Page:The Mythology of All Races Vol 3 (Celtic and Slavic).djvu/351

Rh such a man being termed Vlkodlak (Vukodlak, Vrkolák, Volkun, etc.). A child born feet foremost or with teeth will become a Vlkodlak; and a man may undergo transformation into such a being by magic power, this happening most frequently to bride and bridegroom as they go to the church to be married. A person turned into a Vlkodlak will run about the village in the shape of a wolf and will approach human dwellings, casting plaintive glances at people, but without harming anyone; and he will retain his wolf-like shape until the same person who has enchanted him destroys the charm.

Among the Jugo-Slavs ("Southern Slavs") there still lingers an old tradition, dating from the thirteenth century, of a Vukodlak who followed the clouds and devoured the sun or the moon, thus causing an eclipse; and accordingly, on such an occasion, drums were beaten, bells rung, and guns fired, all this being supposed to drive the demon away.

The Vlkodlak can transform himself not only into a wolf, but also into hens and such animals as horses, cows, dogs, and cats. At night he attacks cattle, sucks the milk of cows, mares, and sheep, strangles horses, and causes cattle to die of plague; he may even assail human beings, frightening, beating, and strangling them. The Slavs in Istria believe that every single family has its own Vukodlak, who tries to harm the house; but the house also possesses a good genius, the Krsnik (Kresnik, Karsnik), who protects it from the Vukodlak and battles with him. In popular tradition the Vlkodlak is frequently identified with the Vampire, and similar stories are told concerning both beings.

The Slavs universally believe that the soul can leave the body in the form of a bird (a dove, a duck, a nightingale, a swallow, a cuckoo, an eagle, a raven) or else as a butterfly, a fly, a snake, a white mouse, a hare, a small flame, etc. For this reason, whenever a man dies, the window or the door Is left open, thus freely enabling the soul to come and go so long as the corpse remains In the house. The soul flutters about the