Folk-Lore.
TRANSACTIONS OF THE FOLK-LORE SOCIETY.
THE FOLK LIFE OF AFGHANISTAN.
BY IKBAL ALI SHAH, M.R.A.S., F.R.G.S.
(Read before the Society, June 18, 1919.)
"One touch of nature," as Shakespeare has said, "makes the whole world kin." It is my intention, therefore, to deal with my subject so as to make this kinship felt. Customs and what are called "superstitions" may differ in various countries, but they are, in every case, associated with natural instincts and are in a sense an expression of this instinct. Behind this we see humanity groping blindly with the mysteries that surround our lives as the firmament seems to surround the globe. Some superstitions are radiant as sunlight: others dark as night, but yet glorious with stars, for all folk customs have in them the element of human kindliness and sympathy, and especially so when they are performed for the benefit of others—the weak and the frail, threatened by perils, the old friend or relative about to die and the child who, helpless and how beautiful, is arising like a heavenly orb in the dawn of human consciousness.
In the West you have formulated a science which deals
