More decidedly evil, however, is the vampire, or
nosferatu, in whom every Roumenian peasant believes as firmly as he does in heaven or hell. There are two sorts of vampires—living and dead. The living vampire is in general the illegitimate offspring of two illegitimate persons, but even a flawless pedigree will not ensure anyone against the intrusion of a vampire into his family vault, since every person killed by a
nosferatu becomes likewise a vampire after death, and will continue to suck the blood of other innocent people till the spirit has been exorcised, either by opening the grave of the person suspected and driving a stake through the corpse, or firing a pistol shot into the coffin. In very obstinate cases it is further recommended to cut off the head and replace it in the coffin with the mouth filled with garlic, or to extract the heart and burn it, strewing the ashes over the grave.
That such remedies are often resorted to, even in our enlightened days, is a well-attested fact, and there are probably few Roumenian villages where such has not taken place within the memory of the inhabitants.
(Emily Gerard – "Transylvanian superstitions", The Nineteenth Century, vol. 18, London, 1885.)
NOTE:
Emily Gerard, an author from Airdrie, was the first person to bring the word "nosferatu" or "vampire" into western European use. Gerard's interest in Transylvanian folklore came from her husband - an Austro-Hungarian chevalier, who was stationed in a small town there.
No comments:
Post a Comment