they have provided themselves.
with a supply of grain, wheat kernels
'being used many times . in the cere-
monies which mark their queer rites,
'Greet in
tree with theworde, B
the adnyi day to you!" one or
the young men throws a handful of
,wheat upon it, while the other care-
fully plies hie axe, Great care must be
taken in chopping down the tree, for
it must fall toward the east, exactly at
the moment the sun god rises. The
first chip that Palle le carefully pre-
served by one of the children and
• brought home with the Badnyi, which
is always cut into two or three pieces,
the longer log being the moot
precious.
On reaching c ng the haus* the mother of
the family comes out,bringing a small
flat wheat cake of unleavened flour,
called "pogacha," which she breaks on
the longer Badnyi, the Togs being left
outside the house each aide of the
door, The whole day is epent in
making preparations for the following
day, the women baking cakes shaped
like sheep, pigs and chickens, and
Other good things While the men folks
get a fat pig ready for roasting. Just
at sunset one of the men is given
now woollen gloves, to go out and
bring in the iiadeyak,
HEALTH TO THE LOG.
•
As he passes the threshold the mo-,
ether of the family throws nt him tt
handful of wheat from 'a, bowl in
which site has kept all day the chip
brought her in the morning, The
young man greets ell present. And
,then, as many remote pa'rts of the
t eeth'y, the father drinks a glass of
'wine to the health of the Badnyak,
and pours Wine on the log. It is con -
tittered most important that the great
log bo kept brighhty'btirniug all night.
When the log is lighted, the young
folks run out and fire off guns or
pistols, and when the roast pig is
:done that fact also is announced to
the neighborhood, with much .noise
and the popping of firearms.
They first visitor in every Serbian
,home on Chr1 eras morning must
- always be the "Polaznik." He is
'usually a neighbor's son, who arrives
every early armed with a glove full
of weight. At his knack the door is
opened and he merrily throws the
grain at the company 'at the fireside
and into the corners of the room,
saying: "Chalet is born." To which
'the house mclrher replies by throw-
ing wheat on him, while all joinin
exclaiming, "He is born indeed!"
`: Taking up a heavy shovel, the
;Christmas. guest now strikes the Bad-
nyak sharp blows, which make the
sparks fly, while he pronounces good
wishes for each of the family, the
'cows, goats, horses, sheep, bees and
,Yields, Fleeing kissed his host, he
(falls on his knees and kisses the end
of the 13adnysk. It always is placed
on the tire to that one end prot'rudes
into the room, The Polaznik crosses
himself a number of times and 'then
places a• small coin on the tog as his
!Christmas gift,
AN AMUSING CEREMONY,
An amusing part of the ceremony is
the custom of pulling out the chair
Just as the Polaznik is about to teat
ihlnself by the fire, the idea being to
snake hint tix, by sitting down hard,
ell the good. wishes •he has just lit-
tered. Afterwards he is wrapped in
to shawl and seated by .the Badnyak,
iwhile the young people exchange kiss -
+os across the log. The shawl or blan-
iket is supposed to insure thick cream
tor the eoming year, and the kisses
of the shepherds and shephexdnesses
to secure peace and love among the
nheep and other live "Stock.
CHRISTMAS TN CONSTANTINOPLE.
Christmas in Constantinople to the
Greek boys of the city is.' as Pull of
poise and firecrackers and the shoot-
!ing off of pistols es was the 'it, S.
'observance of the Fourth of July be -
tor) the safe and sane methods of cele-
jbrating the day eazne in vogue. After
services the Greek Church coitgrega-
tion exchange presents of fruit and
tfiowers from home to home and the
spoor are remembered by the gift of
a good dinner,
In Russia, as in Greece, Bulgaria,
Serbia and other countries, in which
the people still Cling to the old 'Mian
+calendar, C'hristme,e now 'costes 1a
days after ours, for December 25 by
the Gregorian calender is only De -
ember 12 by the oil style of reck-
oning, To make the discrepancy lest
+cohfueing, the Orthodox Greek Church
,eouutries usually give both dates. Thus
at, Nicholas' day is written i)eem-
+ber 0.111.
