In that far-off time superstition clung easily round every person or thing that was at all unwonted, or even intermittent and occasional merely, like the visits of the pedlar or the knife-grinder.

在那个久远的年代，凡是稍显陌生的人或事，甚至只是偶尔出现的东西，如小贩或磨刀人的来访，都容易被迷信缠绕。