Note 917 — Chapter IX · UNLUCKY DAYS
Reading edition
J. Sibree, “Malagasy Folk-lore and Popular Superstitions,” Folk-lore Record, 1879, ii, 30-33. The custom still exists among the Masikoro, an inland branch of the Sakalava tribe. Many Vezo (coast Sakalava) families continue to expose a child born on an unlucky day, but it is afterwards rescued and brought up by the relatives as their own. “Such a child is, however, looked upon with some suspicion as to what will be its character, because of its having been born on an unlucky day. It is thought that it may bring some calamity upon the family, or may itself be miserable or unfortunate in one way or another, when grown up. It is a very common opinion that bad conduct is only the result of being born on an unlucky day” (A. Walen, in Antananarivo Annual, 1883, no. 7, pp. 51 sq.).