The Devil in Roumanian Folklore

Author(s): Agnes Murgoci and Helen B. Murgoci

Source: Folklore, Vol. 40, No. 2 (Jun. 30, 1929), pp. 134-167
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of Folklore Enterprises, Ltd.
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THE DEVIL IN ROUMANIAN FOLKLORE.
BY
(THE LATE)
DR. AGNES MURGOCI AND MISS HELEN B. MURGOCI.
(Read
at
Meeting, 19th June, 1929.)
IN his book on Roumanian folklore
1
Ciausanu says
:-" The
commonest of all the unclean
spirits
is
the
Devil,
a clever
cunning spirit,
so
that,
when there is some
hopeless muddle,
it is said " Even the Devil could not understand " or " The
Devil
put
his tail in
it,"
and a
bright
child is said to be
"
nakedly
devil
"
." To the Roumanian
peasant
the Devil
is a
very
real
person,
more often mentioned than
any other,
but the
conception
of his character is
by
no means
simple.
There is a
large variety
of
sayings
and stories about the
Devil,
which result
probably
from a mixture of several
kinds of
beliefs,
for it is
possible
to
analyse
these stories
into
types,
as
follows:-
I. Those where the Devil is co-creator of the Universe
with God. This is a
Bogomil
or Manichee
Devil,
who
(like God) may
be invoked and
worshipped.
II.
Those where the Devil
is
created
by
God to
keep
man
in submission and
dependence.
He
plagues mankind,
who,
in
distress,
turn to God.
III. Those with a more or less Biblical
Devil,
who is
thrown out of heaven to
hell,
where he tortures sinners.
IV. Those where a devil
accompanies
man. He corre-
sponds
to and contrasts with the
guardian angel.
V. Those where man is surrounded
by
hosts of
beings
and
powers
from evil
spirits
allied to
dragons
and
vampires,
to bad
beings,
the mistresses of the
wind,
that cause
1Gh. F.
Ciauganu,
Supersti(file
Poporului Romdn.
134
The Devil in Roumanian Folklore.
135
paralysis.
In the
stories,
the better characterised of
these
minor evil
spirits
or devils
may
be tabulated thus
:-
(a)
Pan-like Devil connected with
goats,
but also
with
most other animals.
(b) Prometheus-Devil,
who steals fire.
(c)
Puck-like
Devil,
who
annoys
man
by playing
tricks
and who can also be a
changeling.
(d)
Giant and Troll
Devils,
as in the stories of human
heroes
who, by cleverness,
outwit their
strength.
Always
we find that both God and the Devil are
thoroughly
human
beings.
There are
good
and
evil,
but
they
shade into each
other,
and even the Devil is not
wholly
black. For humans
pure goodness
is rather
beyond
reach,
and so even the Devil is
thought
of with some
sympathy.
It is also considered wise to
keep
in with the
Devil,
not
only
in case of future
necessity
but also
because,
besides
being clever,
he is a
person
of
good
faith in his
dealings.
In his
good
faith he is often let down and cheated
by man,
and more so
by woman,
who is said to " out-devil
the
Devil,"
and can turn even the Devil's hair white.
A
great
number of tales of the Devil with variants of
various
complexity
have been recorded and
published
in
Roumania, largely
in Ion
Creangd, (a
folklore
journal),
in
various books and
monographs,
such as Ciausanu's
study
of
Roumanian
folklore,
Tudor Pamfile's Diavolul
Invrdgbitor
al
Lumei, ("
The Devil as
Tempter
of
Mankind"),
and
P. Dulfu's chronicle of the adventures of Picalh. It is
largely
from these that the
following
translations are
made. This selection is not
inclusive
of all the
types,
but
gives
some outline of the
range
of some of them.
Creation
of
the
World, Heaven,
and
Hell.2
In the
Beginning
there was water
everywhere,
and
only
God
and the Devil were
wandering
about above the water. After
2
Ciauganu,
op.
cit.,
p.
6.
136
The Devil in Roumanian Folklore.
they
had wandered for seven
years,
God was tired and sent
down the Devil to the bottom of the water to find some seed
out of which to make the earth in God's name. The Devil
dived and
brought up
earth in his own
name,
but it was all
washed
away.
He dived
again,
and
again
it was washed
away.
The third time he dived and
brought
earth in God's name and
his own. This time some of it remained under his nails. This
is
why, among
the
Roumanians, only
the black under the nails
of a man
belongs
to
Satan,
the rest to God.
Accordingly,
that
a dead man
may
not fall into the
power
of
Satan,
the
greatest
care must be taken to clean his nails.
In
the
tale,
God then
took three of the
grains
of mud and sand under the Devil's
nails,
and the rest he left for the Devil. From these
three,
God made a flat surface of
earth,
which served as a
resting place
both for him and for the Devil. The
Devil, however,
tried
to
arrange
that God should be drowned when he fell
asleep,
so
that
he,
the
Devil,
should alone remain and be lord of the
earth.
God knew what he was
plotting,
and
pretended
to
sleep.
The Devil
caught
hold of his
leg,
and tried to
drag
him into the
water,
so that he
might
be drowned. Whenever the Devil
gave
a
big pull,
the crust of earth stretched itself
out,
and
so,
as the Devil went on
pulling
in all
directions,
the earth extended
itself and became the earth as we know it.
But there were no mountains and
valleys
at first. The
legend
which accounts for the mountains and
valleys says
that as the
Devil
pulled
the earth
grew
too
large,-larger
than the water.
The Devil ran
away,
and God tried to think what would be the
best
thing
to do
next,
but could not make
up
his mind. So
he sent a bee to ask the Devil for his advice. The Devil would
not
reply
to the
bee,
so the bee hid and
listened, knowing
that
the Devil had the habit of
talking
to himself. Sure
enough,
the Devil soon
began
to
speak
:-" I wonder God did not think
of it himself. Press the earth
together,
so that there will be
mountains and
valleys."
The
bee,
when it heard
this,
was
triumphant,
and set out on its
journey
back to God.
When the Devil saw it
flying away,
he knew that he had
betrayed himself,
and struck at the bee with a
whip.
The
bee,
The Devil in Roumanian Folklore.
137
which was
originally white,
turned black with the
bruise,
and
was
nearly
cut in two as we now see him.
The idea that mountains
belong
to the Devil is wide-
spread.
In Valcea the inaccessible
tops
of mountains are
said to be "the
place
where the Devil weaned the child."
Another
legend
of the formation of mountains is that
the Devil blew for
twenty-four
hours to
push up
the
earth,
because he wanted to
get up
to God in
heaven,
but God
only just
made the
sign
of
blessing
with His
hand,
and the
mountains
stopped growing
and remained as
they
are
to-day.
In all Roumanian creation
myths
the world is
brought up
out of the water. The
following
one differs from the one
above in
that,
after the
creation,
the
Devil,
here called
Tartar,
i.e.
Satan,
the chief of the
devils,
takes on a more
orthodox character.
The Creation
of
the World.
3
God was born in the air. He was born like the wood worm
in the
air,
in the dark. There was no
earth,
there was
nothing.
He made a
butterfly
from the wood
worm,
and a man from
the
butterfly.
Then he
thought
what to do next. He was in
the
dark,
and he
thought,-"
What can
happen
with this
darkness." And out of his
thought
the old Tartar
originated,
and
said,-"
I am also on these waters." And God
asked,-
"
Who are
you
?
"
"
I am the Tartar."
"
What have
you
on
your
claws ?
" "
Some earth."
"
Cannot
you get
me a
lump
of earth?
" "
Yes, why
not?
"
said the Tartar. Then he went
down
through
the water to find
it,
and came back with it to
God and
gave
it to him. God
began
to weave the
earth,
and
in five
days
had made it and
everything
on it. On the sixth
day,
he saw that it was too
big,
and did not know what to do.
He went to ask all the
animals,
but he
only
found the bee.
The bee went to ask the
hedgehog,
as he was the
only
animal
that had not
yet
been asked. He was in a
barrel,
and asked
the
bee,-"
Who sends
you
to me ?
"
"I come to ask about
3
Ion
Creanga,
vol.
viii,
p. 143.
138
The Devil in
Roumanian Folklore.
the
earth,
because it is too
big."
The
hedgehog
drove her
away,
and would
say nothing.
The bee
pretended
to
go away,
but
lingered
near and listened. The
hedgehog
talked to
himself,
saying,-" They
come to ask me because
they
do not
know
that
they
can make the earth smaller
by making
mountains
and
valleys."
The bee heard
this,
flew
away,
and told
God,
who
said,-"
What comes from thee shall be
holy."
Then
he
made
valleys
and mountains.
The Tartar came with a man made of
earth,
and
said,-
"
Lord,
can
you give
a soul to this man ?
"
"I will not
give
him a soul unless
you give
him to me. Consider the matter."
