“Daz hâst wol gerâten,” sprach der von Sturmlant.
“jâ sol man verkoufen ir ros und ir gewant,
die dâ ligent tôte, daz man der armen diete
nâch ir lîbes ende von ir guote disen frumen biete.”
Dô sprach der degen Îrolt: “sol man ouch die begraben,
die uns den schaden tâten, od sol man si die raben
und die wilden wolve ûf dem wérde lâzen niezen?”
dô rieten daz die wîsen, daz sie der einen ligen niht enliezen.[11]
The Annamite tale cited in the third chapter[12] and Servian VI., likewise summarized in connection with variants having the story-theme in simple form,[13] bear witness to the effect that the widespread belief has had upon folk-tales now in circulation. The connection of these two tales with the märchen as such is so vague that they serve the end of illustrating its growth from popular belief rather than the relationship of one form to another. So also the story from Brittany, printed by Sébillot,[14] which tells how a ghost came to workmen in a mill demanding Christian interment for its body then buried under the foundations, serves the same end, though no reward is mentioned. Sometimes the neglect of burial by a person brings unpleasant results to him, as is witnessed by a tale from Guernsey.[15] A fisherman neglected to bury a body which he encountered on the coast, and, when he reached his home, found the ghost awaiting him. An Indian tale illustrates the belief that the dead become vampires when funeral rites are not performed.[16]
In most versions of The Grateful Dead a corpse is left unburied either because creditors remain unpaid or the surviving relatives cannot pay for Christian burial. From sixteenth century Scotland we have evidence that the latter trait is based on actual custom. Sir David Lyndesaye, in The Monarche, while describing the exactions of the clergy, says: