[A Moravian version of this tale will be found in “Der schwarze Knirps” (Wenzig, No. 15, p. 67). In another Moravian story in the same collection (No. 8) entitled “Der böse Geist im Dienste,” an evil spirit steals the food which a man had left outside his house for poor passers by. When the demon returns to hell he finds its gates closed, and he is informed by “the oldest of the devils,” that he must expiate his crime by a three years’ service on earth.
A striking parallel to the Russian and the former of the Moravian stories is offered by “a legend of serpent worship,” from Bhaunagar in Káthiáwád. A certain king had seven wives, one of whom was badly treated. Feeling hungry one day, she scraped out of the pots which had been given her to wash some remains of rice boiled in milk, set the food on one side, and then went to bathe. During her absence a female Nága (or supernatural snake-being) ate up the rice, and then “entering her hole, sat there, resolved to bite the woman if she should curse her, but not otherwise.” When the woman returned, and found her meal had been stolen, she did not lose her temper, but only said, “May the stomach of the eater be cooled!” When the Nága heard this, she emerged from her hole and said, “Well done! I now regard you as my daughter,” etc. (From the “Indian Antiquary,” Bombay, No. 1, 1872, pp. 6, 7.)]
Sometimes the demon of the legenda bears a close resemblance to the snake of the skazka. Thus, an evil spirit is described as coming every night at twelve o’clock to the chamber of a certain princess, and giving her no rest till the dawn of day. A soldier—the fairy prince in a lower form—comes to her rescue, and awaits the arrival of the fiend in her room, which he has had brilliantly lighted. Exactly at midnight up flies the evil spirit, assumes the form of a man, and tries to enter the room. But he is stopped by the soldier, who persuades him to play cards with him for fillips, tricks him in various ways, and fillips him to such effect with a species of “three-man beetle,” that the demon beats a hasty retreat.
The next night Satan sends another devil to the palace. The result is the same as before, and the process is repeated every night for a whole month. At the end of that time “Grandfather Satan” himself confronts the soldier, but he receives so tremendous a beating that he flies back howling “to his swamp.” After a time, the soldier induces the whole of the fiendish party to enter his knapsack, prevents them from getting out again by signing it with a cross, and then has it thumped on an anvil to his heart’s content. Afterwards he carries it about on his back, the fiends remaining under it all the while. But at last some women open it, during his absence from a cottage in which he has left it, and out rush the fiends with a crash and a roar. Meeting the soldier on his way back to the cottage, they are so frightened that they fling themselves into the pool below a mill-wheel; and there, the story declares, they still remain.[485]
This “legend” is evidently nothing more than an adaptation of one of the tales about the dull demons of olden times, whom the Christian story-teller has transformed into Satan and his subject fiends.
By way of a conclusion to this chapter—which might be expanded indefinitely, so numerous are the stories of the class of which it treats—we will take the moral tale of “The Gossip’s Bedstead.”[486] A certain peasant, it relates, was so poor that, in order to save himself from starvation, he took to sorcery. After a time he became an adept in the black art, and contracted an intimate acquaintance with the fiendish races. When his son had reached man’s estate, the peasant saw it was necessary to find him a bride, so he set out to seek one among “his friends the devils.” On arriving in their realm he soon found what he wanted, in the person of a girl who had drunk herself to death, and who, in common with other women who had died of drink, was employed by the devils as a water carrier. Her employers at once agreed to give her in marriage to the son of their friend, and a wedding feast was instantly prepared. While the consequent revelry was in progress, Satan offered to present to the bridegroom a receipt which a father had given to the devils when he sold them his son. But when the receipt was sought for—the production of which would have enabled the bridegroom to claim the youth in question as his slave—it could not be found; a certain devil had carried it off, and refused to say where he had hidden it. In vain did his master cause him to be beaten with iron clubs, he remained obstinately mute. At length Satan exclaimed—
“Stretch him on the Gossip’s Bedstead!”
As soon as the refractory devil heard these words, he was so frightened that he surrendered the receipt, which was handed over to the visitor. Astonished at the result, the peasant enquired what sort of bedstead that was which had been mentioned with so much effect.
