the mouse to the ark of Noah. Noah would not allow the devil to get
into the ark which he had built. In order, therefore, to get in,
the devil transformed himself into a mouse, which, being surprised
at the same work of gnawing away the boards of the ark, was eaten up
by the cat--the fur glove which Noah threw at her.
A legend concerning the cat and mouse is found in the so-called
"Alphabet of Pseudo Sirach," here in the Appendix, No. III. According
to a Bohemian legend, the devil created the mouse that it might
destroy "God's corn," whereupon the Lord created the cat. (Ralston,
p. 330 note.)
The apocryphal interpretation of the temptation of Eve by the
serpent which has been identified with Satan is found in many ancient
biblical legends. This story of the temptation has been transformed
into a somewhat primitive love story between Eve and the devil--her
paramour--who assumes the form of the house-snake and then wishes to
drown poor unsophisticated Adam.
LXVIII.
WHY DOES A CAT SIT ON THE DOORSTEP IN THE SUN?
The Story of the Cat, the Mouse and Noah.
When Noah had built the ark, he kept the door wide open for the
animals to enter. After they had all gone in, his own family came,
and last of all his wife.
Noah said to her "Come in." She obstinately said "No." Noah again said
"Come in." She again said "No." Noah, getting angry, said "Oh, you
devil, come in." That was just what the devil was waiting for. He knew
that Noah would not allow him to come in otherwise, and so he waited
for an invitation, of which he promptly availed himself. Getting into
the ark the devil changed himself into a mouse.
When the devil has nothing to do he weighs his tail. But here he found
plenty to do, for, he thought, now is an opportunity of putting an end
to the whole of God's creatures. So he started gnawing on one of the
planks, trying to make a hole in it. When Noah surprised him at this
devilish work he threw his fur glove at him. It turned into a cat,
and, in the twinkling of an eye, the mouse was in the mouth of the cat.
But Noah could not allow the peace of the ark to be broken, the animals
had to live in peace with one another. So he seized the cat, with
the mouse in her mouth, and flung her out of the ark into the water.
The cat swam to the ark and, getting hold of the door step, climbed
on to the sill and lay down there to bask in the sun.
There she remained until the water had subsided: and ever since then,
the cat likes to lie on the doorstep of the house and bask in the sun.
LXIX.
WHY DOES THE FLY SETTLE ON THE DEAD?
The Story of God and the Giants of the Flood.
In olden times, huge giants existed in this world. They were so big
that they could put one leg on the top of one mountain and the other
on the next one. They reached as high as the heavens, and getting
hold of the handles of the great gate would shake it as a man shakes a
kettle. They even rebelled against God, for they knew no fear. At last,
God, realising their nature, decided to destroy them, and he sent
a flood which covered the highest mountains, so that you could not
see of them as much as the black under the nail. So all the giants
died, except one, who was the biggest of them all. He stood with
one leg on the top of one mountain, and with the other on the next
mountain, and with his hands he got hold of the handles of the gate
of heaven. But God would not tolerate a single one of these giants,
for he had decided to make men, very similar creatures to giants
but smaller and more obedient. So he sent a fly to pick at his eyes,
and worms to gnaw at the soles of his feet. Feeling the pain in his
eyes, the giant let the gate of heaven go and wiped his eyes, with
his hand, but he could not stand the gnawing of his feet, and he,
falling down into the water, was drowned. From the gnawing of the
soles the instep in man's foot has come, and these flies (Sarcophaga
carnaria) and worms still eat up the human bodies and all the carcases.
It is therefore a bad sign if such a fly settles on a sick man;
a sure sign of death.
LXX.
WHY IS THE FOOT OF MAN ARCHED?
The Pact between God and the Devil.
When God created the world, I do not know how it came about and why
it was done, enough that it was done, God made a pact with the devil
which they signed and sealed, and God kept the document in which
it was stated that they had divided the world between them. It was
settled that all the dead should go to the devil and all that was
living should belong to God. After a while, the devil repented himself
of this arrangement and tried to get hold of the contract. Taking
advantage of God's indulgence, he stole into heaven, and, taking the
document, he made off with it. Clever though he thinks himself to be,
the devil is a fool and remains a fool. So, going down from heaven,
he lost the document, and did not even notice his loss until after
he had plunged deep down to the bottom of the sea. The document which
had fallen out of his hands was lying on the sand of the seashore.
