# The Mythology of All Races/Volume 3/Slavic/Part 1/Chapter 9

CHAPTER IX
WATER-SPIRITS
A SPIRIT living in the water is called Vodyanik or Děduška Vodyanoy ("Water-Grandfather") by the Russians, Vodnik by the Bohemians, Vodeni Mož ("Water-Man") by the Slovenians, Topielec ("Drowner") by the Poles, etc. He is a bald-headed old man with fat belly and puffy cheeks, a high cap of reeds on his head, and a belt of rushes round his waist. He can transform himself in many ways, and when in a village, he assumes the form of a human being, though his true nature is revealed by the water which oozes from the left side of his coat. He lives in the deeper portions of rivers, brooks, or lakes, mostly in the neighbourhood of mills; and there he possesses stone-built courtyards in which he keeps numerous herds of horses, cattle, sheep, and pigs, driving them out at night to graze. During the day he usually lies concealed in deep places, but rises to the surface at night, clapping his hands and jumping from the water like a fish; or sometimes he sits on the mill-wheel, combing his long green hair.
The Vodyanik is the master of the waters; but although he is endowed with terrible strength and power so long as he is in the water, he is weak when on dry land. He likes to ride a sheat-fish, or saddles a horse, bull, or cow, which he rides till it falls dead in the morasses. All that happens in the waters is done by his will. When in good humour, he drives the fish into the fisherman's net and guides sailors to safe places in stormy weather; but when his mood is irritable, he lures them to dangerous coasts and upsets their boats. He tears the spikes out of the mill-wheels, diverts the water from ​its course, and floods the mill; and if the miller wishes to succeed, he should bury some living being in the foundations of his mill, such as a cow, a sheep, or even a man. There is also a wide-spread belief that the Vodyanik drowns those who bathe at midday or at midnight.
The Vodyanik is married and is the father of a family, being said to have one hundred and eleven beautiful daughters who torture and torment the drowned. He marries water-nymphs or drowned and unhappy girls who have been cursed by their fathers or mothers; and when the waters of a river or a lake overflow their banks, he is believed to be celebrating his wedding, for on that occasion he is apt to get drunk, to make the waters rise, and to tear down dikes, bridges, and mills. When his wife is about to be confined, he comes to the villages in human shape to get a midwife and sponsors whom he afterward richly rewards with gold and silver.
He likes to visit markets, and his appearance foretells the price of corn; if he buys dear, there will be a bad harvest, if cheap, a good crop may be expected. During the winter he remains in his dwelling; and in early spring, when he wakes from his slumber, he is hungry and troublesome, breaking the ice, setting the waves in commotion, and frightening the fish. To propitiate him a horse, smeared with honey, is sacrificed, and for three days he impatiently awaits this offering, betraying his greediness by making the waters heave and by howling dismally. Fishermen pour butter into the water as a sacrifice to him, while millers kill a black, well-fed sow and offer it in his honour that he may not tear down their dams or trouble their sleep. In order to make the dam durable and to prevent the Vodyanik from destroying it the Ukranians bury a horse's head in it.
The "Water-Nymphs" (Vodní Panny), often called "White Women" (Bílé Paní) as well, are tall, sad, and pale, and are dressed in green, transparent robes. They live under the water in crystal palaces which may be approached by paths ​strewn with gold and silver gravel. They like to rock on trees and lure young lads by their wonderful singing. In the evening they leave their hiding-places and betake themselves to villages to join the dancing and other amusements of the village folk. A water-nymph who has been captured will help people wash their linen and tidy their rooms; but she will disappear if presented with a new robe.