The Tartar
considered,
and
said,-"
Let him be mine when he is
dead,
and
yours
when alive." He knew that men would live
more dead than alive.
God,
when he heard that the man was
to be his when
alive,
breathed on
him,
and
gave
him a soul. He
thought
of life in such a
way that, giving
man
life,
man would
be
mostly
his. But he saw
many
dead
going
down below.
He sent an
archangel, saying,-"
Go and serve below for a
year,
and see what can be done." The
archangel
served a
year,
and
asked,-"
Tell
me,
how can God break the contract and
get
men
away
from here? "
They
beat
him,
and turned him out.
He went back to God and told him. God
said,--"
Go back
and serve another
year." Again they
beat
him,
and
again
he
came back. God sent him to serve a third
year.
After the
third
year,
he
again
asked about the contract. The Tartar
replied,-"
I see what
you
are after. It is not
possible
to
break the contract. At least there is
just
one flower that can
break the contract." When God heard
this,
he
said,-"
You
have done
well;
it shall be
your privilege
to take
away
the
souls."
God went out and found a
lily
in flower. He went
along
the
road to the
well,
and met the
Mary,
the mother of Our
Lord,
and
said,-"
Will
you
smell this flower of mine? "
Mary
did
not
speak,
but went
home,
and told her mother. The mother
said,-"
You
might
smell
it,
to see what the man
says."
She
did not know that the man was God. So
Mary
went and smelt
the
flower,
and went home to her mother and told her. The
mother
asked,-"
What did he
say?
" "
He did not
say
The Devil in Roumanian Folklore.
139
anything.
I smelt the
flower,
and came
away."
Then
she
found she was
pregnant,
and bore
Jesus
Christ. In this
way
mankind have been saved from the old
Tartar,
and the contract
is broken.
There is a similar tale of the contract between God
and
the Devil to divide the world between them in Dr. Gaster's
Roumanian Bird and Beast Stories
(No. LXX).
The
dead
were for the
Devil,
the
living
for God. The Devil lost
the
contract,
but
eventually
St. Peter found it and
got
it
away safely.
Roumanians think that
light
has its
origin
in
God,
darkness in the Devil. The Devil once built himself
a
house. When it was
finished,
he did not know how to
get
light
into
it,
and
thought
of
bringing
some in a tub.
By
chance God
passed by
and
asked,-"
What have
you done,
oh
my enemy?
" "
Look,
I have made a house and now
I
don't know how to fill it with
light."
"
Give it to me."
"
I'll
give
it to
you."
God broke holes in the walls in three
places,
and
put
in windows with the woodwork in the form
of a
cross,
so that now the Devil cannot come near the
house.4
In Hell devils are
supposed
to be
engaged
in
torturing
sinners,
and realistic
pictures
of hell with devils
stabbing,
boiling,
or
roasting people
are often seen in
peasant
houses.
Similar frescoes are also found in the roof of the entrance
of Roumanian
churches, together
with
representations
of
heaven. A traditional
song says
:-
"And
I saw
my
dear sweetheart
With two devils
torturing her,
Proudly
she tried to
get away,
And the devils
disappeared.
She screamed to catch hold of me.
I
quickly
made the
sign
of the
cross;
There was a
long flight
And the devils tried to catch me
up."
SIon Creangal,
vol.
iv, p.
20.
I40
The Devil in
Roumanian
Folklore.
Another
song says:-
"I
went down to the bottom of
hell,
The horror of heaven
And
there,
in the lowest
place,
I saw
my sweetheart,
Some five devils were
beating her,
And red blood
sprang
from her."
The Tale
of
Saint Peter
among
the Devils.
Our Lord
Jesus Christ,
in His love for
men,
went once to
hell to see
whether, among
the sinners
there,
there
might
not
be some who had been
purged
of their sins and could be
redeemed
by
their
sufferings.
With Christ was the
Apostle
Peter.
After
they
had travelled about in hell in all
directions,
Christ
went outside. Peter was so intent on
looking
at the
sufferings
of the sinners that he did not notice when Christ went out.
When he looked
round,
Peter saw himself
quite
alone in the
midst of millions of
devils,
who were
looking
askance at
him,
and he searched
everywhere up
and
down, up
and
down,
but
could not find the
door,
for he was in the lowest
depths
of hell.
What ever was he to do to
get
out ? He did not like to ask
his
way,
but he did not want to
stay
in
hell,
for he did not
know what the devils
might do,
so he made a
cunning plan.
He found that
fortunately
he had a bit of
string
in his
pocket,
so he
pretended
to be
taking
measurements. He
put
bits of
sticks into the
ground
to mark certain
places
and
pretended
to be
making
calculations and
taking
notes all the time.
The autocrat of the devils saw
him,
and sent a little
boy
devil
to him to ask what he was
doing.
The little devil hurried
up,
and
asked,-"
What are
you doing here,
Peter ?
" "
What am
I
doing
? I am
measuring
off the
ground
so as to build a
church."
"
A church here ?
" "
Yes, why
not ?
"
The little devil rushed back at full
speed, and,
still
panting,
told the autocrat what he had heard. The autocrat sent
another
devil,
an older
one,
to invite Peter to take his
departure.
This devil went
up
to the saint :-"
Peter, my
master
begs you
The Devil in Roumanian Folklore.
141
to remove
yourself
from here as
quickly
as
possible."
"That
is
not
possible,"
said
Peter;
" I have come here to build a
church,
and I am
going
to build one." When the
autocrat grasped this,
he made a
sign,
and all the other devils
big
and
small, young
and
old,
crowded round him. I do not know what he said to
them,
but
they
all rushed at Saint
Peter, picked
him
up, brought
him
to the door of
hell,
and
gave
him a
good
shove outside.
Saint Peter was
pretty glad to get
out to the
light again,
but the devils were more than
glad
to
escape
from a visitor who
was as welcome to them as dust in the
eye,
and to see him taken
out like a bad tooth.
In one
conception
of
Hell,
it is
supposed
to have its
foundations
resting
on seven old
women,
for women can
go
one better than the Devil. If one old woman
gives way,
the Devil has to
go
and find another as soon as
may be,
to
take her
place.5
The Devil and Animals.
The Devil can take the form of almost
any
animal
except
the
cock,
the
sheep,
and the
bee.
The bee is
sacred,
for
out of its wax the
tapers
used in church are made. One
way
of
saying
that the Devil cannot take the form of a
sheep,
is that he cannot take the form of
any
animal
unless he can count its hairs.6 Animals with
special
relationship
to the devil are
goats
and
wolves, dogs, cats,
geese, rams,
and bulls.
Dr. Gaster
(op. cit.) gives
a
large
number of tales and
legends accounting
for the
origin
I
and form of
particular
animals,
and of their
bargains
with the
Devil.
The Devil
is often co-creator of
animals,
as of the
Universe,
as in the
tale
8
where the
goat
is his version of what the
lamb,
God's
5
T.
Stratilescu,
From
Carpathian
to
Pindus,
p. 172.
6
T.
Stratilescu,
op.
cit.,
p. 171.
7 M.
Gaster,
op. cit.,
Nos.
v, xiv, xxii,
(Origin
of
glowworms,
of the
dragon-fly,
and of the worms in
apples).
8
Ibid.,
Nos.
vii,
x.
142
The Devil in Roumanian Folklore.
creation,
should be. The Devil also is
'described
as
stealing
fire from God
9 accompanied by
a
company
of
goats.
God,
seeing them,
threw hot stuff out of a
pot
and burnt their
knees, baring them,
as
they
still are. The Devil tries to
steal the sun from heaven but is beaten
by
saints.1o
Often
the devils are
thought
of as fallen
angels,
still
fighting
to
regain
heaven." The Devil makes
attempts
to enter or
destroy
the
Ark,
and Noah battles with him in his various
forms;
one tale accounts for the
origin
of
fleas,
and
another for the reason
why
cats are
possessed
of the
Devil.'2
The Devil is the
subject
of
dispute
between
Adam and Eve.13
The cock is
holy;
a
representation
of a cock set on the
top
of a house wards off evil
spirits.
Carved or wooden
cocks are
put
on houses in
Oltenia.
Even metal ones are
found in Bucuresti. The cock is
thought
to be an
angel
made visible.
Anyone swearing
at the cock and
wishing
it were at the
Devil,
is
thought
to be a bad man who will
go
to
hell.
The
crowing
of the cock diminishes the
power
of the
Devil,
because
spirits
flee from noise. A man
should
give away
at least one cock in his lifetime
14 for
the souls of the
dead,
so that in the other
world,
when
the Devil comes and demands his
soul,
the cock will
begin
to crow and the Devil will
flee.
Cocks and hens
are sacrificed and built in the foundations of
buildings
and at
graves.
A black cock is
specially
valued as
keeping
off evil.
