A 4-year old Indian girl has married a stray dog in a traditional Hindu service prompted by an astrologer who told her father the ceremony would transfer the evil effects of the planet Saturn from the girl to the dog.

The girl, Anju, had suffered several illnesses and had fallen in ponds, fractured bones and burnt her hand in the kitchen, the father, Subal Karmakar, said. “The astrologer said the evil effect of Saturn can be countered by marrying the child to a dog,” he said.

Anju was married on Monday with Hindu priests chanting hymns in front of 150 of the 250 residents in a village, a cluster of 15 huts amid paddy fields 35 miles north of Calcutta.

Residents of the village, mostly illiterate, enjoyed the feast but ridiculed the ceremony. “He is superstitious, but why should I care if he wants to waste money and give us a feast? I enjoyed the rice, meat, curd, lentil and sweets,” said Fakir Chand Durlab, Karmakar’s neighbor.

难点词汇：
　　Hindu　印度人的,印度教的　　　 　 astrologer　占星家　　　　Saturn　土星
　　fracture　(使)破裂 　　　　　　 　priest　牧师 　　　　　　 hymn　赞美诗, 圣歌
　　cluster　串, 丛　　　　　　　　 　hut　 小屋, 棚屋　　　　　amid　在...中
　　illiterate　不识字的, 没受教育的　paddy　稻、谷　　　　　　 feast　款待
　　ridicule　嘲笑 　　　　　　　　　 superstitious　迷信的　　 lentil　小扁豆