When God noticed what the devil had done, he sent a frost so hard that
it split the stones and covered up all the waters with a thick crust
of ice, so that the devil could not get out. Then God sent St. Peter
to fetch the agreement where it lay. St. Peter descended and was about
to take it, when a magpie which watched his doings went to the sea,
and whack! whack! made a hole in the ice with its beak. That was just
what the devil was waiting for, and quick as lightning he came up from
the bottom of the sea. But quick as he was, St. Peter was quicker,
and picking up the pact he went up to heaven. The devil went after him,
but could not catch him up.
When St. Peter got near the gate of heaven, the devil, seeing that he
had escaped him, threw his spear after him. He missed him; but not
entirely, for he hit St. Peter in the sole of his foot. St. Peter
cried out of pain. God asked him what had happened, and he replied,
"The devil has hit me in my foot with his venomous spear."
"Cut that bit out and throw it away," said God.
St. Peter did as he was told, and, cutting out the wounded part from
the sole of his foot, threw it at the devil. Since then the human
foot is short of that bit which St. Peter had cut out when the devil
had hit him with his spear.
It is not quite clear from the story as it stands whether the magpie
acted as a confederate of the devil, and picked a hole in the ice
deliberately so as to free him from the imprisonment, or whether
the magpie quite innocently went and helped the devil against
St. Peter. There is no sequel here to its action. It is neither
punished nor rewarded. In this respect the story is imperfect.
There exists another popular legend intended to explain the arch in the
sole of the human foot. According to the latter, it so happened that
the Archangel Michael was the foremost angel in the fight between
Satan and the heavenly hosts, which added to the discomfiture of
Satan. When he finally was hurled down from heaven he tried to get
hold of the archangel. But the angel was too quick for him. The devil
missed him, but not entirely, for he seized the archangel by the sole
of his foot and tore out a part of the flesh. Since then the sole
of the human foot is curved in the middle. That portion is missing,
which was torn out of the sole of the archangel.
LXXI.
WHY HAS A SNAKE NO TAIL? AND WHY DO FLEAS SUCK HUMAN BLOOD?
The Story of the Devil in Noah's Ark.
When God had brought the Flood, and Noah's ark was floating on the
face of the waters, the wretched good-for-nothing devil wanted to
destroy Noah with all those who were with him in the ark. So he fell
a-thinking for a while, and invented an iron tool called now gimlet,
with which he could bore holes in the wall of the ark.
The murderous devil started on his work, and poor Noah and those with
him were in great danger of being drowned. They all worked hard to get
the water out, but who can get the better of the devil? He worked much
more quickly, and making many holes in the boards, the waters came in
fast. They all believed themselves lost. But God, who does not desire
the death of the sinner, and did not wish to see the work of his
hands destroyed, gave cunning to the snake, and it is possible that
since that day the snakes have remained wise, for does not Holy Writ
tell us to be wise as the serpent? The snake came to Noah and said,
"What wilt thou give me if I stop up the holes which the devil is
making by which the water enters the ark?"
"What dost thou want?" replied Noah in despair.
"After the Flood thou art to give me a human being every day to be
eaten by me and my seed."
Noah, hard pressed by the imminent danger, promised to do so. No
sooner did the devil bore a hole than the snake stopped it up with
the tip of its tail, which it cut off, leaving it in the hole, and
that is why ever since the snakes have no tails. When the devil
saw that his plan had failed, he ran away and left Noah's ark in
peace and all those who were in it. As soon as the Flood had passed
away, Noah brought a thanksgiving sacrifice to God for having been
miraculously saved. In the midst of these rejoicings the snake took
courage and came up to Noah, asking for the human being of which he
had promised to give her one every day to be eaten by her and her
seed. When Noah heard it, he got very angry, for he said to himself,
"There are so few human beings now in the world, if I give her one
every day, the world will soon come to an end." So he took hold of
the beast which dared to speak to him in such a manner, and threw it
into the fire. God was greatly displeased with the evil smell which
arose from the fire in consequence, and sent a wind which scattered
the ashes all over the face of the earth. From these ashes the fleas
were born. If one considers the number of fleas that are in the world,
and the amount of human blood which they are sucking, then, taking
them all together, they eat up without doubt as much as a human being
every day. And thus the promise made by Noah is being fulfilled.
