[139] Afanasief, v. No. 42. See also the Zagovor, or spell, “to give a good youth a longing for a fair maiden,” (“Songs of the Russian People,” p. 369,) in which “the Longing” is described as lying under a plank in a hut, weeping and sobbing, and “waiting to get at the white light,” and is desired to gnaw its way into the youth’s heart.
[140] For stories about house snakes, &c., see Grimm “Deutsche Mythologie,” p. 650, and Tylor, “Primitive Culture,” ii. pp. 7, 217-220.
[141] Or Ujak. Erlenvein, No. 2. From the Tula Government.
[142] Grimm, “Deutsche Mythologie,” 456. For a description of the Rusalka and the Vodyany, see “Songs of the Russian People,” pp. 139-146.
[143] Afanasief, v. No. 23. From the Voroneje Government.
[144] Three of the well-known servants of Fortunatus. The eater-up (ob’egedat’ = to devour), the drinker-up (pit’ = to drink, opivat’sya, to drink oneself to death), and “Crackling Frost.”
[145] Opokhmyelit’sya, which may be rendered, “in order to drink off the effects of the debauch.”
[146] The Russian bath somewhat resembles the Turkish. The word here translated “to scrub,” properly means to rub and flog with the soft twig used in the baths for that purpose. At the end of the ceremonies attended on a Russian peasant wedding, the young couple always go to the bath.
[147] A sort of pudding or jelly.
[148] Afanasief, v. No. 28. In the preceding story, No. 27, the king makes no promise. He hides his children in (or upon) a pillar, hoping to conceal them from a devouring bear, whose fur is of iron. The bear finds them and carries them off. A horse and some geese vainly attempt their rescue; a bull-calf succeeds, as in the former case. In another variant the enemy is an iron wolf. A king had promised his children a wolf. Unable to find a live one, he had one made of iron and gave it to his children. After a time it came to life and began destroying all it found, etc. An interesting explanation of the stories of this class in which they are treated as nature-myths, is given by A. de Gubernatis in his “Zoological Mythology,” chap. i. sect. 4.