A UUSSIAN CIFIT IIRATION.
"1 olenda" is the rtuasian Christ-
Atas eve celebration. The pea:rants go
in bands and serenade the rich nobleo,
Japanese, chinese
and Korean Toys
(By Channing A, Bartow.) '
There 1s no real Christmas in the
far east, which is still essentially pa -
gam but the small boys and girls with
the ,almond eyes have plenty of other
holidays on which they give and re-
ceive presents and makes much, the
sante manner as their western bro.
there and sisters on the occasion of
Santa Claus' annual visit. And in ,the
matter of toys, Japanese, Chinese and
Korean babies ,have little cause to
envy their foreign. friends, for not the most marvelous mechanical
products of Nuremberg surpass the
products of 'the yellow toymaker's in-
genuity. Children the world over are
very,tnuch alike in their tastes, how-
ever different in appearance, and the
playthings at infant Asia bear a strong
fundamental resemblance to those of
young America. Most popular, of
course, are dolls. The parental in-
stead is universal,
China and Korea are great countries
.for dolls, but ie Japan, that paradise
of children, the make believe baby is
so honorably regarded that it has a
special holiday, the "least of dolls,,'
This comes in February every year
at the time of the Ohinese new year.
The dolls are placed on silk covered
shelves in the best room in the tante.
taften it takes five or six shelves to
hold them all. The principal partici-
1pants in the feast are called the enz-
tperor and empress of Japan. They
fare dressed in court Costumes, and
the others, named for the famous per-
sons, are arranged about them, Doubt -
!less et the coming celebration mutter -
bus doll Oyamas,• Togos, Eurokia
'and N•ogie will' swell tete crowds at 'the
receptions of the mimic mikado, 811 -
e'er bowls are placed before their ma-
.1e'eties, and the child for whom the.
festival is kept puts fresh food in
these tithes every day. At the eud
of three days the dolls are laid away
for another year, only a few favorites
being kept out for common use. Of
these,one' is the "lady with the six
f•or more) wigs," a baldheaded doll
whose many changes of coiffure give
her small owner endless delight,
Though this is primarily a, girls'
holiday, the small boy of Japan i,s not
above playing with dolls and is es-
pecially fond of the doll theatre, Ile
is as much addicted to' wooden sol-
diers and acrobatic toys as his coun-
terlpart in America, Marionettes are
as popular in China as in Japan. Long
before Punch andlid began J Y eget to
Bch r n t
a the h _carts of American youth
the littie children of China were
laughing over the dilemmas of these
ttvo fanipus charaetens. Little booths
are set up on the streets, where tray -
eking
companies pre ant their quaint
t
shows. They have men on horseback
spldiera, lions, tigers, dragons, snakes
and carious acting frogs; all made to
'go though their antics by means of
'strings and sticks managed by the
showmen, Follotving the feast of
to11s, the Japanese boys, too, have a
holiday •ef their own, a distinctive
'feature, of wlt.ch is the school of huge
Taper Belles f,cating over every house.
in which there are boys, one fish for
'each son, The Japanese, being great
fishermen. admire certain specimens
of the carp which swims up stream,
a sign of courage and perse'rverance.
'This felt has become with the Jap•
anese an emblem of the boys, whom
titter parents wish to see possessed of
these oualities ,
On the boys' day the toy bazaars of
the city are thronged with children
their meters. The whole "company,
young even and old, serameble in the
enol for the Loins tossed them from
the windows. Later they enjoy e, gay
masquerade in 'which the whole co
t
u-
trysidete es part, both sexes dressing
up in absurd costumes supposed to
represent animals, the idea being to
i;,oxnagetnora'te the . Met that Christ
was :born in a stable among the hum -
"'est of the animals.
Russian children peep out into the
dark, snowy night on Christman BYO
-to catch a glinpae of poor old
Babouska, whose ead story every lit-
tle Muscovite is sure to know, The
legend toile that one night, when cold
and weary, ehe met a grand proms -
elm headed by the three kings ie.
white robes and golden crowns, wap
told her "The Christ ie born. Come
thou with us and worship them.yBut
Babouska was cold and eager to get
home. ,A.11 night she heard the
Babe call, and next morning he gath-
ered together a bag of toys and etart-
ed out to find Him. But search se
she may, she never tincts the holy
Babe, and, as she goes stumbling
through the snow in her vain search
she drops a toy on the doorstep of
every poor family.
