“‘Do bring them to life, kinsman,’ said their relatives. ‘We’ll give you half of all we possess.’
“The moujik did everything as the corpse had instructed him, and the lads came back to life. Their relatives were delighted, but they immediately seized the moujik and bound him with cords, saying: ‘No, no, trickster! We’ll hand you over to the authorities. Since you know how to bring them back to life, maybe it was you who killed them!’
“‘What are you thinking about, true believers? Have the fear of God before your eyes!’ cried the moujik.
“Then he told them everything that had happened to him during the night. Well, they spread the news through the village, and the whole population assembled and stormed into the graveyard. They found the grave from which the dead man had come out; they tore it open, and they drove an aspen stake right into the heart of the corpse, so that it might no more rise up and slay. But they rewarded the moujik handsomely, and sent him home with great honour.”
The Soldier and the Vampire
“A certain soldier was allowed to go home on furlough. Well, he walked and walked and walked, and after a time he began to draw near to his native village. Not far off from that village lived a miller in his mill. In old times, the soldier had been very intimate with him: why shouldn’t he go and see his friend? He went. The miller received him cordially, and at once brought out liquor; and the two began drinking and chattering about their ways and doings. All this took place towards nightfall, and the soldier stopped so long at the miller’s that it grew quite dark.
“When he proposed to start for his village, his host exclaimed: ‘Spend the night here, trooper; it is very late now, and perhaps you may run into mischief.’
“‘How so?’
“‘God is punishing us! A terrible warlock has died among us, and by night he rises from his grave, wanders through the village, and does such things as bring fear upon the very bailiffs; and so how could you help being afraid of him?’
“‘Not a bit of it! A soldier is a man who belongs to the Crown, and Crown property cannot be drowned in water or burned in fire. I will be off. I am tremendously anxious to see my people as soon as possible.’