If a hen
lays
a
misshapen egg,
and
any
one
keeps
it for
nine
days
and nine
nights
with hands crossed in an
empty
house,
where there is no cross or
ikon,
a little
tiny
black
chicken will come
out,
and that is the Devil. The Devil is
the servant of the man who
kept
the
egg,
and can be sent
anywhere,
but care must be taken or it will die when
you
9
M.
Gaster, op. cit.,
No. x.
10
Ibid.,
No. xv.
"
Ibid.,
Nos.
v,
xiv.
12
Ibid.,
Nos.
lxviii,
lxxi.
13
Ibid.,
No. lxvii. 14
Ion
Creanga,
vol.
iv,
p.
18o.
The
Devil in Roumanian Follkore.
143
don't
expect it,
before the tenth
day.
If
you
crack the
egg
and
spread
it on
a.plate,
without
squeezing,
there will
be a
serpent's
head.15
In
Valcea, any
monster that is born is
supposed
to
have the Devil as its father. A
story
is told of a horror of
a
creature who was taken to the shore of a lake. As soon
as this
unholy
creature saw the
water,
he dashed into
it
and was no more
seen.16
Changelings
and Sick Children.
It is
thought
that evil
spirits, Vidmele, Smeoaice,
or
even
devils
pure
and
simple,
take
away
children that
they
find
alone and are
beautiful,
and
replace
them
by
their own
breed.'
The
changeling
is
always ugly
and sucks vora-
ciously.
In fact a voracious
appetite
and continuous
wasting
are characteristics of
changelings.
To
get
back
your
own
child,
take three hazel rods
grown
in the same
year, bring
the
changeling
to a rubbish
heap
after sunset at
new
moon,
and beat him with the rods. The
spirits
will
bring
back
your
own child.
If a mother loses all her
children,
or if
they
are
sickly,
which means that the Devil
(ducd-se-pe pustii)
is
torturing
them,
it is the custom to
change
their names and deceive
the Devil. The name must be
changed
in this
way.
A
woman who loses her sons looks out for another woman
whose sons are
strong
and
arranges
as follows :-She comes
to her
house, approaches
the
window,
and calls to the
woman
inside,
who does not
go
to the door :-" Do
you
happen
to have a
boy?
" "
Yes,
I have."
"
Will
you
sell him ? " The
bargaining goes
on as if for a
purchase
or
interchange
of their
children,
so that the Devil will be
cheated and will lose trace of the sick son. Children are
15
Ibid., vol. v,
p. 270.
16
Ciauganu, op. cit.,
p.
222.
17
Ibid.,
p.
381.
Cf.
Folk-Lore, vol. xxxvii,
p. 334,
"
The
Vampire
in
Roumanian Folklore."
144
The Devil in Roumanian Folklore.
often called
Wolf, Bear, Horror, Ugly One,
so as to
frighten
away
the
Devil.18
The Devil and Man.
Tudor Pamfile
gives
the
following
list of attributes of
the Devil as
tempter
of
man,
the Devil
being thought
of
variously as, e.g.,
a more or less Biblical
devil,
attendant
tempter,
or
player
of evil tricks.
I.
The Devil who ruined the
happiness
of Adam and Eve.
II. The Devil who
prevented
Noah from
building
his Ark
and later tried to drown him.
III. The Devil who
causes
the fall of man
through
wine
and alcohol.
IV. The Devil who makes
people laugh
in Church and
forget
God.
V. The Devil who never builds a church and takes
joy
in
separating
husband from
wife,
and friend from
friend.'9
To work his ends the Devil can take the
appearance
of
men,
or can work
through
those
men,
or more
especially
old
women,
who have
dealings
with him. Thus an old
woman will invent
proofs
for the husband of his wife's
unfaithfulness,
with the result that he kills his wife and
commits suicide. At the old woman's
success even the
Devil is horrified.
The Devil is
supposed
to stand on the left of a man.
The left hand and foot are his.
Adam and the Devil made a
bargain
that the seed of
Adam should
belong
to the
Devil,
and wrote it on a brick.
Christ at His
baptism
stood on it in the waters of
Jordan,
and
destroyed
it. Since then God has
put
an
angel
at
the
right
hand of
man,
and at the left is a devil. The devil
tempts
him to
evil,
the
angel
leads him to
good.
Man
listens sometimes to
one,
sometimes to another. When
18s
Ciau?anu,
op.
cit.,
p. 384.
19
Tudor
Pamfile,
Diavolul
Invra'gbitor
al
Lumei,
p.
8.
The Devil in Roumanian Folklore.
145
man listens to the devil the
angel weeps,
and the
devil
laughs.
As man is
weak,
the
angel might easily
leave
him,
but one
good
deed cancels three sins.
But,
if
anyone
attack another man with a
knife,
the
angel
of the
former
goes away
and does not return for
forty days.20
In
VAlcea
people say,-"
What did the Devil
whisper
?
"
"
What did the Devil advise
you
to do ?" There are
also
the verses :
"
Under the heel of
my
boots
Lie the devil and a woman
And
they
teach me to do evil."
This idea that the devil is
always
at the side of
anyone
comes out in two variants of the
story
of the
disputing
wife,
and in all of the
following
tales. In the first the wife
insisted on
going first,-an
unheard of
thing among
Roumanian
peasants.
She
said,-"
The duck
first,"
her
husband
saying
"
The drake first." Tired of her
persistence,
the husband drowned
her,
but even half-drowned she
gurgled up through
the water
"
The
duck first." 21 The
devil came
up
to the
husband,
who told
him,-"
She was
dreadful;
she made
my
hair
grey."
The devil said she
had turned his hair white. The
bleaching
of the devil's
hair refers to her own attendant
devil,
and
probably
not
to
any
other
relationship
with the Devil. In a second
variant,
the wife insisted on
calling
her husband
pdduche
lesinat, (louse
in a
faint),
and even with her head under
water, half-drowned,
made the motion of
squashing
a
louse.
Once
a man sat down at table and did not make the
sign
of the cross. The devil
clapped
his
hands,
and
said,-
20o on
Creanga,
vol.
iv,
p. 144.
21
This reminds one of the Yorkshire
story
of the
dispute
between
the weaver and his wife whether the web of cloth should be cut with a
knife or with scissors. The weaver throws his wife into the mill
dam,
and,
when she comes
up
for the third and last time and is unable to
speak,
she makes with her
fingers
the motion of
cutting
with scissors.
[ED.]
K
146
The Devil in Roumanian
Folklore.
"
Look ! he does not cross himself
;
he is
mine."
"
Wait,"
said the
angel gently.
" He is
very hungry.
When
he
has
eaten, you
will see that he will thank God." The
man
finished, yawned,
stretched himself on the
bed,
took
charcoal from the fire to
light
his
pipe,
and burnt himself.
He swore a
great oath,
so that the
angel
went
away crying
but the devil was
joyful,
for he had
gained
a
soul.22
The Devil and
Churchgoing.23
A
young girl
was
going
to church. The Devil
changed
himself
into an old
woman,
and came to meet her.
"
Where are
you
going, young girl
? " said the Devil. "I am
going
to
church,
grandmother."
"The
church,-what
should
you
do at
church ?
Only
old men and women
go
there. You will
go
later
on,
but look at the
dancing
in the
valley;
what
dancing
!
You should
go
and dance
too." "
That is a
good idea, grand-
mother."
Time
passed
and the
girl grew up.
She went
again
to church.
The Devil
again
turned into an old woman and met her.
" Where are
you going, pretty girl
?
" "
I am
going
to
church,
grandmother."
"A
pretty girl
at church ! Who ever heard
of such a
thing
? There are
only
old men and women
there,
pretty girls
let
youths
make love to them and dance in the
village
dances.
Go,
and be
friendly
with the
youths.
Now is
the time." "
What a
good idea, grandmother!
"
Time
passed,
and the
pretty young girl
married and went to
church.
Again
the Devil in the form of an old woman met her.
"
Where are
you going, young
wife ?
" "
I'm
going
to
church,
grandmother!
."
"
Dear
young wife,
how can a
young
woman
like
you go
to church ? How can
you
leave husband and
children alone at home. A child
might
be
burnt,
or
anything
dreadful
might happen.
Time
enough
to
go
to church when
you
are an old woman."
"
That is
right, grandmother."
The wife became an old woman.
Again
she went to
church,
and
again
the Devil in the form of an old woman met her.
" Where are
you going
?
"
"To church!
" "
To church !
22
Ion
Creanga, vol. vi,
p. 362. 2a
Ibid., vol. iv,
p. 385.
The Devil in Roumanian Folklore.
147
What are
you going
to do there ? You don't hear
well, your
feet
ache, you cough, you may faint,
and
people
will
laugh.
If
you die, you
will come to church
then." "
You are
right."
So this soul fell into the
power
of the devil.