The • Bulgarian peasants, the Ger-
mane and ethers all ethers the legend
that animals are conscious lwiteen
Christmas eve comes round. y
of the country folks rotate believe that
at midnight the sheep awake and
march .in procession, and the cattle
kneel in their stalls, While by a bole
miracle all the betide are able to
converse together. But it is a mor-
tal sin for a man to attempt to Over-
hear them; a cin punishable with
n,
InsuddeFrancedetitthand Italy there ie a
pretty custom. It coneeiote of giving
erpecial welcome to the first babe left
on chrietmas morning at the door of
the foundling home. .A. handsome
cradle and fine soft. Line areMade
ready, and the poor little i
taken in and given a oarctnoatious
welcome in the name of the Christ
dIhild.
in Russia, as few days before C eriet..
Swords, guns, pistols, trumpets, itorees.
and menageries sell like hot cakes, and.
firecracker* fill the air with :smoke
and Noise. There is in Tokyo one
quarter con*istitg of three or fora
etreets which contains nothing hat
bazzaara for the sale of toys, Here for
a few coppers one may buy a i and-
ful of bamboo rode from Tate ends of
which dance the funniest imaginable
caricatures on which the potent sake
has worked its charm. The goggle
eyed men whose heads roll
on piveete are matched by jovial foxes
and badgers which have also looked
upon the mite 'when. it was yellow.
Toy animalsof every sort --lizards,
crickets and spiders --make the streets
of Tokyo look like Broadway in New
York the week before Christmas, A
sew popular toy is a Russian soldier
with red hair and blue eyeballs, who
performs all kinds 'of ' "stunts."
Tope and kitce are always in favor
in the net, and some of them are
veritable works of art, The kites as-
yhilitiq
and bird, we he tops Of flab,
trans-
form.
themselves into butterflies and
floweret at they spin seem to be the
work of a necromancer. There is no
distir_ciion of age in flying kites and
spinning tope. Old men and children
may be seen together engaged in these
time honored pastimes,
Asiatic babies are blessed with no end
of gods who look out for tbeir welfare,
the Japanese having seven god* of
happiness, one ot whom, Hotel by
name, corresponde Closely to pur St.
Nicholl*, Hotel is of a venerable and
amiable appearance, wearisg a long
white beard, and carries a sack of gifts
for good little boye and girle, To
older persons he brings. long life and
is usually repreeented in art accompan-
led by a stork, which is supposed to
live 1,000 years.
It is not all May and no work with
the smell- Japanese, despite their
abundance of enjoyments, A Japanese
child is no sooner able to walk than
he or she is called upon to act as nurse
for a smaller brother or sister, of
there is one, However, the "little.
mothers" do not seem to be troubled
at all by their charges. They parry
the babies on their backs, like papoose
es, and play ball, run races and fly
kites in spite of their burdens. Strange
est. of a11, the babies are perfectly hap-
py and bardly ever cry, though often
banged about le a way that would
make an American baby howl with
rage.
Thei
bus ness *spirit of the Chinese
empire is reflected in the sports of
the Chinese child, and small imita-
tions of commerce play a Iarge part
n his life. Owners of toy carts organ-
ize mimic trading expeditons, while
the less fortunatekeeP store." Th
6
boys also play at war with ships and
soldiers, and, as in Japan, one may see
bands of children armed with toy gun*
or sticks drilling with; true martial
arder. A regular feature of the game
as it is played in China le, it is said,
the alarm, "The Japanese are com-
ing:" at which the whole pigtailed
army rune as if Satan were after it.
The Chinese boy is very fond of pets
and often carries about with hick
canary in a wooden eage or a cricket
sdmilarly imprisoned.