“Well, I’ll tell you, but don’t you tell anyone else,” replied Satan, after hesitating for a time. “That bedstead is made for us devils, and for our relations, connexions, and gossips. It is all on fire, and it runs on wheels, and turns round and round.”
When the peasant heard this, fear came upon him, and he jumped up from his seat and fled away as fast as he could.
At this point, though much still remains to be said, I will for the present bring my remarks to a close. Incomplete as is the account I have given of the Skazkas, it may yet, I trust, be of use to students who wish to compare as many types as possible of the Popular Tale. I shall be glad if it proves of service to them. I shall be still more glad if I succeed in interesting the general reader in the tales of the Russian People, and through them, in the lives of those Russian men and women of low degree who are wont to tell them, those Russian children who love to hear them.
[424] Afanasief, Legendui, p. 6.
[425] These two stories are quoted by Buslaef, in a valuable essay on “The Russian Popular Epos.” “Ist. Och.” i. 438. Another tradition states that the dog was originally “naked,” i.e., without hair; but the devil, in order to seduce it from its loyalty, gave it a shuba, or pelisse, i.e., a coat of hair.
[426] Buslaef, “Ist. Och,” i. 147, where the Teutonic equivalents are given.
[427] Tereshchenko, v. 48. For a German version of the story, see the KM., No. 124, “Die Kornähre.”
[428] Afanasief, P.V.S. i. 482.
[429] Afanasief, Legendui, p. 19.
[430] Tereshchenko, v. p. 45. Some of these legends have been translated by O. von. Reinsberg-Düringsfeld in the “Ausland,” Dec. 9, 1872.
[431] According to a Bohemian legend the Devil created the mouse, that it might destroy “God’s corn,” whereupon the Lord created the cat.
[432] Pit’, = to drink.
[433] Tereshchenko, v. 47.
[434] Afanasief, Legendui, p. 13.
[435] Afanasief, Legendui, No. 3. From the Voroneje Government.
[436] Afanasief, Legendui, No. 8.
[437] Who thus becomes his “brother of the cross.” This cross-brothership is considered a close spiritual affinity.
[438] Afanasief, in his notes to this story, gives several of its variants. The rewards and punishments awarded in a future life form the theme of a great number of moral parables, apparently of Oriental extraction. For an interesting parallel from the Neilgherry Hills, see Gover’s “Folk-Songs of Southern India,” pp. 81-7.
[439] Afanasief, Legendui, No. 7.
[440] The icona, ἐικών or holy picture.
[441] For some account of Perun—the Lithuanian Perkunas—whose name and attributes appear to be closely connected with those of the Indian Parjanya, see the “Songs of the Russian Nation,” pp. 86-102.
[442] A Servian song, for instance, quoted by Buslaef (“Ist. Och.” i. 361) states that “The Thunder” (i.e., the Thunder-God or Perun) “began to divide gifts. To God (Bogu) it gave the heavenly heights; to St. Peter the summer” (Petrovskie so called after the Saint) “heats; to St. John, the ice and snow; to Nicholas, power over the waters, and to Ilya the lightning and the thunderbolt.”
[443] Afanasief, Legendui, pp. 137-40, P.V.S., i. 469-83. Cf. Grimm’s “Deutsche Mythologie,” pp. 157-59.
[444] Afanasief, Legendui, No. 10. From the Yaroslaf Government.
[445] Il’inskomu bat’kye—to the Elijah father.
[446] Strictly speaking, a chetverìk = 5.775 gallons.
[447] Afanasief, P.V.S., iii. 455.
[448] Called Lisun, Lisovik, Polisun, &c. He answers to the Lyeshy or wood-demon (lyes = a forest) mentioned above, p. 212.
[449] Afanasief, P.V.S. i. 711.
[450] Afanasief, Legendui, No. 12.
[451] Quoted by Buslaef, “Ist. Och.” i. 389. Troyan is also the name of a mythical king who often figures in Slavonic legends.
[452] Afanasief, Legendui, No. 11. From the Orel district.
[453] Afanasief, Legendui, pp. 141-5. With this story may be compared that of “The Cross-Surety.” See above, p. 40.
[454] Afanasief, Legendui, No. 5. From the Archangel Government.
[455] Popovskie, from pop, the vulgar name for a priest, the Greek πάππας.