The Monk and the Devil.24
This is the
way
of the
devil,
the servant of Satan. He
persisted
in
tempting
a
poor
monk. He did hundreds and
thousands of
impish
tricks
every day;
he overturned the
pot
with
potatoes
on the
fire;
he threw down the monk's
hood;
he hid his
slippers
or his
rosary.
Even when the monk was
praying,
the wretched devil showed himself in his real
form,
and made the
poor
monk
forget
his
prayers
and
everything
else.
At
length
the
monk,
monk
though
he
was,
lost
patience
and
began
to swear. The devil bubbled over with
joy,
and danced
and
played,
as if
possessed by Iele,
and
rejoiced
because he
had worn down the
patience
of the monk.
The tricks went
on,
and the monk tried to find out what was
the
matter. "
What do
you want, devil,
that
you
do not leave
me alone ?
"
" I'll leave
you alone,
but do
just
one
thing
to
please me, just
one!
"
"What do
you
want me to do?
"
" One of three
things,-either get drunk,
or
go
with a loose
woman,
or commit murder.. Choose
just one,
and I'll swear
by
the lowest
depths
of hell that I'll leave
you
alone." The
poor
monk was
upset,
but did not think that much harm would
be done if he
got
drunk
just
once.
"
Well,
I'll do what
you want,
devil,
I'll
get
drunk
to-morrow, just
to
get
rid of
you."
"
You'll
get
rid of
me, your holiness,"
said the
devil,
and
grinned
mockingly.
Then he drew himself
up proudly
and went to
the
Tartar,
to tell what he had done.
"
Has he decided to
get drunk,
little one ?
"
asked the Tartar of the devil.
"
To
get drunk,
to
get drunk,"
said the little
devil,
and all the devils
laughed
till hell shook.
The monk left his
cell,
went to an
inn, got drunk,
and was
turned out. On the road he met a
woman,
and
Satan,
who
now had him in his
power,
on account of
drunkenness,
awaked
other
feelings
in
him,
and another sin followed drunkenness.
24
Ibid., vol.
viii, p.
74.
148
The Devil in Roumanian Folklore.
Then he
thought
that the woman would
betray him,
so
he
murdered her and went
away.
He had not
gone
two
steps
when he heard a
voice,-"
Your
holiness,
not that
way,
come
this
way."
This was the
devil,
who had
long
been
waiting
for
him. "
Well, devil,
won't
you
leave me in
peace
even now?
Have I not done
what you
wanted ?
" "
Yes, you have, only
too
well,
and
you
are so dear to me that I cannot bear to
part
with
you
and want to take
you
to our
kingdom
so that our
Tartar
may
see
you.
You cannot
imagine
how he
longs
to see
you
and all other drunkards."
The
Story of
Tobacco.26
This
plant
did not
grow
on earth at the
beginning
of
things;
for at the
beginning
men were
good
and God did not let them
have
poisonous plants.
At the time when God and St. Peter used to wander about
the
earth,
there was in the
country
of black men a
monastery.
The monks had such faith and
charity
that even the Devil was
envious. One
day
the Devil met God and asked him for leave
to
try
his luck with the monks of the
monastery.
As God had
absolute confidence in the
monks,
he allowed the Devil to
try
his arts on them.
The Devil worked in vain for
-a year;
the faithful monks
would not listen to him. One
night,
tired
out,
he tried for the
last time. He
thought
that he had
caught them,
but he was
mistaken. Now he
forgot
that
day
was
approaching.
All of
a sudden the cock
crew,
and there was a tremendous
explosion.
The Devil had
burst,
and sunk into the earth so that no trace
of him was seen.
At the
place
where he burst a
plant grew
which the monks
called tobacco.
How the Old Woman
got
the better
of
the Devil.
The Devil came to an old woman and
said,-"
Baba
(old
woman),
I've come for
your
soul."
"
Take
it,"
said
she,
"
if
you
can do the task
I
shall set
you."
"
I can do
anything, baba;
25
Ion
Creangi, vol. vii,
p.
202.
The Devil in Roumanian Folklore.
149
hurry up
and tell me what it is."
"
Bring
me home bubbles
from the water of the river."
The Devil went
away
and took a veil to collect the bubbles.
On the
way
back from the
river,
the bubbles
broke,
and he
went back
again
to fill the veil a second time with bubbles.
Again
and
again
the bubbles
broke,
so that from the
evening
to the next
morning
the Devil
spent
his time
running
from the
river a little
way
towards the baba's house and back
again
to
the
river,
but he never succeeded in
bringing
her
any
bubbles.
When
daybreak came,
he was
obliged
to
disappear,
and so the
old woman was left in
peace.
The
Fight
between the Old Woman and the Devil.
The Devil came one
evening
to an old woman to take her
soul. The old woman
resisted,
and
said,-"
Let us have a
fight, and,
if
you
beat
me,
then
you
can take
my soul;
if I beat
you,
let me never see
you darkening
these doors
again."
The
baba
gave
the Devil several clubs and
sticks,
so that he
could choose the
strongest.
The Devil chose a
long tough
stick, thinking
that with this he could make a
speedy
end of
the baba. The old woman took a short
heavy
club with which
she could
give painful
blows at a short
range.
She called the
Devil into her
room,
locked the
door,
and
began
the
fight.
When the Devil wanted to strike the old
woman,
the
long
stick struck the
wall,
and the old woman
got
underneath it and
hit
away
at the Devil with her short club till he smarted all
over. In this
way
the baba tormented the Devil till
daybreak,
and then the Devil
disappeared,
never to come back
again.
The Devil and St.
Elijah.
Saint
Elijah
has orders to strike with
thunderbolts
all
devils thrust out of heaven.
God, however, following
the
advice of the
Devil,
Himself
arranged
a
plan
for some
devils to be
spared,
so that men
might
be
obliged
to turn
to God himself for
help.
The
power
of St.
Elijah
to
kill devils was to be limited to his own name's
day.
St.
Elijah, however,
does not
know when his name's
day is,
150
The Devil in Roumanian Folklore.
and so tries to kill devils all the
year
round. He aims at
the devil wherever he
may be, striking
even church
towers,
should the devil hide there. Man must therefore be
very
careful where he stands
during
a thunderstorm. As the
Devil often enters into cats and
dogs,
it is well to
keep
away
from them. Men who
speak blasphemies,
and thus
do the work of the
Devil, may
be
struck; thus,
if a man
blasphemes, bystanders
will
say,-" May
the Saint strike
you
with thunder."
Safety
can be attained
by lighting
an Easter
candle,
or
by putting
an axe in the
yard
and
sprinkling
salt on it.26
Why
St.
Elijah
is so
Angry
with the Devil.
Once,
when St.
Elijah
was
walking
about on
earth,
he met
the Devil. The Devil
said,--"
What, Elijah, you walking
about
here,
while
your
wife
sleeps
with a lover in her bed !" St.
Elijah, hearing
himself called
by
his
name, asked,-"
How do
you
know that
my
name is
Elijah
?"
"
How should I not
know,
since I am the Devil? " At this St.
Elijah
went home.
He arrived at
night,
and saw his wife in bed with a tall
youth
beside her. The
youth
was his
son,
but
Elijah
did not
recognise
him,
for it was
long
since he had left home.
Immediately,
he
drew his sword and cut off their heads. His
mother,
who
slept
in another
bed,
woke
up and, seeing
what was
done, said,-
"
Elijah, Elijah,
what have
you
done ? Don't
you
see that
you
have killed
your
wife and son?
"
St.
Elijah,
when he
understood, wept bitterly,
and told his mother
everything
that had
happened. Then,
as a
punishment,
he went to the
wilderness and
stayed
three
years there, eating
what he could
find.
After three
years
had
passed,
he heard a bell
ringing
in
heaven,
calling
all saints to come
together,
so that each should be told
what service he should
perform.
When he came to St.
Elijah,
God asked
him,-"
What service shall I
give you, Elijah
?
"
"
0
Lord,"
said Saint
Elijah,
"
give
me the
Devil."'
"
Good,"
said the
Lord,
"
I'll
give
him to
you."
26
Ciauganu, op.
cit.,
p. 223.
The Devil in Roumanian Folklore.
151
Then St.
Elijah began
to send thunder and
lightning,
so that
unborn calves and children
sprang
from their mothers. Then
his
mother,
out of
pity
for those on
earth,
cursed
him, saying
that he should lose the use of his
right
hand. So now St.
Elijah
is able to send
lightning
with his left hand
only;
also he does
not know when his name's
day is, for,
if he
did,
he would do
too much mischief. He asks God when his
day is,
and
God,
having pity
on the
world, says
either that it has
passed,
or
that it is a
good way
off. 27
St.
Spiridon
and the Devil.
28
Once when he was a little
boy
of about
eleven,
St.
Spiridon
went with his mother to a
shoemaker,
to order a
pair
of shoes.
