Five black crows shall be a funeral in the family.
Six black crows, if they fly head on, a sudden death.
Seven black crows with their tails towards you, death within seven
years.


There was a young man, not so very long ago, who had been to sea for
years. He was married, but had no children. He was one of the most
spirited men you ever saw. He used to complain of his dreams. He
said, "All at once last Sunday I was up in the air, and I saw the
vessel I was in going at great speed, making for a mountain, and I
tried as hard as I could to keep her from the mountain. I don't
believe I was asleep at all, I could see it so plainly. I went along
in the air, looking at seven black crows all the time. I got dizzy,
and the vessel seemed to lower on to the earth. The vessel lowered
within a few hundred feet of the earth, and I saw what I thought
were fairies. I thought I had been there for days; in truth, it
seemed to me I had been up there for three days, and that I could
hear the fairies with mournful sounds drawing a coffin. I watched
and watched, and saw seven crows on the coffin. It seemed as if they
were going to bury someone. Whilst the coffin was going the seven
crows flew up and bursted, and the heavens were illuminated more
strongly than by the sun. Then I lost sight of the fairies, but saw
some big giants in white walking about, and there was a big throne
with a roof to it. And all at once I was in total darkness, but I
could hear things flapping about, flying through the air. Then I saw
the moon rising and all the stars, and all sorts of objects flying
through the air. And one came to me, and put his hand upon my
shoulder, saying: _'Prepare to meet us to-morrow.'_ After that
everything went dark again. The first thing I knew I was in a ship