Note. Not To Step Over Persons And Things.1552

Note. Not To Step Over Persons And Things.1552

The superstition that harm is done to a person or thing by stepping over him or it is very widely spread. Thus the Galelareese think that if a man steps over your fishing-rod or your arrow, the fish will not bite when you fish with that rod, and the game will not be hit by that arrow when you shoot it. They say it is as if the implements merely skimmed past the fish or the game.1553 Similarly, if a Highland sportsman saw a person stepping over his gun or fishing-rod, he presumed but little on that day's diversion.1554 When a Dacota had bad luck in hunting, he would say that a woman had been stepping over some part of the animal which he revered.1555 Amongst many South African tribes it is considered highly improper to step over a sleeper; if a wife steps over her husband he cannot hit his enemy in war; if she steps over his assegais, they are from that time useless, and are given to boys to play with.1556 The Baganda think that if a woman steps over a man's weapons, they will not aim straight and will not kill, unless they have been first purified.1557 The Nandi of British East Africa hold that to step over a snare or trap is to court death and must be avoided at all risks; further, they are of opinion that if a man were to step over a pot, he would fall to pieces whenever the pot were broken.1558 The people of the Lower Congo deem that to step over a person's body or legs will cause ill-luck to that person and they are careful not to do so, especially [pg 424] in passing men who are holding a palaver. At such times a passer-by will shuffle his feet along the ground without lifting them in order that he may not be charged with bringing bad luck on any one.1559 On the other hand among the Wajagga of East Africa grandchildren leap over the corpse of their grandfather, when it is laid out, expressing a wish that they may live to be as old as he.1560 In Laos hunters are careful never to step over their weapons.1561 The Tepehuanes of Mexico believe that if anybody steps over them, they will not be able to kill another deer in their lives.1562 Some of the Australian aborigines are seriously alarmed if a woman steps over them as they lie asleep on the ground.1563 In the tribes about Maryborough in Queensland, if a woman steps over anything that belongs to a man he will throw it away.1564 In New Caledonia it is thought to endanger a canoe if a woman steps over the cable.1565 Everything that a Samoyed woman steps over becomes unclean and must be fumigated.1566 Malagasy porters believe that if a woman strides over their poles, the skin will certainly peel off the shoulders of the bearers when next they take up the burden.1567 The Cherokees fancy that to step over a vine causes it to wither and bear no fruit.1568 The Ba-Pendi and Ba-thonga of South Africa think that if a woman steps over a man's legs, they will swell and he will not be able to run.1569 According to the South Slavonians, the most serious maladies may be communicated to a person by stepping over him, but they can afterwards be cured by stepping over him in the reverse direction.1570 The belief that to step over a child hinders it from growing is found in France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, and Syria; in Syria, Germany, and Bohemia the mischief can be remedied by stepping over the child in the opposite direction.1571

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