The
bootmaker,
a
disagreeable man,
asked too much for a
little
pair
of boots for a
boy,
in fact
just
at the same time he
was
asking
less from another
customer,
a
grown
man and a
rich one.
Spiridon's
mother was
poor
and did not have the
money
to
pay,
so he did not
get
his shoes.
Spiridon
was distressed
by
this
way
of
doing business,
and
resolved to become a
shoemaker,
but never to look at his
customers. He carried out his
intention;
when he was
taking
the measure for shoes he asked his customer to
press
his foot
into ashes.
Obtaining
the size of the foot in this
way,
he never
made mistakes. He never
bargained
about the
price,
but took
what
people gave him,
so that
everyone
was
satisfied,
rich and
poor
alike. He never
lost,
for if the
poor people gave
him
4
or
5 coins,
the rich
gave
him
Io,
and he also was satisfied.
One
day
a
very
beautiful woman came from no one knows
where. When
Spiridon
had taken her measure with the
ashes,
she
said,-"
Shoes for
my
feet are
very small, please
make
them
cheaper,
not like other
people's." Spiridon
was
surprised
to find some one who did not know his custom about
payment,
and looked
up
at his customer to see who she was. He was
struck
by
her
beauty, but, remembering
his oath never to look
at a
customer,
he stuck his awl in his
eye
and
put
it
out, saying,-
"
You have
seen, you
must suffer for it." The woman
vanished,
as if
by magic,
and
Spiridon
understood that it was the
Devil,
27
Ion
Creangd, vol. vi,
p. 342.
28
Ibid.,
vol.
viii,
p. 141.
152
The Devil in
Roumanian Folklore.
who had come in the form of a woman to
tempt
him. He
took
his
eye
from the
point
of his awl and
put
it back. It healed
at
once, just
as if
nothing
had
happened.
From that
day, he
was counted a
saint,
and
people spoke
of St.
Spiridon,
the
cobbler. His
day
is
kept
as a feast
day by
all
Christians,
and
especially by cobblers,
who rest on it and do not even hammer
in a
single
nail.
In
Roumania,
the Devil is
especially
associated with
lost
property.
When a
thing
is
lost,
it is said that the Devil
has
put
his tail on it. There is a
special
method of
getting
the Devil to remove his tail. The
person
who wishes to
find the
object
ties a knot in his belt and
says :-
"
Give
up, Devil,
what
you
have
stolen,
For,
if
not,
I will
tie
up your
beard
And
hang you
to the axle of the mill wheel."
If the
object
is not
found,
a second knot is tied and the
incantation
repeated.
It is
likely
that the
object
will then
be
found,
for the devil is afraid of three knots. If it is
found,
the knots must be
untied;
if
not,
a third knot is
tied and the
sign
of the cross made.
Then, spitting
on the
palm,
the
following
verse is
repeated:-
"Give
up, Devil,
what
you
have
stolen,
Or I'll
hang you up
and beat
you
With the iron of the
plough upon your
back."
Then a
quick
movement is made with the
hand,
and where
the
spittle falls,
the lost
object
will be found. 29
There are
many
tales in Roumanian
folklore,
some of
almost
epic character, dealing
with various
adventures of
man and the
Devil,
of battles between God and the
Devil,
and of the
dealings
of women with the Devil. Of the
following tales,
the first describes the
origin
of the con-
stellations,
the others are
typical
of
many
tales of the
prowess
of man
among
the Devil's
host.
The tricks that
29
Ciauganu,
op. cit.,
p.
220.
The Devil in Roumanian Folklore.
153
Sdrunc
plays (in
the tale told
here),
are also often ascribed
to
P~calA.
The Heavens.30
When the world was
created,
heaven was
very
near the
earth,
but men were too dull to
appreciate
the
goodness
of God in
this
arrangement,
for it was no small
thing
for man to have
God near
him,
and to ask his
advice, just
as he would ask the
advice of a
good father, any
time he needed.
The dullness of mankind reached such a
point
that one
day
a woman threw
up
into heaven a child's
dirty garment,
which
might
well have stained the
purity
of heaven. God was
very
angry,
and moved
away
heaven so far from earth that we now
say
" As far as the heavens are from the earth."
Heaven thus
being
far from
earth, poor
men were more
unfortunate than
before,
and this on account of a
woman,
so
that we
say
"
long
skirts and short wits." Men could no
longer
ask
God's
advice,
and
they
had not much confidence in the
advice of their
wives, for,
as
they say,-"
Women have no
great understanding except perhaps
of evil
things."
Accordingly,
a
man,
who felt that he had
great
need of God's
advice,
set out on a
journey through
the heavens to
get
to God.
Knowing
that it would be a
long journey,
for the earth is
very,
very
far from
Heaven,
and that he would be a
long
time
away
from
home,
the man took
many things
with
him;
for
example,
his
big wagon
with
four
oxen,
the smaller
wagon,
the wall
light
from his
house,
the cross from the
church,
the well from the
cross
roads,
a
hatchet,
a
gimlet,
a
sickle,
a
scythe,
a
plough,
the
big dog
from the
sheep fold,
the little
dog
from the
yard,
the hen and
chickens,
the sow and her
sucking pigs,
the
shepherd
from the
sheep fold,
the
cowherd,
the driver of the
horses,
the swine
herd,
and the hora
(youths
and maidens
dancing
a round
dance)
from the
village.
This was all because he wanted
to
present
himself before God like the
good
Christian he was.
He also took care to have
everything
needful for the
road,
and
folk to talk to on such a
long
and bitter
journey,
folk who
would
help
him in time of need. Then he took both seed
corn,
30
Ciauganu,
op.
cit.,
p. 55.
154
The Devil in Roumanian Folklore.
and maize for
seed,
so
that,
when he arrived in the
great plain
of
Heaven,
he could sow his
seed, waiting
and
eating
the
provisions
he had
brought
with him till the corn was
ripe;
he could then mow the corn and
gather
his
maize,
and have
plenty
of
provisions
with which to
pursue
his
way
still further.
Doing this,
the man wended his
way
further and still
further,
until he was about
halfway
to heaven. At this
point
the
Devil met him. " Where are
you going
to?
" "
That's not
your
business." "
Who are
you looking
for?
" "
Get out
of
my way,
and take
yourself
off
quick."
"
A nice
temper you
have !
" "
You are a villain and a beast ! "
And with
you
are
this,
and
you
are
that, they
had a
downright
good quarrel.
The Devil took from his
bag
the
dragon
and a hideous
serpent,
the
bear,
a
poisonous scorpion,
a wild
horse,
and a human
skull,
and threw them at the man to
frighten
him. The
man,
however,
was not
frightened,
and without
losing
his
presence
of
mind,-for
Roumanians are not
easily scared,-he joined
battle with the Devil like a
warrior;
in fact so
much
like a
warrior that out of a little
wrestling
match there
grew
a
great
battle in Heaven which is
going
on
to-day
and will
go
on for
ages.
This battle is a
mighty wind;
if it touches a
bird,
the
bird
immediately
becomes
mad,
and falls down dead. If an
animal eats the
bird,
the animal also becomes mad.
In the middle of this battle between the man and the
Devil,
the little
dog,
small but
vicious,
rushes
up
to the horse and
bites
him;
the horse with the
dog
at his
legs, seeing
the
big
dog coming
after the little
one,
is seized with
panic
and flees
for his life. The
shepherd
smashes in the head of the
dragon
with the wooden collar he uses for
carrying
milk
pails.
The
cowherd drives
away
the
serpent
with the aid of the
dancers,
and the
serpent flying away
is still seen in the
sky.
The coach-
man
(or charioteer)
breaks the skull with the hatchet. The
scorpion
stretches out its claws towards the
man,
and tries to
help
the
Devil, but,
when it sees that the man is
getting
the
better of the
Devil,
it becomes
furious,
blood starts to its
eyes,
and it remains with all its
legs
and claws stuck out and its
gall
bladder burst
through
sheer
rage.
The Devil in Roumanian Folklore.
155
Only
the oxen from the
big wagon
do not bear
themselves
well in the
struggle,
for
they
are
frightened by
the bear. Even
the bear freezes with fear when he sees how the man beats down
the
Devil,
for the Devil is beside the
bear,
and the bear sees
that his turn is
just going
to come.
So the bear does not
give any
more trouble in the
fight.
All this can still be seen in Heaven. In the midst of
all,
there is the man
(Hercules) standing up proudly
as a
conqueror,
but the Devil is beaten and
hardly
dare move
any
more. The
man has a
regal mien,
as God intended he should have even on
the
earth,
so that the Devil should
go
about in fear of him and
acknowledge
him as his master.
To
conclude,
the
path
followed
by
the man is well known.
It is seen on clear
nights
when there is no
moon,
and it is called
the
Milky Way.
It is called
milky
because it was whitened
by
milk
spilt
from the
pails
of the
shepherd.
