The Golden Bough (Third Edition, Vol. 7 of 12) - Mirrors

348 The Golden Bough (Third Edition, Vol. 7 of 12)call togè, croaking among the rice in ear, they say that the bird isputting the grain into the rice, so they will not kill it. 963§ 10. The Corn-spirit as a Fox.The corn-spirit asa fox runningthrough the corn orsitting in it. Thecorn-spirit as a foxat reaping the lastcorn. The cornspiritas a fox atthreshing. TheJapanese rice-godassociated with thefox.[297]Another animal whose shape the corn-spirit is sometimes thoughtto assume is the fox. The conception is recorded at various placesin Germany and France. Thus at Nördlingen in Bavaria, when thecorn waves to and fro in the wind, they say, “The fox goes throughthe corn,” and at Usingen in Nassau they say, “The foxes aremarching through the corn.” At Ravensberg, in Westphalia, andat Steinau, in Kurhessen, children are warned against straying inthe corn, “because the Fox is there.” At Campe, near Stade, whenthey are about to cut the last corn, they call out to the reaper,“The Fox is sitting there, hold him fast!” In the Department ofthe Moselle they say, “Watch whether the Fox comes out.” InBourbonnais the expression is, “You will catch the Fox.” Whena reaper wounds himself or is sick at reaping, they say in theLower Loire that “He has the Fox.” In Côte-d'or they say, “Hehas killed the Fox.” At Louhans, in Sâone-et-Loire, when thereapers are cutting the last corn they leave a handful standingand throw their sickles at it. He who hits it is called the Fox, andtwo girls deck his bonnet with flowers. In the evening there isa dance, at which the Fox dances with all the girls. The supperwhich follows is also called the Fox; they say, “We have eatenthe Fox,” meaning that they have partaken of the harvest-supper.963 A. C. Kruijt, “Eenige ethnografische aanteekeningen omtrent deToboengkoe en de Tomori,” Mededeelingen van wege het NederlandscheZendelinggenootschap, xliv. (1900) pp. 228, 229; id., “De rijstmoeder inden Indischen Archipel,” Verslagen en Mededeelingen van der koninklijkeAkademie van Wetenschappen, Afdeeling Letterkunde, Vierde Reeks, v., part3 (Amsterdam, 1903), pp. 374 sq.