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OFFSPRING ABANDONED
500
that another member of the same household will die before
The only way to stave it off is to sacrifice
the year is out l
a living animal, such as a ram, a he-goat, a fowl, &c, as
a burnt offering.
Thus superstition follows the Hindu even to the last
days of his existence. We have already seen what silly
.
The child born under
fancies assail him from his cradle.
star is not only himself destined, according to
common belief, to all sorts of troubles and accidents during
the course of his life, but he brings bad luck to those with
an unlucky
whom
he
is
united by the
ties of
blood
;
and
it
is
not
uncommon
to see parents, convinced of the truth of these
so-called malign influences, quietly abandoning on a high-
road innocent babes who happened to be born on a certain
day which the prognostications of the professional astro-
loger have signified to be unlucky, or else handing them
over to any one who is bold enough to run the risk of
There
assuming charge of such an ill-omened burden 2
are e