Cain [333] once saw a magician at work in the Godavari district, "discovering the cause of the sickness which…
- Date of account
- Published 1912
- Source
- Omens and Superstitions of Southern India
- Reference
- Omens and Superstitions of Southern India · selected passage 78
- Rights
- public_domain
- Language
- English
- Record updated
- 2026-08-25
Record summary
Cain [333] once saw a magician at work in the Godavari district, "discovering the cause of the sickness which had laid prostrate a strong Koyi man
Published source text
Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.
Source passage
Source text · mention onlyThe Rev. J. Cain [333] once saw a magician at work in the Godavari district, "discovering the cause of the sickness which had laid prostrate a strong Koyi man. He had in his hand a leaf from an old palmyra leaf book, and, as he walked round and round the patient, he pretended to be reading. Then he took up a small stick, and drew a number of lines on the ground, after which he danced and sang round and round the sick man, who sat looking at him, evidently much impressed with his performance. Suddenly he made a dart at the man, and, stooping down, bit him severely in two or three places in the back. Then, rushing to the front, he produced a few grains, which he said he had found in the man's back, and which were evidently the cause of the sickness."
Historical context
Contextual commentary · mention onlyThis material belongs to a folklore tradition. Story type, collector, community, transmission and literary editing matter when comparing it with other sources.
Modern context
Contextual commentary · mention onlyLattice compares motifs and reported features without assuming that a traditional being is a biological species or that similar stories document one external cause.
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