[456] The prosvirka, or prosfora, is a small loaf, made of fine wheat flour. It is used for the communion service, but before consecration it is freely sold and purchased.
[457] A few lines are here omitted as being superfluous. In the original the second princess is cured exactly as the first had been. The doctors then proceed to a third country, where they find precisely the same position of affairs.
[458] Byely = white. See the “Songs of the Russian People,” p. 103, the “Deutsche Mythologie,” p. 203.
[459] Shchob tebe chorny bog ubif! Afanasief, P.V.S., i. 93, 94.
[460] Afanasief, P.V.S. iii. 314, 315.
[461] Lemboï, perhaps a Samoyed word.
[462] Lemboi te (tebya) voz’mi!
[463] Afanasief, P.V.S. iii. pp. 314, 315.
[464] Prolub’ (for prorub’), a hole cut in the ice, and kept open, for the purpose of getting at the water.
[465] Satana.
[466] The word by which the husband here designates his wife is zakon, which properly signifies (1) law, (2) marriage. Here it stands for “spouse.” Satan replies, “If this be thy zakon, go hence therewith! to sever a zakon is impossible.”
[467] Abridged from Afanasief, P.V.S. iii. 315, 316.
[468] See the notes in Grimm’s KM. Bd. iii. to stories 100 and 101.
[469] Afanasief, v. No. 26.
[470] Afanasief, v. No. 48.
[471] “Entered upon his matured years,” from 17 to 21.
[472] The sleeping-place.
[473] Literally, “to all the four sides.”
[474] Haltrich, No. 27.
[475] Afanasief, v. No. 25.
[476] Khudyakof, No. 114.
[478] Afanasief, vii., No. 14.
[479] Byesenok, diminutive of Byes.
[480] Chort.
[481] Isidore.
[482] Erlenvein, No. 33. From the Tula Government.
[483] Quoted from Borichefsky, by Afanasief, Legendui, p. 182.
[484] Emy na zdorovie! “Good health to him!”
[485] Afanasief, v. No. 43.
[486] Afanasief, Legendui, No. 27. From the Saratof Government. This story is merely one of the numerous Slavonic variants of a tale familiar to many lands.
A B C
D E F
G H I
K L M
N O P
R S T
U V W
Y Z
Ad, or Hades, 303
Anepou and Satou, story of, 122
Andrew, St., legend about, 348
Arimaspians, 190
Awful Drunkard, story of the, 46
Baba Yaga, her name and nature, 146;
stories about, 103-107, 148-166, 254-256
Back, cutting strips from, 155
Bad Wife, story of the, 52
Beanstalk stories, 35, 296
Beer and Corn, legend of, 339
Birds, legends about, 335
Blind Man and Cripple, story of the, 246
Bluebeard’s Chamber, 109
Brandy, legend about origin of, 378
Bridge-building incident, 306
Brothers, enmity between, 93
Brushes, magic, 151
Cat, Whittington’s, 56
Chort, or devil, 35
Christ’s Brother, legend of, 338
Chudo Morskoe, or water monster, 143
Chudo Yudo, a many-headed monster, 83
Clergy: their bad reputation in folk-tales, 40
Coffin Lid, story of the, 314
Combs, magic, 151
Creation of Man, legends about, 330
Cross Surety, story of the, 40
Curses, legends about, 363
Days of the Week, legends about, 206-212
Dead Mother, story of the, 32
Demons: part played in the Skazkas by, 361;
souls of babes stolen by, 363;
legends about children devoted to, 364;
about persons who give themselves to, 367;
dulness of, 375;
tricks played upon, 375;
gratitude of, 377;
resemblance of to snakes, 380
Devil, legends about, 330, 331, 333
Dnieper, Volga, and Dvina, story of the, 217
Dog, legends about, 330-332
Dog and Corpse, story of the, 317
Dolls, or puppets, magic, 167-169
Don and Shat, story of the rivers, 215
Drink, Russian peasant’s love of, 42;
stories about, 48
Durak, or Ninny, stories about, 23, 62
Eggs, lives of mythical beings connected with, 119-124
