Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1876-09-20
THE VAMPIRE SUPERSTITION.

In SerVia, as in some SlavOnic coun-
tries, exists popular belief in vam-
pires, dead folks who quit their graves
at night to torment the living. The
signs by which the vampire is known
are the preservation of the body for a
long time after it should have decayed,
the tiuidity of the blood and suppleness
of the limbs. Prosper Merimee in the
course of his travels was the witness of
a case of alleged vampirism, which he
describes as follows:
In 1916 | was travelling on foot in
Vargaraz and CHANGED to stop at the
little village of Narboska. My host
was one Vuck Poglonovich, well to do
s sol .!s.. u. drunken. His wife was
yet young and fair, and his daughter,
a girl OF sixteen, charming. | would
fam have remained with him several
days, in order to study the ruins in the
neighborhood, but he would not rent
me room, insisting that | should be
his guest, and as this involved holding
my own with him at wine after din
ner the relation was not particularly
pleasant.
One evening the woman had left us
about an hour, and, to avoid being
compelled to drink, | was singing to
my host, when we were startled by the
most fearful cries from the sleeping
apartment which. us is the custom of
the country, was occupied by the
household III common. Aiming our
selves we hurried thither and beheld a
trightful Sight-the mother, pale and
haggard, holding her still more pallid
daughter who was stretched on her
straw bed as if dead. The woman
was shrieking without pause: "a
vampirel vampire. My poor child
is deadr' With great difficulty we
restored khava to consciousness: she
had, she said, seen the window opened
and man, pale as ashes, wrapped in a
winding-sheet, had flung himself upon
her, bitten her and striyen to strangle
her. She was only able to Shrek aloud,
when the specter fled and she swooned
away, but she fancied that she had
recognized in its features those of VIII
lager named Wiecznany, dead about a
fortnight.
There was small red spot on her
tnIOdl, DuJ ulu not KNOW whether III
might not be natural mark or the
result of the bite of an insect during
the girls nightmare. When. how
ever, hazarded this conjecture the
father rejected it suddenly; the girl
wept piteously, and wringing her
hands and rocking to and fro kept re-
peating, ALAS! to die so young, and
before ones wedding day. while the
mother loaded me with reproaches,
declaring that she herself had seen the
vampire and had known it to be Vice.
many. | considered it. therefore, the
part of prudence to be silent. All
the amulets in the village were soon
hung around the sufferers neck: and
her father took an oath that next day
he would disinter the corpse of Vice.
many and burn it. Thus the night
passed In an excitement that nothing
could allay. At daybreak next morning
The whole village was out, the men
armed with muSketS or hangers, the
women bearing heated irons. and the
children sticks and stones. With cries
OF rage against the dead man they all
thrOnged to the graveyard. 1t was
with difficulty that | could obtain
and retain position whence
could witness the ceremony of
elimination. II was slow. for
as we all stroye to take part
IN II each interfered with the other,