There is a story told of a mother who lived in Saratof who cursed her son, and his body remained free from corruption after burial for a hundred years. When it was disinterred, his aged mother, who is said to have been still alive, pronounced his pardon, and, at that very moment, the corpse crumbled into dust.
The Russians say that, when driving a stake into the body of a vampire, this must be done by one single blow, as a second blow will reanimate the corpse.
One group of Russian stories relate to the sudden resuscitation shortly after death of wizards and witches at midnight possessed with the longing to eat the flesh of the watchers around the bier. The stories go that the body of the suspected witch was generally enclosed in a coffin which was secured with iron bands and carried to the church, and a watcher was appointed to read aloud from the Scriptures over the coffin right through each night until burial. It was also the duty of the watcher to draw on the floor a magic circle, within which he must stand and hold in his hand a hammer, the ancient weapon of the thunder-god. If the suspicion that the individual was a wizard or witch was a correct one, a mighty wind would arise one night about twelve o’clock, the iron bands of the coffin would give way with a terrible crash, the coffin-lid fall off, and the corpse leap forth and, uttering a terrible screech, rush at the watcher, who, if he had not taken the prescribed precautions, would fall a victim to the monster, and in the morning there would be nothing left of him but his bare bones. The following story of this character is contained in the records of the Kharkof government:—
“Once, in the days of old, there died a terrible sinner. His body was taken into the church, and the sacristan was told to read some psalms over him. He took the precaution to catch a cock and carry it with him to the church. At midnight the dead man leaped from his coffin, opened wide his jaws, and rushed at his victim; but, at that moment, the sacristan gave the bird a hard pinch. The cock uttered his usual crow, and at the same moment the dead man fell backwards to the ground a numb, motionless corpse.”
The following story is also given by Ralston in his collection of Russian folk-stories:—
The Coffin Lid
“A moujik was driving along one night with a load of pots. His horse grew tired, and all of a sudden it came to a standstill alongside of a graveyard. The moujik unharnessed his horse and set it free to graze; meanwhile he laid himself down on one of the graves. But somehow he didn’t go to sleep.
“He remained there some time. Suddenly the grave began to open beneath him; he felt the movement and sprang to his feet. The grave having opened, out of it came a corpse, wrapped in a white shroud, and holding a coffin lid. He ran to the church, laid the coffin lid at the door, and then set off for the village.
“The moujik was a daring fellow. He picked up the coffin lid and remained standing beside his cart, waiting to see what would happen. After a short delay the dead man came back, and was going to snatch up his coffin lid—but it was not to be seen. Then the corpse began to track it out, traced it up to the moujik, and said: ‘Give me my lid; if you don’t, I’ll tear you to bits!’