Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry — John Shaqi
Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry
General
Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry
Tales -- Ireland
Many was the cross-road he turned down, and many was the crooked
_boreen_ he walked, until he saw from him an old burying-ground at
last, beside the road, but there was neither church nor chapel nor any
other building in it. The corpse squeezed him tightly, and he stood.
"Bury me, bury me in the burying-ground," said the voice.
Teig drew over towards the old burying-place, and he was not more than
about twenty yards from it, when, raising his eyes, he saw hundreds
and hundreds of ghosts--men, women, and children--sitting on the top
of the wall round about, or standing on the inside of it, or running
backwards and forwards, and pointing at him, while he could see their
mouths opening and shutting as if they were speaking, though he heard
no word, nor any sound amongst them at all.
He was afraid to go forward, so he stood where he was, and the moment
he stood, all the ghosts became quiet, and ceased moving. Then Teig
understood that it was trying to keep him from going in, that they
were. He walked a couple of yards forwards, and immediately the whole
crowd rushed together towards the spot to which he was moving, and
they stood so thickly together that it seemed to him that he never
could break through them, even though he had a mind to try. But he had
no mind to try it. He went back broken and dispirited, and when he had
gone a couple of hundred yards from the burying-ground, he stood
again, for he did not know what way he was to go. He heard the voice
of the corpse in his ear, saying "Teampoll-Ronan," and the skinny hand
was stretched out again, pointing him out the road.
As tired as he was, he had to walk, and the road was neither short nor
even. The night was darker than ever, and it was difficult to make his
way. Many was the toss he got, and many a bruise they left on his
body. At last he saw Teampoll-Ronan from him in the distance, standing
in the middle of the burying-ground. He moved over towards it, and
thought he was all right and safe, when he saw no ghosts nor anything
else on the wall, and he thought he would never be hindered now from
leaving his load off him at last. He moved over to the gate, but as
he was passing in, he tripped on the threshold. Before he could
recover himself, something that he could not see seized him by the
neck, by the hands, and by the feet, and bruised him, and shook him,
and choked him, until he was nearly dead; and at last he was lifted
up, and carried more than a hundred yards from that place, and then
thrown down in an old dyke, with the corpse still clinging to him.
He rose up, bruised and sore, but feared to go near the place again,
for he had seen nothing the time he was thrown down and carried away.
"You corpse, up on my back," said he, "shall I go over again to the
churchyard?"--but the corpse never answered him. "That's a sign you
don't wish me to try it again," said Teig.
He was now in great doubt as to what he ought to do, when the corpse
spoke in his ear, and said "Imlogue-Fada."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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