The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-08-31

"Namplrlsm Is believed to De nere0l-
tary in certain families, the members of
which are regarded with aversion by
their neighbors and Stunned as much
as possible. Their services are. how
ever. called into requisition when there
is a vampire to be laid, as they have
the reputation of possessing special
powers in that direction. 1t is gener-
ally believed that the vampire retires
TO its grave before cOckcrOw. but some
maintain that it visits it only once
week, on Saturday"
Miss Garnet thus describes the pc
euliar custom of laying a vampire:
when it is discovered that a Rest
less One is about. the people go on
Saturday and open tomb, where they
always find the body just as il was
buried, and entirely undecomposed. The
priest who accompanies them reads
certain parts of the ritual supposed to
be of peculiar efficacy for putting
stop to the restless wanderings of vam-
pires, and sometimes this course suf-
fees to restore the neighborhood to
peace and quiet But cases happen in
which the priest is not a sufficiently
powerful eXorcist, and, when all his
endeavors have proved inefficacious,
the people of the neighborhood go to
the tomb on a Saturday, and either
drive stake through the heart of the
uiulSStlNlHE tOEDSE OF I'd NE OUT lIt
body and consume il with fire. Nothing
short of extreme necessity would, how
ever, make orthodox Greeks consent to
perform such an act. as they have
religious terror of consuming with fire
A body on which the holy chrism has
been poured by the priest when per-
forming the last rites of his religion.
There is a touching story of a dead
man who. though the earth was eat
inc him GRO va nv
the passionate entreaties of his mother,
reminding him of his promise to bring
back to her his sister, who had been
married to a bridegroom from east
Turkey. The Greek poet Valaorites,
also describes, in a splendidly realistic
poem, the rousing from their graves of
the tyrant, Ali Pasha. of Jannina and
his Greek lieutenant. Thanase Vagina,
by the vampires of the massacred in
habitants of Gardilxi."
The masterpiece of Miss Garnetts
chapter on vampirism is, however, the
following hair-raising story, of which
! she herself says: "One of the most
thrilling modern vampire stories | have
met with is the following, which was
related to me by Cretan peasant, who
had been an eyewitness of the occur
renee:
Once on time the village of Kali
! kratis was haunted by a vimpire
| (called "Katakhnas'' by the Cretans),
which destroyed both children and
many full-grown men, and desolated
| both that village and many others
| They had buried him in the Church OF
| st. George at Kslikrati. and in those
| times he was a man of note, and they
! had built an arch over his grave. Now
a certain shepherd, his mutual syntek-
nos, was tending his sheep and goat:
/ -.
| in a shower he went to the sepuiChel
for shelter. Afterward he determined
/ to pass the night there. and after tax
ing off his weapons he placed then
| crosswiSe by the stone, which served
| him for a pillow, and, because of tn
! sacred symbol they formed. the vam
pire was unable to leave his tomb.
During the night. as he wished Il
go out again that he might iestro!
| men. the vampire said TO the shepherd
Gossip. get up hence, for l have SOM
business to attend to-" The shepherd
| answered him not. either the first, tn
second, or the third time, for he con
Guided that the man had become
vampire, and that il was he who haC
done all these evil deeds. But when h
spoke for a fourth time the shepherd
replied: 81 shall not get up hence, gos
sip, for 1 fear that you are no bette
than you should be. and may do me
mischief: but swear to me by you
winding sheet that you will not hur
me and then 1 will get up
He did not, however, pronounc
that oath, but said other things; bu
finally, when the shepherd did not suf
fer him to get up, the vampire swor
to him as he wished On this ne rose
and, on his taking up his arms. tn
vampire came forth, and, after greet
ing the shepherd, said to him: Cos
sip. you must not go away. but 81
down here, for 1 have some bushes
which 1 must go after. But 1 sha
return within the hour, for I hav
something to say to you" So the sheI
herd waited for him.
And the vampire went a distanc
of about ten miles, where there was
couple recently married, and he dc
stroyed them. On his return the sheL
herd saw that he was carrying som
liver his hands being wet with bloc,
. and as he carried il he blew into i
! just as the butcher does, to increas
the size of the liver. And he Shove
I his gossip that il was cooked, as if
had been done on the fire. Let us s
r down. gossip. and eat" said he. An
) the shepherd pretended to eat it, bl
, only swallowed dry bread. and keI
dropping the liver into his bosOr
I
aratiOn arrived, the vampire said
the shepherd:
Gossip, this which you have see
? you must not mention, for, if you d
! my twenty nails will be fixed in You
. ! children and yourself" Yet the shel
, herd lost no time. but gave informatiC
: to the priests and others, who went
: | the tomb and found the vampire ju
, as he had been buried. and all we
o satisfied that il was he who had dol
all the evil deeds. So they collected
: great deal of wood. and they cast hi
I on il and burnt him. When the boo
was half consumed the shepherd, to
| came forward, in order that he mig
: enjoy the ceremony. And The var
pire spat. as il were. a single drop
blood which fell on his foot. and
: wasted away as if it had been bur
with fire. On this account they sift,
even the ashes. and found the lit
:, finger nail of the vampire, and bur
= that. too
= This and many other vampire stori
= are related in Miss Garnett's book. s.
: states that one of the means employ,
by the Bulgarian peasants for detectil
= vampire (Which they call
"Obour'O, is by noticing whether or n
K the suspected person has a shar
II pointed tooth, the possession of viii
e is to them a sure indication that Z
e party under suspicion is an "ObouI
& | The tale of a young man who fell