It tells of a death-row prisoner who dreams he is hanged. Instead of the noose tightening around his neck, however, he falls through the trapdoor of the scaffold, into a pit below. He is shocked to see his fellow condemned prisoners, alive. Folklorists would find the story somewhat unusual. Unlike many urban legends, which act in one way or another as cautionary tales, this is at first glance a story intended for comfort.
Government legends as told from a white perspective areas often amusing as tragic.
They seem designed to confirm long-held suspicions about officials meddling in our lives, or of government incompetence. The next example was told by a former teacher, who had herself heard it from a former school secretary. A teacher at Orange Grove Primary School didn't receive her salary cheque for three months. After the first month, she made enquiries. The Department told her they had no record of her - although she'd been teaching for seven years and had received a cheque every month.