Elijah, traditions about, 341-343
Elijah and Nicholas, legend of, 344
Emilian the Fool, story of, 269
Evil, personified, 186
Fiddler in Hell, story of the, 303
Fiend, story of the, 24
Fool and Birch-tree, story of the, 62
Fools, stories about, 62
Fortune, stories about, 203
Fox-Physician, story of the, 296
Fox-Wailer, story of the, 35
Friday, legend of, 207
Frost, story of, 221
George, St., legends about, 348;
the Wolves and, 349;
the Gypsy and, 350;
the people of Troyan and, 351
Ghost stories, 295-328
Gold-Men, 231
Golden Bird, the Zhar-Ptitsa or, 291
Golovikha, or Mayoress, story of the, 55
Goré, or Woe, story of, 192
Gossip’s Bedstead, story of the, 381
Gravestone, story of the Ride on the, 308
Greece, Vampires in, 323
Gypsy, story of St. George and the, 350
Hades, 303
Hasty Word, story of the, 370
Head, story of the trunkless, 230
Headless Princess, story of the, 276
Heaven-tree Myth, 298
Helena the Fair, story of, 262
Hell, story of the Fiddler in, 303
Hills, legend of creation of, 333
Ivan Popyalof, story of, 79
Katoma, story of, 246
Koshchei the Deathless, stories of, 96-115
Kruchìna, or Grief, 201
Kuzma and Demian, the holy Smiths, 82
Lame and Blind Heroes, story of the, 246
Laments for the dead, 36
Leap, bride won by a, 266-269
Legends, 329-382
Léshy, or Wood-demon, story of the, 213
Life, Water of, 237
Likho the One-Eyed, story of, 186
Luck, stories about, 203-206
Marya Morevna, story of, 97
Medea’s Cauldron incident, 359, 368
Miser, story of the, 60
Mizgir, or Spider, story of the, 68
Morfei the Cook, story of, 234
Mouse, legends about the, 334
Mythology, &c. Personifications of Good and Evil, 77;
the Snake, 78;
Daylight eclipsed by a Snake, 81;
the Chudo-Yudo, 83;
the Norka-Beast, 86;
the Usuinya-Bird, 95;
Koshchei the Deathless, 96-116;
the Bluebeard’s Chamber myth, 109;
stories about external hearts and fatal eggs, &c., 119-124;
the Water Snake, 129;
the Tsar Morskoi or Water King, 130-141;
the King Bear, 142;
the Water-Chudo, 143;
the Idol, 144;
Female embodiments of Evil, 146;
the Baba Yaga, 146-166;
magic dolls or puppets, 167;
the story of Verlioka, 170;
the Supernatural Witch, 170-183;
The Sun’s Sister and the Dawn, 178-185;
Likho or Evil, 186-187;
Polyphemus and the Arimaspians, 190;
Goré or Woe, 192;
Nuzhda or Need, 199;
Kruchìna or Grief, 201;
Zluidni, 201;
stories about Luck, 203-206;
Friday, 206;
Wednesday, 208;
Sunday, 211;
the Léshy or Woodsprite, 213;
stories about Rivers, 215-221;
about Frost, 221;
about the Whirlwind, 232;
Morfei, 234;
Oh! the, 235;
Waters of Life and Death, 237-242;
Symplêgades, 242;
Waters of Strength and Weakness, 243-245;
Magic Horses, 249, 264;
a Magic Pike, 269-273;
Witchcraft stories, 273-295;
the Zhar-Ptitsa or Glow-Bird, 289-292;
upper-world ideas, 296;
the heaven-tree myth, 296-302;
lower-world ideas, 303;
Ghost-stories, 308;
stories about Vampires, 313-322;
home and origin of Vampirism, 323-328;
legends about Saints, the Devil, &c., 329;
Perun, the thunder-god, 341;
superstitions about lightning, 343;
legends about St. George and the Wolves, 349;
old Slavonian gods changed into demons, 362;
power attributed to curses, 364;
dulness of demons, 375;
their resemblance to snakes, 380
National character, how far illustrated by popular tales, 18
Need, story of Nuzhda or, 199
Nicholas, St., legends about, 343;
his kindness, 352-354;
story of the Priest of, 355
Nicholas, St., and Elijah, story of, 343
Norka, story of the, 86
Oh! demon named, 235
