| Let's now turn to a Slavic vampire cult
recorded in Istria at the end of the XIXth century:
The Kudlak
"The people believe that each clan has one
kudlak (=vukodlak=vampire) and one krsnik. They are two opposite
beings. The kudlak plots to do harm to people, and the krsnik strives
to protect them. they know how to transform themselves into all sorts
of animals, most frequently into pigs, oxen, or horses. The kudlak is
usually black, and the krsnik white or multicolored. The kudlak
attacks men at night, frightening, striking, and even killing them, but the
krsnik jumps in and they engage in a wild battle. In the end the
krsnik wins. There are no peasants who do not believe in the vukodlak.
For that reason there are few old people who have not seen one....The kudlak
most frequently troubles people after its death. If the people suspect
that someone who has died is a kudlak, they sever the tendons under his
knees before they place him in his grave. They think that in this way
he will no longer walk at night nor bother anyone. the most recent
kudlaks in Dubašnica were the Čoporići from the village
of Turčić (1880). I met one of the Čoporići... He was lame and by
reliable testimony a kudlak! I still remember well how in my youth I
went past his house with trepidation. However, during his lifetime he
had rid himself of the evil spirit, having confessed his sins. From
then on there were no more kudlaks in Dubašnica,
because the priests had driven them out. The grandfather of this
Čoporići was a kudlak even after his death, and at night he plagued the
populace and brought harm to them. To be rid of him the people of
Dubašnica exhumed him and at night impaled him
with a hawthorn stake. This happened at the first half of this
century." 29
29 This data was
gathered in the region of Istria (Krk and Kastav) and was recorded by I.
Milčetić in "Vjera u osobita bića." Sbornik za narodni život i
običaje južnih slavena, Vol. I (Zagreb, 1896), pp. 224-225. The
translation is by J.L.P.
Resource List - entry taken verbatim from
the original source:
"The Darkling: A Treatise on Slavic Vampirism."
Jan L. Perkowski. Slavica Publishers. Columbus, Ohio. ©1989
|
