ppear to be either to consume him by
fire, or to chop off his head with a grave-digger's shovel. The Wends
say that if a vampire is hit over the back of the head with an
implement of that kind, he will squeal like a pig.

The origin of the Vampire is hidden in obscurity. In modern times it
has generally been a wizard, or a witch, or a suicide,[421] or a
person who has come to a violent end, or who has been cursed by the
Church or by his parents, who takes such an unpleasant means of
recalling himself to the memory of his surviving relatives and
acquaintances. But even the most honorable dead may become vampires by
accident. He whom a vampire has slain is supposed, in some countries,
himself to become a vampire. The leaping of a cat or some other animal
across a corpse, even the flight of a bird above it, may turn the
innocent defunct into a ravenous demon.[422] Sometimes, moreover, a
man is destined from his birth to be a vampire, being the offspring of
some unholy union. In some instances the Evil One himself is the
father of such a doomed victim, in others a temporarily animated
corpse. But whatever may be the cause of a corpse's "vampirism," it is
generally agreed that it will give its neighbors no rest until they
have at least transfixed it. What is very remarkable about the
operation is, that the stake must be driven through the vampire's body
by a single blow. A second would restore it to life. This idea
accounts for the otherwise unexplained fact that the heroes of
folk-tales are frequently warned that they must on no account be
tempted into striking their magic foes more than one stroke. Whatever
voices may cry aloud "Strike again!" they must remain contented with a
single blow.[423]

FOOTNOTES:

[379] Some account of Russian funeral rites and beliefs, and of the
dirges which are sung at buryings and memorials of the dead, will be
found in the "Songs of the Russian People," pp. 309-344.

[380] Afanasief, iv. No. 7. From the Archangel Government.

[381] _Zhornovtsui_, _i.e._ mill-stones, or a hand-mill.

[382] Pp. 341-349 of the first edition. See, also, for some other
versions of the story, as well as for an attempt to explain it, A. de
Gubernatis, "Zoological Mythology," i. 243, 244.

[383] See _supra_, chap. I. p. 36.

[384] Afanasief, iv. No. 9.

[385] Ibid., iv. No. 7. p. 34.

[386] _Prigovarivat'_ = to say or sing while using certain (usually
menacing) gestures.

[387] Afanasief, iv. p. 35.