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1255. It is unlucky in a funeral, for those present to repa.s.s the house where death has occurred.
_Baldwinsville, N.Y._
1256. At a funeral, entering church before the mourners means death to some of the entering party.
_Boston, Ma.s.s._
1257. It is a bad sign to drive past a funeral procession.
_Maine._
1258. It is unlucky to pa.s.s through a funeral procession, either between the carriages or the files of mourners on foot.
This is a general superst.i.tion. The custom, which has become instinctive with many persons, is usually set down to the score of decency and propriety.
_General in the United States._
1259. To meet a funeral is bad luck. To avert it, turn round and take three steps backward before going on.
_St. John, N.B._
1260. It is bad luck to meet a corpse. One may follow it, but never meet it. A colored person will turn square about on seeing a funeral procession approaching.
_Talladega, Ala., and Virginia._
1261. To keep the corpse in the house over Sunday will bring death in the family before the year is out.
_South Framingham, Ma.s.s._
1262. If the grave is left open over Sunday, another death will occur before the Sunday following.
_Boxford, Ma.s.s._
1263. If a grave is covered on Friday, another in the same family will follow inside of a year.
_Chatham, N.B._
1264. If a grave is left open over night without the corpse, another death in the family will soon follow.
_Virginia._
1265. It is bad to disturb an old grave, as by putting up a tombstone; you will thus herald a death.
_Chestertown, Md._
1266. Many will not go through a graveyard on the way to call on friends, for fear of bringing death into the house.
_Ma.s.sachusetts._
1267. The clothes of the dead wear out quickly.
_Westport, Ma.s.s._
1268. "The clothes of the dead never wear long" when used by the living.
_New York._
1269. If you put clothes of a live person on a corpse, when the clothes decay the owner will die.
_St. Joseph, Mo._
1270. It is quite customary, both in the United States and in Canada, to give the whole house a thorough cleaning after a death has occurred, even when the deceased has undergone no prolonged illness and has died of no contagious disease. A day or two after the funeral one sometimes sees, particularly in country homes, feather beds, mattresses, etc., etc., put out to air. Sometimes even rooms are whitewashed in the purification process.
CHAPTER XIX.
MISCELLANEOUS.
ACTIONS.
1271. If a child in eating an apple merely girdles it and leaves the apple good at stem and below, it indicates that he will be a poor man; the saying is, "a poor man's core."
1272. It is unlucky to turn back after starting to go anywhere. To avert misfortune after turning back, make the sign of the cross in the dust with the heel, and spit in the cross.
_Arkansas (negro), and Kentucky._
1273. It is unlucky to turn back after having once started out.
_Quebec._
1274. To get out of bed on the wrong side puts one out all day. "He got out of bed with the wrong foot foremost" is said of a person who has a fit of crossness.
_Northern Ohio._
1275. To drop your books on the way to school signifies that you will make mistakes in your lessons.
_Chestertown, Md._
1276. Drop a book and you will miss your lesson, unless it is immediately picked up and kissed.
_Alabama._
1277. Whoever eats the last piece of bread will be an old maid.
_Pennsylvania._
1278. If you break something, you will break two other things.
_Maine, Ma.s.sachusetts, and Northern Ohio._
1279. To twirl a chair on one leg means that you are going to fight with somebody.
_Peabody, Ma.s.s._
1280. Whirling an empty chair indicates that a whipping is in store for the transgressor.
1281. If you twirl a chair around on one leg, it is a sign that you are about to break dishes.
_Chestertown, Md._
1282. You mustn't pay the doctor entirely, or there will be sickness in the family.
_Lonsdale, R.I._
1283. You must leave by the door through which you enter, or there will be trouble with the family, or ill luck to yourself.
_Pennsylvania._
1284. If you leave by any other door than the one through which you have entered, it is said that you will not come again.
_c.u.mberland, Me._
1285. In bathing, the eyes should always be rubbed towards the nose, as that makes them large, and rubbing out the opposite way makes them small.