A similar tale seems to be known among the Russians, as far as the
first part of this legend is concerned. According to Ralston, Russian
Folk Tales, p. 330, when the devil in the form of a mouse gnawed a
hole in the Ark, the snake stopped it up with its head. In the Russian
tale the two tales of the mouse and the snake are thus combined.
An Oriental legend which seems to have retained some of the incidents
in the Rumanian legend is referred to in Hanauer, Folk Lore of the Holy
Land, p. 283. We are told that Iblis (the devil) promises the serpent
the sweetest food in the world, that is, human blood, if it helps to
deceive Eve. Adam protests, as no one knew yet which is the sweetest
blood. The mosquito is sent out to suck the blood of all the animals,
and find out which is the sweetest. The swallow shadows the mosquito,
and in the end plucks out its tongue so that it shall not be able to
tell. The serpent, enraged, darts after the swallow, but only gets
hold of the middle feathers of the swallow's tail, which it plucks
out, hence the forked tail of the swallow. The serpent still tries
to hurt man, but cannot do so in virtue of any claim.
The flea is also called the devil's horse, for Satan rode upon a flea
when he started on his rebellious fight with God.
LXXII.
CHARMS AGAINST FLEAS AND OTHER HOUSE VERMIN.
In the first quarter of the moon she who wishes to make the charm
must be told by a neighbour that the moon has just risen. She then
takes a glazed dish or bowl, which she has bought at the fair of the
Mummers (Mosii) at the Eastertide, or one that has been given to her
at that time. She fills it with "living" water taken from three wells
in three new jugs brought by three virgins, who must not look back
from the time they have drawn it.
This bowl filled with water is put on the window facing the moon,
and she waits until the moon strikes the window and the bowl. When
she can see the moon well in the bowl and at the bottom of it, she
begins to charm (conjure) the fleas, etc., with three stalks taken
from a new broom, and says, "New moon in the house, bugs, vermin,
fleas, get ye out of the house, leave this house, be scattered--let
no one meet the other before mountain meets mountain--and hill top
knocks against hill top--then and then only may they meet, and not
even then." She repeats the charm three times, then she pours the
water into four vessels, places them in the inner four corners of the
house, and in the morning she is sure to find some of the house vermin
in the vessels. These she must take out, and put into an empty box,
stolen from somewhere. She must wait for a car that returns home after
everything brought in it has been sold at the market, and must throw
the box into that empty car, saying: "Yes, fleas, little fleas--from
the house have I taken you, into a stolen box have I put you, charmed,
drowned, cursed, thrown into a box, charmed at new moon now, may
you become the devil's own, may you become numbed and stiff--in the
nine countries--beyond the nine seas--for there they are waiting for
you--at spread tables--with torches lit up. Amen!"
It is almost unnecessary to discuss at any length the charms against
fleas, etc., which were considered the special tools and associates
of the Evil One. The philtres in the Western countries consist mostly
of poisonous ingredients taken from toads, snakes, etc., and some
of the oldest charms are against flies, fleas, midges, etc. This is
now, perhaps, the only complete charm in which not only the formula
has been preserved, but also, what is of the highest importance,
a detailed description of the ceremonial used on that occasion.
Every detail of this magical operation might be made the starting
point of a separate investigation. The symbolic character of some of
them is too clear to be gainsaid. We have here the crescent of the
moon as an operative factor: the bowl and the box must be stolen,
probably to bring down a curse upon the thief and upon him who
uses it. The living water, the three maidens, the three wells,
the curse of the vermin, the empty car carrying it, as it were,
away for ever, the inducement for those fleas to remain there in the
mythical nine countries for a feast that is awaiting them. Each and
all are found in other charms, but here we have the whole operation
minutely described. It is, moreover, typical of a large class of such
enchantments or binding by charms. For our purpose it must be deemed
quite sufficient. I have only introduced it as it is one affecting
the insects and throwing light on many more charms and conjurations
in which the Rumanian literature abounds. I may on another occasion
discuss the whole range of the Rumanian charms. They cover the whole
field of human ailments and physical troubles--a wide range indeed.
LXXIII.
CHARMS AGAINST BUGS.
