The modern story of the Greek Vrukalakase (vampire)

The modern story of the Greek Vrukalakase

Adapted from «A vouage into Levamt ... (etc) by Joseph Pitton de Tournefort. 1718.

We attended a very strange and brutal scene on an island, which occurred because of the corpse, which is one of those that fantastic way come to life again after their burial. The man, whose story we are going to tell a farmer from Maicon, naturally bad-tempered and quarrelsome (after all, according to numerous legends of these people have the greatest risk to rise from the dead after their death), this case was recorded in such circumstances: he was killed on the field Nobody knew how and kem.Dva days later after he was buried, the rumor spread that saw him walk in the night in great haste, throws in human goodness, puts out the lamp, they are closed and thousands of other hooligan. First, the story was well received with a laugh, but things became serious when the best of people started to complain about it. Papacy (Orthodox priests) personally confirmed the fact and no doubt had their own reasons to do so.

Should the liturgy was held, to be sure, but the farmer continued to go about their deeds and did not need anything that they could do. After several meetings, the principal people of the city, as well as priests and monks, was solemnly concluded that there should be one of the ancient ceremony at the end of the ninth day after the burial.

On the ninth day they had a mass in the church where the body lay, in order to drive the Demon, who, as they imagined, had penetrated into it. After the ceremony, they raised the body and prepared everything to remove it from the heart. Butcher of the city, the old galoot, first opened its belly instead of his chest: he had long felt the inter viscera, but could not find what I wanted, until finally someone told him that he should cut the diaphragm. The heart was taken out on the blessing of all the spectators. Meanwhile, the corpse stank so vile that they were forced to light the incense, but the smell, mingling with the evaporation of the corpse, creating a nasty smell, that he began to confuse the minds of poor people. In their imagination the spectacle before them mixed up with their visions. In their heads it's that thick smoke was coming from the body, but we could say that it was only the smoke from the incense. They constantly chanted "Vrukalakas", in the chapel and in front of her: this is a name that they give to these pseudo-demons. The noise was heard very far, and it seemed that the name was invented specifically to destroy the roof of the chapel. Several of those present here have argued that the blood is extremely unfortunate red: butcher swore that the body was still warm, from which those present concluded that the deceased has all the signs are not to be dead, not alive - a kind of sickness when the body is prepared be revive old Nick, the idea that they were as Vrukalakase. They then chanted the name of the extraordinarily important. At that moment came in a crowd, loudly and solemnly declaring that they recognize that the body was not dead, When this is checked, he was brought from the fields to the church for burial, and that it is a real Vrukalakasom.

I have no doubt that they'd vowed to be that the body does not stink, either on us here - so terrified were people that scourge and so passionate about their idea of ozhivshem corpse. As for us, when we approached the body for as much as could, we have to be more precise in our terms, were almost poisoned unbearable stench emanating from him. When we asked what we think of this body, we said, we believe that it is completely dead, but because we want to cure or at least not to offend their sick imagination, we pointed to the fact that in this case, no surprising that the butcher should feel warm when it ever feeling rotten innards, and there is nothing unusual, that it emits evaporation: it can be compared with the effect of manure, and the same can be said about the redness of blood, which is a nasty stinking spot, which is still on hand a butcher.

After all our arguments, they were the opinion that the wisest way for them to burn the heart of the dead on the seashore. But the penalty has not made it quite humble, and he continued to rage more fiercely than ever: he was accused that he was beaten during the night people, break down doors and even roofs, knocking at the window, tearing clothes, wasted bottles and vessels. It was one of the most insatiable demons. I believe that he did not regret a single body, except the consul, in whose house we were living temporarily. People seemed to be afraid of themselves without realizing it. The wisest of them were scared, just like the rest. It was an epidemic disease of the brain as well as dogs and rabies. Entire families left their homes and brought their tent-beds of the most remote parts of the city in a human place to spend the night there. They are every second every now and then complained about some new insults, nothing was heard but sighs and views for the coming night. The best people were leaving the country.

When such a predisposition was the main, our best option was to hold his tongue. Do we resist this, but we felt not only stupid idiots, but for atheists and unbelievers. How could we resist the madness of all people? Those who believe that we doubt the truth of facts, scolded us for our lack of trust and tried to prove that there is such a phenomenon as vrukalakasy quotations from the "Shield of Faith", written by F. Richards, a Jesuit missionary, was in Latin, they said and for this we should believe him. We have had nothing, denying the validity of the conclusion: for us it was like a good comedy - and every morning to listen to all the new nonsense about the tricks of the night birds, they accused him of most heinous sins.

Some of the townspeople, who fiercely defended the peace and welfare of citizens, imagine what they lacked a large part of the ceremony. According to them, they were wrong, that had a mass before an accident took out his heart: Do we take this precaution, they said, we beat the Demon's true, like a gun, he could be hanged before he returned here again .

In spite of these wise reflections, they remained in the same great confusion, as they were on the first day: they were going night and morning, they talked, they held a procession for three days and three nights, they forced Papacy fast, you could see them , running from house to house, with a brush soaked with holy water in hand, sprinkling it all around and washing the door, and moreover, they poured it into his mouth poor Vrukolakasa.

We so often repeated by the judges of the city, which in Christianity we should keep the most strict supervision of night, on this occasion, to observe how things happened and did what they finally caught a few vagrants, who undoubtedly had a hand in this disorder, but none in any of They did not have the main ringleaders, or they were released too early. Thus it happened that people were so stupid that they themselves have poisoned their lives and adapts trouble, giving them a mystical events and tricks Demon. They set up their homes of those fools who left them empty at night, so people were forced to resort to prayers again.

Once, when they were working, stuck, I do not know how many naked swords into the grave of the corpse, which they get three or four times a day, for various human whims, one Albanian, who happened to be at Michon, took on the responsibility to speak for main, which was extremely absurd to use the swords of Christians in the case like this. Can you give up the idea, so blind, namely you are, he said, that the handle of the sword, being made as a cross, obstruct transcending the Demon of the body? Why are you better not take the Turkish sabers? The Council of the learned man did not make effect: Vrukalakas was incorrigible, and all they were in a strange surprise, they did not know now how to invoke the saints, when suddenly, in unison, as if they hinted to one another to scream at the city of that unbearable to wait much longer or whether the only way that remained - to burn the whole Vrukalakasa that after szheniya to demon hide it if he could, that it is better to resort to this extreme method than the island will be completely abandoned: and in the fact, whole families began to gather in order to leave for saury or Tinos. On this the judge ordered that Vrukalakas was moved to the island of St. George, where they prepared a huge amount of tar and tar for wood, not dry, allow it to burn itself quickly in itself. The fact that they have left of this unfortunate corpse was thrown into the fire, and destroyed soon. This was the first of January 1701. We saw the flames, when we returned from Delos: This action could fairly be described as "joyful festive fires", since we no longer hear complaints Vrukalakasa and lived quietly, they said that Daemon met his half and a few ballads were written to deride him.

All of the archipelago were convinced that only the Greeks, the Greek rite is dead, animated demon: the inhabitants of the island Santarini were terribly afraid of the dead. Those of Maykontsev, after their "visions", apparently ran away, starting the same fear of the Turks and their bishops Tinos. Neither the Pope will not be on the island of St. George, when the body will burn. To blow a fear in the bishops, they had to pay him a sum of money for something that burned his body without his permission. As for the Turks, it is precisely that they have formed Michon, paying in full for the cruelty to this poor Vrukalakasu who became a respected because of fear that he instilled in these villagers. Following this example, stupidity, can we deny ourselves that these Greeks - not great ellenisty, and that among them there is nothing but ignorance and superstition.