The less- active Chinese girl has
thany beautiful toys of porcelain, lac
quer and utensils. The girls have their
games a1po, such as battles and shut-
tlecock and jaekstonee. . They "turn
the mill" and "churn butter" to the
accotupauinient of nursery rhymes
centuries old.
map, the peaaantes prepare for the
quaint ceremony known as "bride
choosing." All the marriage able
Young folks try their fortune by sit-
ting before little pike of grain. Just
at midnight =ani h
t a hungry
eock i brought
in, and the pile of grate s
which he
first Bata designates the ane who will
be first married, and the second the
nest, and so on until be will eat no
more.
The bride Choosing occurs annually
on Christmas eve, at which time all
the unmarried girls gather at the
house of the elder of the village,
where they sit in a demure row, with
their heads carefully covered by
white voile, The ewahis in search
of a bride are then called in, and
make their selection, without seeing
the face of the girl, But, being a
daughter of Eve, the Eluseian maiden
wears a particular dress, or lute a bit
of ribbon on her shoe,: or other Sign,
by which her lover may know her
and make no mistake. The ttncover-
Ing of the bride .seemo to be merely a
copy of the ' 4ohammedan idea. After
having been chosen, the bride-to-be
loses no time in hurrying her lover
to her. own home, where her father
takers charge of the regular betrothal.
'in Italy, in the Val di Roce, Italian
highlands, for centuries there has
been the quaint and pretty cuotom, at
Christmate of making votive offerings
at the ehrinee of the Redeemer of
fruit and floweea, by the peasants,
each garbed in the plctureequc drees
of his own di;,trict. In Upper Lom-
bardy, particularly, inueleames vicar
the shrines and, accompanied by little
children dressed as angels, make a
tour of the villages and towns, col-
lecting alms, which are distributed
later to the poor as gifts from the
Christ 'Child.
to Auotria-Itungary the mention of
Chrletnaad brings an anticipatory light
of welcome to the *yea irf patrician
and .peeteant alike. It id an occasion
for joy and sprightly eommcmoratlon
in that Catholic country, it is a tilate
for carnival!), public Celebrat'orio, in-
numerable manses, niuoloals and wine
parties.
of
A. large roil of pazahlettekt. reeliettrat
e" thirteen eenturieet tutel mooed
antisnt Arable script, Oared at taw
portant part in the aoneteuttieget eV
another and iirnddebie tele'
loeutnent, the Peaces Tref,
tua.ny le reeuiree by, tiel* tratater 'pR
Disgorge, alone with 11 heed% 'lily+
bone in eash and Toe -loxes art tom:
urea, among them the Knox et
Otitnian, Jut What 1naportageio a
taehee to this particular copy ,pi; tate
Koran le a question that eateites the
public mind ea allied to eeetet
diploinaey.
A World Mstgazine iaterr'viirwerr mew
ried this 4uary to Leon Cnmehe
Orientalist, telling tom the linive
salesof Petrogr*d And
familiar of the East, well versed ite.
rho deilths and *ho0.18 of 10.4tzatt.
1,01Tite Prophet of Islam lett nothing
written, for the sufficient room* that
he could neither read nor mite, The
numerous auras, or chapters, of the
Koran stand tor so uiam' semos.
so many prophetical outbareitetheilicel,
attended by .flaming disciples, Were
fixed in the tenacious leemorte *leak,
aeterietic of the East. Only sporadi-
cally was a passage .jotted down tee
rare one possessed of the en efg
letters.
These considerations gave *%tarp,,.
ordinary Importance to a c5anot
compilation, made by Abe litseeke
command, of the revelation at 1)1W+
hornet. A. commission prepared, etre
work, headed by ZaItt IbR T"ahit,
young man who had. been stenielea0
to the prophet.
Thie first Haran, derivedtrf Went
writings, but chiefly "#'ri ar the
breasts of men," was i*serted dA
palm leaves, from whieh It mete tir
be known as the "Book of Lea'veds:"
It was a very important Via, fn
it was not the one rneittioneti i file
Peace Treaty.
A generation: later Calif filirr,tr it
had. another Koran probtera grm
at his Islanatic beard, A, eatable
of compilations from divers etnofAefl.
sources were in 'circulation, Att vete
more or less Inebrrect, and meek
spiritual and political distierielatel
resulted therefrom.