Curiously enough, there do not seem to be any special legends about
the origin of the bugs, but there are a good many charms which
are used for getting rid of these troublesome vermin. The charms
are of a symbolical nature. A suggestive action is performed which
the conjurer believes will be followed by the conjured bugs. Thus:
A woman in a complete state of nudity takes a mealie cake into one
hand, or a crust of bread, or some other flour, and a brush used
for whitewashing in the other. She nibbles at the cake or food, and
whitewashes the wall, and while she is doing it, she says: "As I am
eating my food and cleaning my walls so may you eat up one another
and leave my walls clean of you," after which the bugs will perish.
It is advisable to do this when the moon wanes, and the whitewashing
should start from the wall which faces the door and then go on to
the right until the door is reached again.
Another charm--A boy in a state of complete nudity takes bread and salt
into one hand, and in the other he holds his flute and also a number
of bugs, called the wedding party. Thus equipped, he goes into the high
road until he passes the boundary of his field. There he starts playing
the flute, and then he throws the bugs away into the road, saying:
"Here I have brought for you bread and salt, and I have been singing
to you with my flute, now go and have a merry wedding, and remain
where you are, never returning to my home." The bugs then never return.
Another charm, like that of the fleas, is connected with the new moon.
When the new moon appears, a man, coming outside his house and
seeing it, exclaims, "A new king in the land, a new king in the
land." To which one in the house standing by the window replies,
"All the bugs must now go out of the house one by one, so that none
remain behind." And after repeating these words three times he rides
on a besom, poker, or the oven-peel (with which the bread is shovelled
into the stove), and running through the house he begins sweeping the
rooms, and says whilst so doing, "Get out of the house, ye bugs, for
the new king is getting married, and he invites you to his banquet,
for he has no one to eat, to drink, or to dance there. Get ye out
and you will eat and drink and dance until you are satisfied."
These words must be repeated three times, viz. at the beginnings of
three months. The bugs are then believed to leave the house in the
form of a swarm, and to go elsewhere.
LXXIV.
WHY DOES THE CUCKOO CALL "CUCKOO"?
The Story of the Little Boy and the Wicked Step-mother.
Once upon a time there was a poor man, who had a wife and two children,
a boy and a girl. He was so poor that he possessed nothing in the
world but the ashes on his hearth. His wife died, and after a time
he married another woman, who was cantankerous and bad-natured, and
from morning till evening, as long as the day lasted, she gave the
poor man no peace, but snarled and shouted at him. The woman said to
him, "Do away with these children. You cannot even keep me, how then
can you keep all these mouths?" for was she not a step-mother? The
poor man stood her nagging for a long time, but then, one night, she
quarrelled so much that he promised her that he would take the children
into the forest and leave them there. The two children were sitting
in the corner but held their peace and heard all that was going on.
The next day, the man, taking his axe upon his shoulder, called to
the children and said to them, "Come with me into the forest, I am
going to cut wood." The little children went with him, but before they
left, the little girl filled her pocket with ashes from the hearth,
and as she walked along she dropped little bits of coal the way they
went. After a time they reached a very dense part of the forest,
where they could not see their way any longer, and there the man said
to the children, "Wait here for a while, I am only going to cut wood
yonder, when I have done I will come back and fetch you home," and
leaving the children there in the thicket he went away, heavy hearted,
and returned home. The children waited for a while, and seeing that
their father did not return, the girl knew what he had done. So they
slept through the night in the forest, and the next morning, taking
her brother by the hand, she followed the trace of the ashes which
she had left on the road, and thus came home to their own house. When
the step-mother saw them, she did not know what to do with herself,
she went almost out of her mind with fury. If she could, she would have
swallowed them in a spoonful of water, so furious was she. The husband,
who was a weakling, tried to pacify her, and to endeavour to get the
children away by one means or another, but did not succeed. When the
step-mother found that she could not do anything through her husband,
she made up her mind that she herself would get rid of them. So one
morning, when her husband had gone away, she took the little boy,
and without saying anything to anybody, she killed him and gave him
to his sister to cut him up, and prepare a meal for all of them. What
was she to do? If she was not to be killed like her brother, she had
to do what her step-mother told her.