The
shepherd
needed
his
carrying
collar as a
weapon against
the
dragon, and, pulling
out his collar
quickly,
he overturned his
pails,
and the milk was
spilt
all over the
path
and ran and
ran, making
all the
path
white.
Sdrunc, spaima
smeilor
(Sdrunc,
dreaded
by devils).31
There was once a
poor peasant
who had seven sons for whom
he did not know how to find
enough
food. One
day
he
arranged
to lose them in the
forest,
but the
youngest son,
called
Sdrunc,
who was the
cleverest, brought
them all home
again. Again
the
peasant arranged
to lose
them,
and this time Sdrunc was lost.
He wandered alone until he
suddenly
came
upon
an
encamp-
ment of devils. He asked them for
food; they gave
him some.
He asked to be taken into their
service; they
said
they would,
if
they
found that such a weak little fellow could do
anything
for them.
On the first
day they
sent him to the
spring
to
bring
water.
He could not even
carry
the
pail they gave him,
so he went
away with a spade and did not come back. After a while, the
31 From oral tradition. The resemblance of the
opening
sentences to
Perrault's Little Tom Thumb will be
noticed,
and also items
parallel
to
well-known
episodes
in Grimm's Kinder- und
Haus-mdrchen.
[ED.]
156
The Devil in
Roumanian Folklore.
devils went to see what he could be
doing.
He was
digging
round the
spring. They
asked him
why
he did not come back
with the
water,
but he
replied that,
as the devils
always
needed
water,
he
thought
it would save time if he
brought
back the
whole well with him.
The second
day they
sent him to cut down trees. He could
not even use their
axe,
so he went
away, taking
a
long rope
with
him.
Again,
after
waiting,
the devils went to see what he was
doing
and found him
tying
the trees
together,
to
bring
the whole
forest home. The devils
began
to be
impressed,
and
so,
on the
third
day,
asked him to tame a dreadful wild
animal,
that had
been
kicking
them all.
Sdrunc, seeing
this was
nothing
more
than a
horse, sprang
on its back and
paraded
it round for the
devils.
These
episodes
continue. Sdrunc
squeezes
water out of a
stone,
which was no more than a
piece
of
cheese;
he throws a
stone
up
into
heaven,
the stone
being
a bird. In the end the
devils became anxious to
get
rid of him. He was
quite willing
to
go
home if the devils would
carry
his
wages,
some
bags
of
gold. They.
set
out,
a
poor
devil
panting
with the
weight
of the
gold.
Sdrunc was
very light, so,
as the devil drew in
his
breath, Sdrunc
was
pulled
back with the inrush of
air,
and
blown far ahead as the devil breathed out. The devil asked
why
he was
always coming
backwards and forwards. Sdrunc
replied,-"
I rush on because I am so
eager
to see
my village
again;
then I think of
my money
and come to see if it is safe."
When
they approached
the
village,
Sdrunc made a
great
rush
ahead,
and told all the children to
get
knives and forks from
their houses and come out into the
street, brandishing
these
and
singing
:-
" We'd like to eat
Some devil's meat !
"
again
and
again.
Sdrunc went back to where the devil
was,
and
they
entered
the
village together.
There were dozens and dozens of children
singing
and
beating
their knives and forks. The
poor
devil
was
panic-struck.
He
dropped
the
gold,
and tore off home as
fast as his
legs
would
carry
him.
The Devil in Roumanian Folklore.
157
Pdcald.
There is in Roumanian a
cycle
of stories about a man
Pdcald,
who sometimes
by simplicity,
sometimes
by intelligence,
comes
off the best in his
dealings
with his fellow men.
There is a
very
cruel
village priest
who hires his servants
with the
agreement that,
if
they
are
angry
with
him,
he has the
right
to cut their noses
off;
if he is
angry
with them
they
have
the
right
to beat him. Picala finds that his two brothers have
been in the service of this
priest;
he has treated them out-
rageously,
and cut their noses off. To
avenge
them he enters
the
priest's
service for a
year,
"
till the cuckoo is heard
calling,"
-with the
agreement
that if he is
angry
the
priest may
cut
off his
nose;
if the
priest
is
angry,
he
may
beat the
priest.
Then follow a whole series of adventures.
Picala
is told to
build a
bridge,
with one
step
hard and the next soft. He does
it
by killing
the
goats
of the
priest,
and
arranging
them alter-
nately
on their backs and on their bellies. The
priest
wants
to be
angry,
but dare not because of the
beating.
The
priest
wants to
get
rid of
Picala,
and so sends him
deep
into the
woods to a
place
called the
"
bear's den" to
bring
wood.
Pacala
goes,
the oxen of his ox cart are eaten
by
a wolf and a
bear,
and he harnesses the wolf and the bear instead of the oxen.
They
return from that ride
With the oxen
inside,
And a smile on the face of
Picalh,
so Pacala scores
again.
Now the
priest
tells his
mother-in-law,--(his
wife was killed
in one of the little incidents with
Picala),-to
fill three sacks
with ashes. He calls
Picala,
and
says,-"
Look ! There are
three
sacks,-one
with
rye,
one with
maize,
and one with wheat.
Take them now
immediately,
and
bring
them to the mill to
be
ground.
But not
any
mill will do. You must take them
to a mill that
grinds very quickly.
You must take them to the
Devil's
Mill,
and be back to-morrow
morning
at
daybreak."
Pacala takes some
provisions
for the
journey,
and
goes away
quite cheerfully, although
he is
fully
aware of the stories about
the
place,-that any
one who
goes
to the Devil's Mill at
night
never returns.
158
The Devil in Roumanian Folklore.
He travels
along,
the
night
comes
on,
and the stars come out.
Finally
he arrives at the Devil's
Mill,
not at all
afraid,
but full
of
curiosity
to know what kind of creatures devils are. He
pushes
at the
door,
and
calls,-" Hallo, miller,
are
you there,
are
you sleeping
? Get
up
! " No
reply-the
mill is
empty.
"
Well,"
thinks
Picali,
" I'm
hungry.
While I am
waiting,
I'll
get myself
some
supper."
So he lit a fire on the
hearth,
and
cut himself a
long stick;
he cut a slice of
bacon, put
it on his
stick,
and
began
to roast it.
Just.
as he was
doing this,
a voice
called,-"
Who's there?
"
The door was forced
open,
and in
came a devil. Pdcald took a
good
look at
him,
his black
skin,
his
horns,
and
his tail,
and
thought,-" Well,
if
they
are all
like
that, they
are not a handsome
lot,"
and he
began
to
laugh
out loud. The devil looked at him
surprised,
and
said,-
"Have
you
not a
tongue
in
your
mouth? Who are
you
?
" "
Who should I be ? I
myself
is the name
my god-
father
gave
me at
baptism."
"I
myself,
I'm
glad
to meet
you.
And what are
you doing
at the fire ?
" "
Don't
you
see ?
I'm
roasting
meat for
my supper."
"
How
jolly!
I'd like to
sup
with
you.
I've eaten
nothing
all
day."
"
Oh! are
you
hungry
?
Well,
if
you go
outside to the
marsh, you
will see
as much meat as
you
want." So the devil went
out,
and came
back in a minute with a
long
stick like
Pacala's and with a
frog impaled
on it.
They
both sat
by
the
fire,
and went on
roasting.
The
devil,
as if
by accident, brings
his
frog up against
Pacald's bacon.
"
Here,
don't do that. You'll
spoil my
bacon." The devil
kept
off for a
bit,
but
again brought up
his
frog against
the bacon. Pdcala
jumped
on the
devil,
and
brought
his stick with the bacon down on the devil's head
with such force that his
eyes
burst.
"
Now,
let that be a lesson
to
you."
Then Picala cut himself another slice of bacon and
went on
roasting.
The devil called
out,-"
Oh!
oh!
I'm
dying!
To the
rescue,
brothers " In a minute the whole mill was filled with
horned devils.
"What, brother,
what's the
matter, why
do
you
call out so
wildly
?
" "
Why,
I've lost
my sight."
"
But
who has done this ?
" "
I
myself,
with the roast on the stick."
"
Well, then, why
don't
you
take care ? Who's
hurting you,
The Devil in Roumanian Follkore.
159
if
you yourself
have blinded
yourself
?
" "I myself,
don't
you
hear? " and he ran
madly
round the mill. " Be
quiet,
brother,
be
quiet;
it will
get
better. Go behind the mill and
wash with cold water."
So he went
off,
and all the other devils
gathered
round
Picala
and
began
to ask him who he was and what his business was at
the mill. He said
angrily,-"
The
mill,-this
is not a
mill!
Look at these sacks
behind
the door! I came to
get my
wheat
ground,
and I
thought
I was
coming
to a decent mill.
How could I know that this was a robber's den ? " The devils
all started in
surprise.
