midnight
Upon my return home , I fell into a profound contemplation on the evils that attend these superstitious follies of mankind ; how they subject us to imaginary afflictions , and additional sorrows , that do not properly come within our lot . As if the natural calamities of life were not sufficient for it , we turn the most indifferent circumstances into misfortunes , and suffer as much from trifling accidents as from real evils . I have known the shooting of a star spoil a night 's rest ; and have seen a man in love grow pale , and lose his appetite , upon the plucking of a merry-thought . A screech-owl at midnight has alarmed a family more than a band of robbers ; nay , the voice of a cricket hath struck more terror than the roaring of a lion . There is nothing so inconsiderable which may not appear dreadful to an imagination that is filled with omens and prognostics : a rusty nail or a crooked pin shoot up into prodigies . I remember I was once in a mixed assembly that was full of noise and mirth , when on a sudden an old woman unluckily observed there were thirteen of us in company . This remark struck a panic terror into several who were present , insomuch that one or two of the ladies were going to leave the room ; but a friend of mine taking notice that one of our female companions was big with child , affirmed there were fourteen in the room , and that , instead of portending one of the company should die , it plainly foretold one of them should be born .