Magic and Witchcraft., part 5 · page 21 2101"What sort of a reply is that?" thought the Cossack, as he put his horse up in the stable.102After he had given it its food he went into the cottage.103There he saw its inmates, men and women and little children, all sobbing and crying and praying to God; and when they had done praying, they began putting on clean shirts.104"What are you crying about?" asked the Cossack.105"Why you see," replied the master of the house, "in our village Death goes about at night.106Into whatsoever cottage she looks, there, next morning, one has to put all the people who lived in it into coffins, and carry them off to the graveyard.107To-night it's our turn."108"Never fear, master! '109Without God's will, no pig gets its fill!'"110The people of the house lay down to sleep; but the Cossack was on the look-out and never closed an eye.111Exactly at midnight the window opened.112At the window appeared a witch all in white.113She took a sprinkler, passed her arm into the cottage, and was just on the point of sprinkling--when the Cossack suddenly gave his sabre a sweep, and cut her arm off close to the shoulder.114The witch howled, squealed, yelped like a dog, and fled away.115But the Cossack picked up the severed arm, hid it under his cloak, washed away the stains of blood, and lay down to sleep.116Next morning the master and mistress awoke, and saw that everyone, without a single exception, was alive and well, and they were delighted beyond expression.117"If you like," says the Cossack, "I'll show you Death!118Call together all the Sotniks and Desyatniks[359] as quickly as possible, and let's go through the village and look for her."119Straightway all the Sotniks and Desyatniks came together and went from house to house.120In this one there's nothing, in that one there's nothing, until at last they come to the Ponomar's[360] cottage.121"Is all your family present?" asks the Cossack.122"No, my own! one of my daughters is ill.123She's lying on the stove there."124The Cossack looked towards the stove--one of the girl's arms had evidently been cut off.125Thereupon he told the whole story of what had taken place, and he brought out and showed the arm which had been cut off.126The commune rewarded the Cossack with a sum of money, and ordered that witch to be drowned.127Stories of this kind are common in all lands, but the witches about whom they are told generally assume the forms of beasts of prey, especially of wolves, or of cats.128A long string of similar tales will be found in Dr. Wilhelm Hertz's excellent and exhaustive monograph on werwolves.129[361] Very important also is the Polish story told by Wojcicki[362] of the village which is attacked by the Plague, embodied in the form of a woman, who roams from house to house in search of victims.130One night, as she goes her rounds, all doors and windows have been barred against her except one casement.131This has been left open by a nobleman who is ready to sacrifice himself for the sake of others.132The Pest Maiden arrives, and thrusts her arm in at his window.133The nobleman cuts it off, and so rids the village of its fatal visitor.134In an Indian story,[363] a hero undertakes to watch beside the couch of a haunted princess.135When all is still a Rakshasa appears on the threshold, opens the door, and thrusts into the room an arm--which the hero cuts off.136The fiend disappears howling, and leaves his arm behind.137The horror of the next story is somewhat mitigated by a slight infusion of the grotesque--but this may arise from a mere accident, and be due to the exceptional cheerfulness of some link in the chain of its narrators.138THE HEADLESS PRINCESS.139[364]140In a certain country there lived a King; and this King had a daughter who was an enchantress.141Near the royal palace there dwelt a priest, and the priest had a boy of ten years old, who went every day to an old woman to learn reading and writing.142Now it happened one day that he came away from his lessons late in the evening, and as he passed by the palace he looked in at one of the windows.143At that window the Princess happened to be sitting and dressing herself.144She took off her head, lathered it with soap, washed it with clean water, combed its hair, plaited its long back braid, and then put it back again in its proper place.145The boy was lost in wonder.146"What a clever creature!" thinks he. "147A downright witch!"148And when he got home he began telling every one how he had seen the Princess without her head.149All of a sudden the King's daughter fell grievously ill, and she sent for her father, and strictly enjoined him, saying--150"If I die, make the priest's son read the psalter over me three nights running."151The Princess died; they placed her in a coffin, and carried it to church.152Then the king summoned the priest, and said--153"Have you got a son?"154"I have, your majesty."155"Well then," said the King, "let him read the psalter over my daughter three nights running."156The priest returned home, and told his son to get ready.157In the morning the priest's son went to his lessons, and sat over his book looking ever so gloomy.158"What are you unhappy about?" asked the old woman.1 2← previousMagic and Witchcraft., part 4next →Magic and Witchcraft., part 6↑ back to Russian Fairy Tales: A Choice Collection of Muscovite Folk-loreThis page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg22373/46/page/2/