"
What, fellow,
do
you
dare to
speak
of our mill in this
way?
" "
Why
not? I came
with
maize
in one
sack,
with wheat in
one,
and with
rye
in the
third,
and
now
look,-nothing
but ashes ! You have robbed me in the
night
of
my
hard-earned
bread,
and left me
nothing
but ashes.
Now
you
wish that I should be silent. Where else in all the
world are such swindlers ?
" "
Swindlers in our
mill,"
said
the devils with one
voice,
"
You are mad."
"
But it is so."
"
It is not
possible
! Clear out !
" "
What,
don't
you
believe
me,
tartars ?
Just
look in the sacks."
"
We will
look," replied
a
devil,
"
and,
if
you lie,
it will
go badly
with
you."
The devil
went to
see,
and came back and
said,-"
Ill
luck ! It is
ashes,
brothers, nothing
but ashes in all three sacks. The
poor
man
was
right. Who
could have done this ?
"
"
Who else but
you yourselves
?
"
called Pacala.
"
I'll tell
my
folk about
this,
and about
your
old mill. Don't
forget.
No human foot will
ever come here
again."
The devils tried to calm him down. "
Forgive
us. Don't
be
angry.
We will make it
up.
It will be all
right.
What
has
happened
will never
happen again."
So
they
rushed
away,
emptied
out all the
ashes,
and filled the sacks with beautiful
flour,-maize, wheat,
and
rye,-and
carried them down to the
ox cart.
"
Now,
are
you
satisfied ?
" "
Yes,
I am satisfied."
"
Pleasant
journey,
and don't tell
your
folk what
happened
with
the sacks. We don't want our mill to have a bad name
among
humans."
"
Well,"
said Picala.
"
From now on there is no
mill in the world like
yours."
And
yoking up
his
oxen,
he
set off.
i 6o The Devil in Roumanian Folklore.
The
priest
was
just saying,-"
He has not come back and
it is
already daylight.
The devils will have torn him to
pieces
with their claws. How
glad
I am !
"
when all at once in came
Pacal- with his cart.
" Ah !
you come!
"
Then he mastered
his
rage,
and
asked,-" Well,
what's
your
news ? " " Good
news. I've
got
back
safely."
"
What was the mill like ? "
"
Ah!
master,
if
you
knew what was there. Devils
straight
from
hell." "
What,
and
nothing happened
to
you
?
"
"
Oh,
yes
! The
unholy
creatures stole
my maize, rye,
and wheat
and
put
ashes instead. But I
gave
them what for. There
was one
quite offensive,
and I
gave
him such a blow that his
eyes
started out. As for the
rest,
I talked to them so
strongly
about
the theft that
they
were
frightened
and went
off, poor things,
to fill
my
sacks with flour."
"
Is it
possible
!
"
said the
priest.
"
Well,"
said
Pacala,
"
if
you
don't believe
me,
look and see."
The
priest
went and saw the
flour,
and said to his mother-in-
law,-" Mother,
come and look ! Have
you
ever seen
anything
like it! What shall we
do,
how shall we
get
rid of
him,
when
he is able even to blind the Devil ? " 32
Games.
The Devil is such an
accepted person
in Roumanian
society
that he enters even into children's
games.
When
children, tending sheep
in
pastures,
want to make a fire
to bake maize or sweet
marrow,
and the flint and tinder
do not
light, they sing
out as
they strike,-
"
Ajutd Doamne, (Give help, Lord,
Ajutd
Drace !"
Give
help, Devil).33
In an indoor
game
for
children,
two
children,-one
re-
presenting
an
angel,
the other a
devil,-go
out. The
others choose a name from their
chief, God,
who calls
them
by
names of flowers etc. One from outside
knocks,
and is asked what he wants. If he
guesses
a
name,
the
child
goes
over to him. This
goes
on until all are
gone
over either to the
angel,
or to the devil.34
32
P.
Dulfu, Isprdvile
lui Pdcald.
3'
Ibid, vol. vi,
p. 214.
33
Ion
Creangd,
vol.
vi,
p. 183.
The Devil in Roumanian Folklore. 161
Proverbs, Sayings,
and
Beliefs.
The most current ideas of the Devil are
probably
best
expressed
in the
proverbs.
Roumanian
proverbs are,
however,
of such
perfect
form and terseness that transla-
tions are difficult to
make,
and the result is
inadequate.
The
following
are extracted from Proverbile
Romdnilor,
collected
by
I.
Zanne, (1907)
:-
Only
the Devil is
poor,
for he has no soul.
(2713)
When God
gives,
even the Devil can't alter
things. (2736)
Great is
God,
but the Devil is clever too.
(2732)
Believe in
God,
but don't
forget
the Devil.
(2733)
Bow down before
God,
but don't
quarrel
with the Devil.
(2734)
It is a
good thing
to
give
a candle to the Devil also.
(2688)
Be friends with the Devil till
you
have
passed
the
bridge.
(2702)
Be friends with the Devil till
you
have crossed the lake
with him.
(2701)
Don't teach the Devil to
swim,
to drown
children,
to wean
children,
to shoot with a
gun. (2697, 2700)
He who
plays
with the
Devil, gets
to the Devil's
father,
(or, similarly,
he who
escapes
from the
Devil). (2693-4)
To
escape
from the Devil and to fall into the lake.
(2695)
I fled from one Devil and met another.
(2765)
With
speech
to God and heart to the Devil.
(2740)
With
body
in church and mind with the Devil.
(1039)
A Christian with a cross in his bosom and the Devil on his
back.
(2671)
You cannot have
your
soul in heaven and the Devil in
your
pocket. (2684)
Make a
big cross,
for the Devil is old.
(2690)
A man
laughs
at
men,
but the Devil at
everyone (women
also). (2700)
The Devil
laughs
at the
ripe maize,
but is blacker than
it.
(2681)
Even the Devil does not want a bad man.
(3514)
When the Devil was
old,
he became a monk
(or
a
hermit).
(2707)
162
The Devil in Roumanian Folklore.
When the Devil has
nothing
to
do,
he
lights
his
pipe. (2689)
Even the Devil did not think of
doing
that.
(2730)
Run
away,
like the Devil from incense.
(2721)
The man after
money
would take the Devil's
daughter. (3526)
Catch the
Devil,
take out his
eyes. (2718)
Looking
after the Devil's
eggs. (2720)
The Devil
put
his
tail
on it.
(2724)
Keep your
tail to
yourself
!
(2726)
Better a black devil than a white one.
(2705)
The Devil's hair
also,
she turned white.
(2728)
What the old woman
does,
even the Devil cannot undo.
(2722)
You
bring
the Devil in with the band
(at
the
wedding),
but
you
can't drive him out with a hundred soldiers.
Not in vain did the Devil wear out his shoes to
bring
them
together (both bad). (2711)
Neither
hell,
nor
woman,
nor the
parched
earth will
say
"Enough.'"
'
(2748).
Ciausanu (op. cit.) gives
the
following sayings
and
beliefs :
When there is sunshine and rain at the same
time,
the Devil
is
beating
his wife.
(p. 62)
Don't leave vessels
uncovered at
night, for,
if
you do,
the
Devil will wash in them.
(p. 1077)
The skull of dead cattle
guards against ielele
(vide infra, p. 165),
if
put
on the fence.
(p. 1799)
The
following
are from Ion
Creangd
:-
The Devil is not as black as he
paints
himself.
(Vol. iii,
No.
45)
Everything
is
begun by
God and finished
by
the
Devil,
but
some are
begun by
the Devil and finished
by
God.
(Vol. v,
No.
964)
If two
people
are
talking
and
say
the
same
word
together,
then
a devil dies.
(Vol. vi,
No.
1392)
If
you
cut
your
nails on
Sunday
or a
festival, they
will
dry
up;
cut them on a
Saturday,
for then a devil will
burst.
(Vol. vi,
No.
1335)
The Devil in Roumanian Folklore.
163
Do not
get
water from the well
at
night,
for
you
will see the
Devil.
(Vol. ix,
No.
232)
Where there is a
whirlpool,
there the Devil is
playing.
(Vol. vi,
No.
1344)
When a
person
with black hair wakes from
sleep
to find it
turned
white,
the Devil is said to have bleached
it,
to draw the
man into his
ways. (Vol. vi,
No.
1632)
If
you sleep
out of doors in the
springtime, especially
if on
grass,
ielele
will come
upon you
and will leave
you wrymouthed
or with a
powerless leg. (Vol. vi,
No.
1505)
These
appear
in Gorovei's Credinti
si Superstitii al
Poporului
Romdn
(1914)
:
When
many people
are
together
and there is a sudden
silence,
a devil is born.
(1157)
If someone
calls,
do not answer. If someone calls
you
outside
do not
go,
for the Devil in man's
shape
is
calling. (1158.
Cf.
