Part two – Death | 516 Bretagne, P . Sébillot, 155 f ) . also Mr . andrew Lang tells us ( “Folklore of France,” in Folklore Record, I . 101 ) that “the water in the house must be poured out of pitchers and glasses ( as among the Jews ) , lest the flying soul should drown itself” ( cf . Souchè, Croyances, Présages et Traditions Divers, p . 5 ) . In Germany, the water and milk which may be left in uncovered vessels at the moment when a death has taken place, are immediately thrown out . this is done, according to some, because the departed soul, on its return to wash off its pollution after having discarded its earthen envelope, might be drowned ; according to others, because one should not expose one’s self to the risk of taking a draught of the sins of the deceased ( Liebrecht, Zur Volkskunde, p . 350 ) . S . H . Cook 1 brought sources and the various reasons for this practice, including his own ( to my mind unconvincing ) explanation for its source . He further noted that r . Eliezer ...
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