Page:The Mythology of All Races Vol 3 (Celtic and Slavic).djvu/379

Rh or Schratt. This goblin, who appeared in the shape of a small boy, usually lived behind the oven or in the stable, favouring the household and sharing the joys and sorrows of the family; and he liked to do some work in the home, such as weaving on the loom, sweeping the floor, or tending the flocks.

In order to court his favour the household set aside a portion of their meals for his consumption, especially on Thursdays and at Christmas dinner, when three bits from every dish were assigned to him. If they failed to do this, he was angry and stormed about, worrying people, damaging the flocks, and doing all sorts of harm to the master of the house.

His memory still lives in popular tradition, and he was represented by a wooden statue, with arms crossed on its breast and wearing a crown upon its head. This Image stood, as a rule, on a chiffonier in a corner behind the table; and in any absence of the family the Skřítek was placed on a chiffonier or on a table to guard the house. The Slovaks call this spirit Škrata or Škriatek and conceive him as a drenched chicken; while in Poland he is known as Skrzatek, Skrzat, or Skrzot, and is represented as a bird (again most frequently a drenched chicken) dragging its wings and tail behind it. He often transforms himself into a small bird emitting sparks from its body, and he may be bred from an egg of a peculiar shape carried for a certain length of time beneath one's arm-pit. He haunts the corn-loft and steals corn; in bad weather he also visits human dwellings; and those who give him shelter under their roofs will profit by his presence, for he brings the house-holder grain and will make him rich.

The Slovenians in Styria likewise believe that the Škrat (Škratec) brings money and corn. He assumes different shapes, looking now like a young lad, and now like an old man or woman, or he can transform himself into a cat, dog, goose, etc.; but since he is covered with hair, he takes great pains to hide his body. He likes to dwell in mountains and dense forests, and does not allow people to shout there; by day he perches on