And so she cut him up and cooked him ready for the meal. But she took
the heart, and hid it away in a hollow of a tree. When the step-mother
asked her where the heart was, she said that a dog had come and taken
it away. In the evening, when the husband came home, she brought the
broth with the meat for the husband to eat, and she sat down and ate
of it and so did the husband, not knowing that he was eating the flesh
of his child. The little girl refused to eat it. She would not touch
it. After they had finished, she gathered up all the little bones and
hid them in the hollow of the tree where she had put the heart. The
next morning, out of that hollow of the tree there came a little bird
with dark feathers, and sitting on the branch of a tree, began to sing,
"Cuckoo! My sister has cooked me, and my father has eaten me, but I
am now a cuckoo and safe from my step-mother." When the step-mother,
who happened to be near the tree, heard what that little bird was
singing, in her fury and fright she took a heavy lump of salt which
lay near at hand, and threw it at the cuckoo, but instead of hitting
it, the lump fell down on her head and killed her on the spot. And
the little boy has remained a cuckoo to this very day.
This tale is more or less a variant of a well-known type of fairy
tales. Nos. 43, 44 are tales of men with inordinate and foolish wishes,
who by constantly changing bring about their own undoing. This last is
a variant of the story of the bad step-mother and the two children. But
here the fairy tales assume a different character.
LXXV.
WHY DOES A WAGTAIL WAG ITS TAIL?
The Story of the Cuckoo and the Wagtail.
The wagtail did not have the tail from the beginning. This tail
originally belonged to the wren, but it happened in this manner. The
wagtail was one day invited to the wedding of the lark, and as
she felt ashamed to go there without any tail, as she had none,
she went to the wren and asked the wren to lend her her tail for a
few days. The wren, which had as now a small body but in addition a
long tail, did not wish to be churlish, and lent her the tail. When
the wagtail saw herself with a long tail, she did not know what to do
with herself for joy, she was dancing and prancing all the way to the
wedding. The wedding lasted some days. When it was over, the wren came
to the wagtail and asked for the tail, but the wagtail, finding that
the tail suited her so well, pretended not to hear and not to see,
and took no notice of the wren. And thus it came about, from the time
of the lark's wedding, that the wren has remained without a tail,
and the wagtail with one. But, fearing lest the wren would come one
day and steal it, the wagtail is wagging its tail continually to be
sure that she has it, and that it has not been taken away.
LXXVI.
WHY HAS THE HOOPOE A TUFT?
The Story of the Hoopoe and the Cuckoo.
The tuft of the hoopoe's head has given rise to a tale, similar to
some extent to the story of the tail of the wagtail, and yet not quite
identical. Like the wagtail, which originally had no tail, the hoopoe
had originally no tuft on its head. But when the lark had her wedding,
she invited all the birds. Among them also the hoopoe. She did not want
to come with her simple feathers, but went to the cuckoo and borrowed
them from him, for he had the tuft, promising to return it to him as
soon as she had come back from the wedding. The cuckoo, who was a good
natured and obliging fellow, trusted the hoopoe and lent her the tuft.
She went to the wedding, and her beautiful ornament was greatly
admired by all the birds. Most of all was the lark pleased with
it. The hoopoe grew very elated, and thought she had better keep
it. And so she did. She came home, and entirely forgot the cuckoo
and her promise to return him his tuft. The cuckoo waited for a while
for the hoopoe to return to him the tuft which he had lent her. But
the hoopoe was nowhere to be found; she never showed herself. Seeing
this, the cuckoo went to her and asked her to return the tuft. She
pretended not to know what the cuckoo was saying, and coolly replied,
"I do not know what you are talking about." Enraged at her callous
conduct, the cuckoo called all the other birds together to lay his case
before them, and to ask them to pass judgment on the hoopoe. When the
birds came together, they appointed the lark to be the judge, but the
lark had taken a fancy to the hoopoe ever since the wedding day, so,
in spite of the protestations of the cuckoo, he decided that the tuft
must remain with the hoopoe, as it suited her so much better. And so
it has remained to this day. But since then there is no friendship
between the cuckoo and the lark, who delivered a wrong judgment.
An Eastern popular tale, Hanauer, Folk-lore of the Holy Land, p. 254
ff., explains the origin of the tuft on the head of the hoopoe as a
crown given by King Solomon to this bird for its wisdom in refusing
to pay homage to women.
LXXVII.
WHY DOES THE EAGLE LIVE ON RAW MEAT?
The Story of the Bewitched Brothers.