One-Eyed Likho, story of, 186
One-Eyes, Ukraine legend of, 190
Peewit, legend about the 335
Perun, the thunder-god, 341
Pike, story of a magic, 269
Polyphemus, 190
Poor Widow, story of the, 336
Popes, Russian Priests called, 36
Popular Tales, their meaning &c., 16-18;
human and supernatural agents in, 75-78
Popyalof, story of Ivan, 79
Priest with the Greedy Eyes, story of the, 355
Princess Helena the Fair, story of the, 262
Purchased Wife, story of the, 44
Ride on the Gravestone, story of the, 308
Rip van Winkle story, 310
Rivers, legends about, 215-221
Russian children, appearance of, 157
Russian Peasants;
their dramatic talent, 19;
pictures of their life contained in folk-tales, 21;
a village soirée, 24;
a courtship, 31;
a death, 32;
preparations for a funeral, 33;
wailing over the dead, 35;
a burial, 36;
religious feeling of, 40;
passion for drink, 42;
humor, 48;
their jokes against women, 49;
their dislike of avarice, 59;
their jokes about simpletons, 62
Rye, legends about, 332
Saints, legends about, 341;
Ilya or Elijah, 341-343;
story of Elijah and Nicholas, 344;
St. Andrew, 348;
St. George, 348-352;
St. Nicholas, 352-354;
St. Kasian, 352
Scissors story, 49
Semilétka, story of, 44
Shroud, story of the, 311
Skazkas or Russian folk-tales,
their value as pictures of Russian life, 19-23;
occurrence of word skazka in, 23;
their openings, 62;
their endings, 83
Smith and the Demon, story of the, 70
Snake, the mythical, his appearance, 78;
story of Ivan Popyalof, 79;
story of the Water Snake, 126;
Snake Husbands, 129;
legend about the Common Snake, 334;
likeness between Snakes and Demons, 380
Soldier and Demon, story of, 380
Soldier and the Devil, legend about, 366
Soldier and the Vampire, story of the, 318
Soldier’s Midnight Watch, story of the, 279
Sozh and Dnieper, story of, 216
Sparrow, legends about the, 335
Spasibo or Thank You, 202
Spider, story of the, 68
Stakes driven through Vampires, 326-328
Stepmothers, character of, 94
Strength and Weakness, Waters of, 243
Suicides and Vampires, 327
Sunday, tales about, 211
Sun’s Sister, 178-182
Swallow, legends about the, 335
Swan Maidens, 129
Symplêgades, 242
Terema or Upper Chambers, 182
Three Copecks, story of the, 56
Treasure, story of the, 36
Troyan, City of, legend about, 351
Two Corpses, story of the, 316
Two Friends, story of the, 309
Ujak or Snake, 126
Unwashed, story of the, 366
Usuinya-Bird, 95
Vampires, stories about, 313-322;
account of the belief in, 322-328
Vasilissa the Fair, story of, 158
Vazuza and Volga, story of, 215
Vechernitsa or Village Soirée, 24
Verlioka, story of, 170
Vieszcy, the Kashoube Vampire, 325
Vikhor or the Whirlwind, story of, 232-244
Volga, story of Vazuza and, 215;
of Dnieper and Dvina and, 217
Vy, the Servian, 84
Warlock, story of the, 292
Water King and Vasilissa the Wise, story of the, 130
Water Snake, story of the, 126
Waters of Life and Death, 237-242
Waters of Strength and Weakness, 243
Wednesday, legend of, 208
Week, Days of the, 206-21
Whirlwind, story of the, 232
Whittington’s Cat, 56-58
Wife, story of the Bad, 49;
about a Good, 56
Wife-Gaining Leap, stories of a, 266-269
Witch, story of the, 171
Witch, story of the Dead, 34
Witch and Sun’s Sister, story of the, 178
Witch Girl, story of the, 274
Witchcraft, 170-183, 273-295
Woe, story of, 193
Wolf-fiend, story of a, 376
Wolves, traditions about, 349
Women, jokes about, 49-56
Yaga Baba. See Baba Yaga
Youth, Fountain of, 72
Zhar-Ptitsa or Glow Bird, 289-292
Zluidni, malevolent beings called, 201