Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 15, 1904.djvu/366

 338 Collectanea.

passers-by. One night it attacked a man who, fortunately for himself, was armed with a black-handled knife, with which he struck his assailant- The ghost disappeared and was never seen again, but next morning the knife was found on the road sticking in what looked like a lump of jelly. A donkey is a lucky animal owing to the cross on its back.

The Dead Priest.

This poor old man had one son, and he died ; and the man gave some money to the priest to say mass for him, and the priest died before he said the mass. So this man was travelling about ^ and one evening he went into the chapel, and he went into a con- fession box to say some prayers, and he fell asleep and never woke up till the middle of the night. The sexton locked up the chapel, thinking there was nobody there. So when the man woke up he heard a voice call, was there anybody there, and he looked out and he saw the priest on the altar dressed to say mass. So he made no answer — he was too much afraid — he said nothing. And the priest called three times and went away. So next morn- ing the man told a priest, and the priest wouldn't believe him, but he said that he'd sit up with him and watch that night.

So they sat up, they both did, in the chapel, and at the same hour the priest came out again and called, "Is there anybody there ? " And the other priest made answer and said yes, and asked him what was the matter. So he told him that he had a mass to say that he got money for, and that he couldn't go to Heaven without doing it, and that for two years he was coming every night and couldn't get any one to answer him.

So he said the mass and the other priest attended to him, and when he said the mass he went away.

The ]\Ian who sold his Daughter to the Devil.

Did you ever hear tell of the man who sold his daughter to the devil ? He was a very poor man and he had one very handsome daughter, and he married a second time. She wasn't very good to the daughter, the second wife. He was going about his own

' i.e., tramping and begging.