The Grateful Dead: The History of a Folk StoryGerould, Gordon Hall
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The Grateful Dead: The History of a Folk Story
Gerould, Gordon Hall
Dead -- Folklore; Folk literature -- Themes, motives; Grateful dead (Tale)
Not without contamination from another source, Russian V. and
VI. still belong to the class containing variants with The Poison
Maiden. In Russian V. the only son of a rich man went out into the
world to seek his fortune. On the road he gave a large sum of money
for two horses. Later he stopped at an inn, where the widow of the
landlord was weeping because she had no money to pay the debts of her
husband, who was cursed by all the people, though he had been dead
two years. The hero gave all his money to save the memory of the dead
man, and proceeded. Soon he met two unsatisfied creditors, who still
cursed the dead landlord, and to them he gave his two horses. Not long
afterward he was joined by a man, who accompanied him on condition of
receiving half of what they might win together. They came to a place
where a lord offered a thousand rubles to anyone who would watch his
daughter's corpse over night in a chapel. The hero undertook the
adventure, and received payment in advance. At dark his companion
came to him, and gave him a cross as protection. At midnight the
lady came out of her coffin, but could not find the man because he
held the cross. The same adventure was repeated the next night. On
the third night the hero, according to his companion's advice, got
into the coffin when the vampire rose, and would not get out for all
her entreaties, being protected by the cross. So in the morning both
were found alive, and were betrothed. Then came the companion, cut the
maiden into halves, took out her entrails, and put her together again,
when she became very beautiful. Next day he called the hero aside,
explained his identity with the dead landlord, and disappeared.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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