e a common stick, say
six inches in length, tie a cord three feet long to one end, and,
grasping the other, whirl it round, with the result of astonishing all to
whom it is not familiar by its sound:

"First it is but a gentle hum,
Like bird-song warbling in the trees,
Then like a torrent it doth foam,
And then a wild and roaring breeze."

When vigorously spun, it may be heard of a calm evening for a mile, and
its effect is then indescribably--I will not say, as most novelists here
would, "_weird_," for I do not know that it prophesies anything, but it
is certainly most suggestive of something mysterious.

Therefore the bayadere, with her spinning _pas seul_ and buzzing
_romore_, who appears to the eater of the figs, is the magic top in
person, her form being taken from the fig. The connection of the
enchanted dog with the tree is not so clear, but it may be observed that
there is a vast mass of tradition which makes the black dog a _chthonic_,
that is, a subterranean or under-earthly symbol, and that in this story
he comes out of the earth. This animal was a special favourite of
Hecate-Diana of the world below, the queen of all the witches.

There is a vast quantity of folklore in reference to the fig as an emblem
of fertility, reproduction, and sensual affinity, and, on the other side,
of its being an emblem often used in proverbs to express the very
contrary, or trifling value, worthlessness, and poverty. Thus, the
barren fig-tree of the New Testament had a deep signification to all who
were familiar with these poetic and mystic "correspondences." The reader
has probably observed that in this story there is, as in a parable, a
strong intimation of symbolism, or as if more were meant than meets the
ear.

"Remains to be said," that the putting the thumb between the index and
middle finger, which was regarded with awe by the Romans as driving away
evil spirits, was called "making the fig," or _far la castagna_, to make
the chestnut--in Latin, _medium ostendere digitum_. The same sign as the
fig to drive away devils became a deadly insult when made at any one, as
if he were a wizard and accursed. It had also a jeering and indecent
meaning. It has been said that the fig, as a synonym for anything
worthless, originated from the great abundance and cheapness of the fruit
in Greece, but this is very unsatisfactory, since it would apply as well
to olives or grain.