Slavic Myths & Legends. Jan Hanuš Máchal

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СКАЧАТЬ and during the first night after the funeral the soul returned to the house to see it once more and to refresh itself. Accordingly a jug of water was placed under the icons, and on the following day it was inspected to ascertain whether the soul had drunk or not, this practice sometimes being continued for six weeks. In Bulgaria the head of the grave is sprinkled with wine the day after the funeral, in order that the soul may not feel thirsty; while in Russia and in other Slav countries wheat is strewn or food is put upon the place of burial.

      For forty days the soul dwells on earth, seeking for places which the deceased used to frequent when alive; it enters his own house or those of other persons, causing all sorts of trouble to those who had been enemies to the departed, and it is either invisible or else appears in the form of an animal. Bulgarian tradition speaks of the soul as approaching the body on the fortieth day, trying to enter it and to live anew; but being frightened by the disfigured and decaying corpse, it flies away into the world beyond the grave. The belief that the soul remains for forty days in the places where it had lived and worked is universal among the Slavs. According to Russian tradition it then flies upward to the sun, or the moon, or the stars, or else it wanders away into forests, or waters, or mountains, or clouds, or seas, etc.

      The souls of the deceased often appear as jack-o'-lanterns flickering about In churchyards or morasses, leading people astray in swamps and ponds, or strangling and stupefying them. Woe to him who ridicules them or whistles at them, for they will beat him to death; but if a wanderer courteously asks their guidance, they will show him the road that he must follow.

      In Slavic belief the souls of the departed maintained, on the whole, friendly relations with the living, the only exceptions being the ghosts of those who had been either sorcerers or grievous sinners in their lifetime, or who had committed suicide or murder, or who had been denied Christian burial. The souls of sorcerers, whether male or female, are loath to part with their bodies and cannot leave in the usual way by door or window, but wish to have a board In the roof removed for them. After death their souls take the shapes of unclean animals and enter houses at night, worrying the inmates and seeking to hurt them, the same enmity toward the living being shown by the souls of those who have committed suicide, since they endeavour to revenge themselves for not having been properly burled. In ancient times the bodies of suicides, as well as criminals, drowned persons, and all who had met with a violent death or were considered magicians, were refused interment in the churchyard, their corpses being burled without Christian rites In forests or swamps, or even thrown into pits. The lower classes believed that the souls of such persons caused bad harvests, droughts, diseases, etc.; and, therefore, a stake was run through their hearts, or their heads were cut off, despite the efforts of the ecclesiastical and secular authorities to put an end to this sort of superstition.

      The belief in Vampires (deceased people who In their lifetime had been sorcerers, bad characters, or murderers, and whose bodies are now occupied by an unclean spirit), which may be traced back as far as the eleventh century. Is still widely current among the Slav population. The name, which also appears as Upir, Upiór, etc., is probably derived from the Turkish uber ("enchantress"); but other designations are likewise used, such as Wieszczy and Martwiec (Polish), Védomec (Slovenian), Krŭvnik (Bulgarian), Oboroten (Russian), etc.

      The Southern Slavs believe that any person upon whom an unclean shadow falls, or over whom a dog or a cat jumps, may become a Vampire; and the corpse of such a being does not decay when buried, but retains the colour of life. A Vampire may suck the flesh of his own breast or gnaw his own body, and he encroaches even upon the vitality of his nearest relations, causing them to waste away and finally die.

      At night the Vampires leave their graves and rock to and fro upon wayside crosses, wailing all the time. They assume every sort of shape and suck the blood of people, whom thus they gradually destroy, or, if they have not time to do that (especially as their power ends at cock-crow), they attack domestic animals. Various means of riddance, however, are known, and there is ample evidence of exhuming the corpse of a man supposed to be a Vampire, of driving a stake of ash-wood (or wood of the hawthorn or maple) through it, and of burning it, these acts being believed to put a definite end to his evil doings.

      CHAPTER II

       WORSHIP OF THE DEAD, ESPECIALLY ANCESTORS

       Table of Contents

At first the pagan Slavs burned their dead, but later they practised burial as well as cremation.¹ With singing and wailing the corpse was carried to the funeral-place, where a pyre had been erected; and this, with the dead body laid upon it, was set on fire by the relatives. The pyre and the body having been consumed by the flames, the ashes, together with the charred remnants of bones, weapons, and jewels, and with all sorts of gifts, were collected in an urn and placed in a cairn. If the chieftain of a tribe had died, one of his wives was burned along with him, as is amply attested by the traditions of the Elbe Slavs, the Poles, the Southern Slavs, and the Russians; and in similar fashion animals that had been especial favourites of his were killed and cremated. At the grave there were obsequies of a martial character (tryzna), followed by a noisy banquet (strava).

A vivid description of a Russian chieftain's funeral was given by the Arabian traveller Ahmad ibn Fadlan (922).² When a nobleman died, for ten days his body was laid provisionally in a grave, where he was left until his shroud was prepared for him. His property was divided into three parts; one third was given to the family, another served to defray the funeral expenses, and the remainder was spent on the intoxicating drinks which were served at the funeral banquet. On the day appointed for the final obsequies a boat was taken out of the water, and round it were placed pieces of wood shaped to the form of human beings. Then the corpse was removed from its provisional grave and, being clad with a costly garment, was seated in the boat on a richly ornamented arm-chair, around which were arranged the weapons of the deceased, together with intoxicating beverages; while not only bread and fruit, but also flesh of killed animals, such as dogs, horses, cows, cocks, and hens, were put into the boat. That one of his wives who had voluntarily agreed to be burned together with her dead husband was led to the boat by an old woman called "the Angel of Death," and was stabbed at the side of the corpse, whereupon the wood piled up under and around the boat was set on fire. After the boat with the dead bodies and all the other articles placed upon it had been consumed, the ashes were collected and scattered over the cairn; and a banquet, lasting for days and nights without interruption, closed the ceremony.

We know from the evidence of the Arabian writer Mas'ūḍī³ that this cremation of the dead existed among most of the Slavs and that they worshipped the departed. Mules, weapons, and precious articles were burned, and when the husband died, his wife was cremated with him, a man who died a bachelor being married after his decease.⁴ Wives are said to have chosen death in the flames because they wished to enter paradise together with their husbands; and there are also reports that slaves, or even many of a prince's retinue, were killed and put into the grave with their masters.

In Bohemia a certain sort of games (scenae) were performed according to pagan rites at places where roads met or crossed each other; and "profane jokes" (ioci profani) were practised at the grave by masked men; while the Polish chronicler Vincentius Kadlubek (thirteenth century) tells⁵ how virgins tore out their hair, matrons lacerated their faces, and old women rent their garments.

The Idolatry of the ancient Prussians, Lithuanians, and Russians In 1551 is described by Jan Meneclus, who tells⁶ of the funeral ceremonies, the banquet In the house of the deceased, the lamentations at the grave, and the gifts devoted to the departed. Those on horseback galloped beside the hearse, and brandishing their swords, drove the evil spirits away, while bread and ale were placed in the grave to protect the souls against hunger and thirst.

      The memory of deceased members of the family was held in pious honour everywhere. During the first СКАЧАТЬ