sometimes has a garden behind in which tobacco, maize or vegetables
are grown. The interior is dark, for light is admitted only by the
low door, and the smoke-stained ceiling contributes to the gloom. The
floor is of beaten earth well plastered with cowdung, the plastering
being repeated weekly.

35. Superstitions about houses

The following are some superstitious beliefs and customs about
houses. A house should face north or east and not south or west, as the
south is the region of Yama, the god of death, who lives in Ceylon,
and the west the quarter of the setting sun. A Muhammadan's house,
on the other hand, should face south or west because Mecca lies to
the south-west. A house may have verandas front and back, or on the
front and two sides, but not on all four sides. The front of a house
should be lower than the back, this shape being known as _gai-mukh_
or cow-mouthed, and not higher than the back, which is _singh-mukh_
or tiger-mouthed. The front and back doors should not be in a straight
line, which would enable one to look right through the house. The
_angan_ or compound of a house should be a little longer than it is
wide, no matter how little. Conversely the building itself should be a
little wider along the front than it is long from front to rear. The
kitchen should always be on the right side if there is a veranda, or
else behind. When an astrologer is about to found a house he calculates
the direction in which Shesh Nag, the snake on whom the world reposes,
is holding his head at that time, and plants the first brick or stone
to the left of that direction, because snakes and elephants do not turn
to the left but always to the right. Consequently the house will be
more secure and less likely to be shaken down by Shesh Nag's movements,
which cause the phenomenon known to us as an earthquake. Below the
foundation-stone or brick are buried a pice, an areca-nut and a
grain of rice, and it is lucky if the stone be laid by a man who
has been faithful to his wife. There should be no echo in a house,
as an echo is considered to be the voice of evil spirits. The main
beam should be placed in position on a lucky day, and the carpenter
breaks a cocoanut against it and receives a present. The width of the
rooms along the front of a house should be five cubits each, and if
there is a staircase it must have an uneven number of steps. The door
should be low so that a man must bend his head on entering and thus