ANIMAL LEGENDS OF THE SWISS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 54, 26 November 1937, Page 17

ANIMAL LEGENDS OF THE SWISS

The Jay as a Magician

jir ANY interesting auperstitions are being.collected by. ..the "^wisa League of Nature Protection," which i3 doing admirable work- in , unearthing the strkhge belieffl that one finds in the country districts. of Switiserlahd. ' Perhaps the best knowm legend about the snake is that of the cat-headed viper, complete with pawa and whiskers, and an unca'nny power of f ascinating birds. in the district of the Coi de Forclaz, to see a snake before noon is a sign oi a storm pendmg in the afterhoon. This is probably a sound deduction from the habits of the beast, which is aware that it will have to eat early because the storm will cbmpel it to lie up ih the afternoon. There are many valleys in which the view is held that to see a snake is the sign of a change in the weather. There are many superstitiohs about •loxes. Strangely enough, Swiss legend has transferred to the fox our own legehd of the-dog which howls at night as a portent of itapfending death. No peasant in the districts where this belief is held would dream of attacking or firing upon a fox in such conditions. From tho Vahd'Herens comes. a delightful story of how the fox gets rid of the vermin which afflict hiS kind. He is supposed tp take a bunch of some green stuff in .his mouth and. then lower himself backwards into water, beginning with his brush. The vermin fly from the water and ultimately take refuge in the bunch of greenery which

the fox immediately drops into tlit water. What is the Origin df the storjr that the jay can make itself and its nest ilk» visiblo to escape the attention of birda and other animals of prey I have no idea. But th© view is held in the Val d'Dliea*.' " There al's also many legends of meta» inorphoses and spontaneoUg generatioUi Ihus plane trees are believed to generate mosquitos, and dung-hebps to girii birth to worms. Bome of tbese beliefs may be dne to . the age-old superstition of thf "miiS* tna" which rmarshes and other. un* healthy placea Were reputed to give off* A sUrvival. of this may even he foundi in a widespread beiief that the breath of certain animals e.g. of the frog, i* in itself noxious. There are many legends about lizards, toads, and salamafiders. The mere sight of a salamander is supposed to briflg bad luek. While the horror of snakes, lizards# and suchlike is understandable, it ii difficult to see Why the dragon-fly, that embodiment of. grace, should be looked upon with suspicion. In sotne valleys, however, the dragon-fiy is held in abw horence, and he is credited with a sifl* ister habit of poking out ihe eyes of passers-byj ' Perhaps no race in the world is more sympathetic to animals than ihe Swise. You have only to pbserve the tamenest of the birds in the.big cities to be sure of this, It ib to be hoped that thii society of native lovers will continue its research into the quaint animal s«» uerstitions of Switzerland.