Folk-Lore,
vol.
xxxvii, p. 334)
If at
night
someone calls
you through
the
window,
do not
go
out until the third
calling,
for otherwise
you
will either be lost
or
die,
for the Devil called
you.
The Devil cannot call three
times.
(1I89)
Do not
sleep
with
your girdle
near
your head,
for the Devil
will come to
hang you.
(I165)
When
you go
to
bed,
do not lie on
your
left
side,
so that the
Devil
may keep away. (1171)
If
you
eat with
your cap
on
your head,
the Devil
laughs
and
God
weeps. (2070)
If
you
walk
backwards,
the Devil
laughs
and the
Virgin Mary
weeps. (1187)
If a man takes a
weapon
to
injure another,
the Devil will stick
to him.
(1207)
The Devil
appears
at
midnight
in
places
where there has been
a murder.
(1193)
The Devil hears
everything
man
says,
but not what he thinks.
(I
168)
164
The Devil in Roumanian Folklore.
The Devil's Names.
It is evident that the Devil is a
person
much
thought
of
in Roumania. His name takes the
place
of an exclamation
mark in
speech
and
swearing.
At the same
time, among
more credulous
peasantry, especially among women,
it
is considered
unlucky
to name
him,
lest he should
appear.
Women are
able,
with
special
enchantments,
to command
the
presence
and service of the
Devil,
and with his
help
can
perform
their worst. To do
this, they go
at
midnight
and stand naked at the
edge
of marshes where the Devil
lives.
Often, however,
to avoid ill
luck,
he is not mentioned
except by
alternative names and
euphuisms.
In one tale
he
may
be alluded to
by
five or six different names.
The most usual
name, drac,
is a
good
translation of
the
English
devil. Diavol is less usual and more
majestic.
The
following
are all used
fairly commonly
:
A. Tartorul
(The Tartar),
Tartorul cel batidn
(The
Old
Tartar), Scaraoschi,
Sarsaild,
Cornea
(The Horned),
Aghiutd"
All allude to the chief devil or Satan.
B. Necuratul
("
The Unclean One
"), Nepricistuitul
(ditto), Uciganul ("
Who Kills
"), Neprielnicul
("
Unfavourable One
"), Nefdrtate (" Unbrotherly "),
Ucig
d'l cruce
("
Kill
Him,
Cross
"), Ucig
d'l
toacd
("
Kill
Him, Churchgoing "),
are all
euphuisms
for
his name.
C. El
(He), Naiba, dla, lui, lacacui.
Similar to
"
Thon "
in Scottish.
D.
Minor
evil
powers, similar,
or allied
to,
the
devils,
and
interchangeable
with them
:-
Stima
banilar, guardian
of buried treasures of unclean
origin.
Spiridusii,
small
devils, attending
on witches and
doing
their will.
Smeul,
a man-like
dragon.
The Devil in Roumanian Folklore.
165
Vidmele, Smeoaice,
and
Strigoaice
are female
evil
spirits
or witches.
Strigoaice
are allied to
vampires.
Smeoaice
(feminine
of
Smeul) change
children.
Ducd-se-pe pustii,
evil
spirit causing
children to die or
be
sickly.
Elele, ielele,
ddnsele
(feminine
for " Them
"), strdgele
vdntoasele (" windy
ones
"),
albele
("white
ones"),
soimanele
("
evil
ones,"
feminine
enemies), drdgoicele
("
feminine
devils"), sfintele (" holy
ones
"),
alte
sfintele,
domnitele
("the maidenly ones"),
bunele
(" good
ones
"), rusaliile,
are all bad
spirits,
mistresses
of the
wind,
and
comparable
with the
Slav
vilele.
Most
plagues, illnesses,
and all
palsies
are due to these
beings.
Some
plagues
have their
special spirits,
with a
complicated
means of
destroying
or
avoiding
them.
To return to the Devil
himself,-we
once had a cook who
was
always invoking
the Devil. Dr.
Murgoci gave
her
5
francs
a
month not to do
it,
but she still went back to her old habit.
Then she was
asked,-" Why
is it
absolutely necessary
to
call in
superhuman
aid on
every
occasion ?
"
(She always
called in the
Devil,
and never
God.)
"
Ah!"
she
said,
''
God is
great,
but the Devil is the
principal person
here
below."
I conclude with a
story 35:
The
Devil is
Frightened of
a Woman.
A man had a wife who
plagued
him to
death, asking
for all
kinds of
things,-clothes, jewels,
and what not. He
finally
determined to
get
rid of her.
" Dear
one,"
said
he,
"I have
found a
place
where
you
can
get
everything you want,-
clothes, jewels,
and fine
things."
"
Tell
me,"
she
said,
"
where
I
may
find
these
lovely things."
"
Come with me." The
man
took his wife to a
well,
which the Devil had chosen for his
habitation.
"
Here,"
he
said,
"I am
going
down into the
well." "
No, no," begged
his
wife,
"
rather let me down
35
Ciauganu,
op.
cit., p. 411 ;
cf.
II Pentamerone,
I66
The Devil in Roumanian Folklore.
first." "I
don't want to."
"
But if I
beg you to, my
dear
husband ?
" Finally
the man let himself be
overpersuaded.
He let down his wife
by
a
rope, dropped
the
rope,
took a
stone,
and closed
up
the mouth of the well. Then he went
peacefully
home,
relieved to
escape
from the
nagging
of his wife.
That
very
same
evening,
the devils came home to the bottom
of the
well,
and were struck dumb when
they
saw a
young
woman shut
up
there. Enchanted
by
her
beauty, they said,-
" Ask from us whatever
you
want." She
repeated
her old
song,
and asked for
clothes, jewels, gold pieces,
and other treasures.
At first the devils hastened to
satisfy her,
but she became
more and more
exacting,
and found
nothing good enough
or
beautiful
enough
to
satisfy
her. In
short,
even the devils
got
sick of
her, just
as her husband had.
On the third
day
her husband came to the well
just
to see if
she was alive and well. When the devils saw
him, they begged
him to relieve them from the wretched
woman, promising
him
all sorts of favours and rewards. " Take
away
the stone from
the mouth of the
well," they said,
" and we will
arrange
that
you
shall
gain
enormous riches. When we
get away
from
her,
we will
go
to the
royal
court and
get
the
daughter
of the
King
into our
power;
the
King
will offer rich rewards to
anyone
who
can cure his
daughter,
but no one will be able to do this. You
must then make
your appearance
at
court, saying
that
you
are
a doctor from some distant island of the sea.
Immediately
you
come into the
princess's room,
we will come out from her
heart and enter into the heart of the Grand Vizier's
daughter.
But take
care!
Don't
try
to cure the Vizier's
daughter,
however much
money
he
may promise you, for,
if
you do,
when
we leave
her,
we will enter into
you.
We tell
you
this
clearly,
that
you may
make no mistake."
The man took
away
the
stone,
and the devils came out.
After the devils had
gone,
the
man,
as
you may imagine,
put
back the
stone,
not even
dreaming
of
having
his wife home
with him
again.
On the
morning
of the second
day,
it was announced that
the
daughter
of the
King
had been struck
by
an
illness,
and
that no doctor had been able to cure her. The
princess
seemed
The Devil in Roumanian Folklore.
167
to be
dying,
and the
King
was at his wits' ends. The news
was
sent to the wise men of all the
neighbouring countries,
but
science and skill were all in vain. The miserable
King,
at
his
wits' ends what to
do,
sent out heralds to declare that he would
load with the richest
gifts anyone
who would cure his
daughter.
The man who had
put
his wife in the well came to the
palace,
and was
brought
into the
princess's
room.
Just
as he crossed
the
threshold,
the devils left the
princess's heart,
and entered
into the Vizier's
daughter.
The
princess
was restored to
health,
and the man who had cured her received an enormous reward.
However,
the
daughter
of the Vizier was struck down
by
the
same illness that the
princess
had had. To cure the Vizier's
daughter,
doctors came from all
parts
of the
country,
and from
foreign countries,
but in vain.
Finally they thought
of the man who had cured
the
princess.
The Vizier
promised
him much
gold,
but the man was
frightened
of the devils and did not wish to come. The Vizier ordered his
soldiers to
pick
him
up
and
bring
him.
The
poor
man lost his head. The moment the devils see
me,
he
thought, they
will come out of the
girl's
heart and come into
mine.
Suddenly
a brilliant
thought
struck him.
Hurrying
into the sick
room,
he
whispered
so that the devils could
only
just
hear
him,-"
I have not come to turn
you
out of the
girl's
heart,
but to inform
you
that
my
wife has
got
out of the well
and is
hurrying
here to ask
you
to
give
her clothes and
jewellery."
The
devils,
when
they
heard that the woman was on their
tracks,
took a
hasty flight.
(The late)
AGNES
MURGOCI.
HELEN B. MURGOCI.