Again a commission, was
headed by the same £Laid Ibx Int,
now an old roan, who haft tiorel'i me
the earlier compilation epis.de. Steel.
on the venerable "Book of Le sant,
which had been deposited in Metiimp
Mabomet's birthplace,a new eat *.11-
thoritative 1 orad was drawn up* Three
copies of this original were made, n14
all other copies of the Kora* `'' tree*
ordered done away with. Even the W
sacred "Book of Leaves' wait ait hee
etroyed s, little lator. The puss eat
of an incorrect version was pronoal*c ei
heresy, an easy passport to snbteere-
trial parts.
The three copiee were give*, t* ae
many Moslem: centresand oboe/Vela.
ly last. • The original; known ah the
Othman Koran, was deposited 4
Mecca, where it remained through foe
centuries until tate late war.
AlI lthis,however, r is but a pollee
v
tory chapter in :explaining tine z ►.!e'
terious veneration which led the
Turks, when the Arab ineurreatio;t
and the menace of the British Sued
forces'ntacie` 1ltdin. , ttte2ets«
fer thetheta
0 n Koran
tinople, for later removal
when the allied fleet was
to run the Dardanelles.
This Berlin transfer was air
piece of sacrilege. The Othman E
one of the holiest things • of
had reposed for centuries in its little
casket at the Mosque of Meditia- life
infidel had ever gained sight oo it
Only Sir Richard. Burton, the meta
O.rlentalist, contrived to eater 0.e
holy* place—by disguising him* ste
faultlessly ao an Arab. And ntrie the
sacredest of leorans was
Berlin.
In the month of Ramadan t
grims go to Mecca. Vora all
Of the world they take their arduotte
way to pray at the holy gam, ani
thus gain for themselves the title e e
Hajji the the privilege of we re
the green turban.
Thus it has obtained fora thottg
years, with 'a good proportion of tate
pilgrims further beteleing themsei'r s
to Medina to pay devotion to the Obit-
ntan Koran. -
Now, these pilgrims have ever beet
a source of large revenue, Thee Oh'
admisslon teethe holy places, Rua tate
Arabian high cast of lining doeYae
astonishing bidet fer their exploit*,,
tion. The district of the holy shrine
would be sorely grieved It Perrettneatiel
deprived of any considerable portion e e
the pilgrim patronage.
This is precisely the mfsforettia
that the. Turk threatened to Well
upon the insurgent Arabs.
The Othman Koran is essential tit
the economic development of the tbn
cently formed Arabian kiu :nee
Suppose the Germans lit tis male had
carried off the Eng#ieh royal ctire'a.
The Icing would still be Xin;4*, bi t
the mislaying of his diadem `caste
be an embarrassing cireuteetu.*oe. AA,
Tang of the Ilejaz, such as has bee*
made recently, if he were without
the Othmtan Koran would have' ahao+tt
pointed questions to answer then so
ant but a Moslem can know.
And the home coming or Orly
Koran will strengthen the Ring df
the Hejaz.
"Do you think the Germans lie,•
tended to keep the Othman ls0'#'aat4""'
1 asked the Orientalist.
"I don't," he relilted. "ft weal
take a strong imagination to Settlor,
the pilgrims, in the month of Ravin -
den, dragging their pious Moslem fp,
to Berlin."
Legend of Mistletoe aid HCS'.
One Christmas day' long ago et epi.
tiler bade farewell to hits sweertheert
and the#n rode away to the 'tare
through the falling anew. 'Test *to
sbo wore .a green velvet &sae and el'e
namen:e of Searle.
A year afterwards, en C hristittae day
the maiden wett out ,venting #ti the
woode, She found a bush.'. tk *valid
berries on it, and tbe. Mavt.ei k*it
sharp thorns en there. Mitt mate >t
wreath nut of it and plated it tet liter
lead. While she Wier mukieg tete
wreath she leaned egAinat an e1.d egik
tree, When she made the *,math dere
pearls turned to milk wake ban'&.
and her ares* was (sharaged.lute lows.
On Christmas day now we auris jilt
.cc the midden-mistletoe itt he pe+arit
, and gireea velvet and the soldier-be('b'
in his scerlst and We /ward&