Aging and Death in Folklore Aging and Death in Folklore by D. L. Ashliman © 1997-2008 Return to folktexts, alibrary of folktales, folklore, fairy tales, and mythology.ContentsAging: realism and resignation expressed inproverbsDistrust of old people in folkloreWidowhoodCaring for old peopleEuthanasia and geronticideSacrificing one's grandmotherThe old woman in the chestDisposing of the corpse: a legend that isstill aliveWhy old people are no longer put to deathGaining care by trickeryGrandchildren come to their grandparents'aidWhen enlightened self interest failsInevitability of senility and deathStages of lifeNo one wants to dieDeath's approach should surprise no oneAttempts to trick DeathDeath trivializedDeath as punishmentExcessive griefDeath as a divine releaseRelated LinksAging: realism and resignation expressed inproverbsFor most pre-industrial cultures, life's last chapter has been a bitterone. Surviving folklore reflects widespread resignation as to theinevitability of impoverishment, ual impotence, failing health andvitality, and the loss of family and community status. No one expected theimpossible. Such euphemisms as "golden years" and "senior citizens" didnot exist.You cannot teach an old dog new tricks. There is no fool like an old fool. An old man who takes a young wife invites Death to the wedding. Nothing good will come from an old man who still wants to dance. For an old man to marry is like wanting to harvest in the wintertime.Old people can dye their hair, but they can't change their backs.Age is poverty. Age is a troublesome guest. Age is a sickness from which everyone must die. Youth rises, age falls. A young wife is an old man's dispatch horse to the grave. A young woman with an old husband is a wife by day and a widow bynight. A woman's beauty, an echo in the forest, and a rainbow all quicklydisappear. When the old cow dances, her claws rattle. When the wolf grows old, the crows ride him.Source: Wander, Deutsches Sprichwörter-Lexikon,vol. 1, cols. 55, 58-60; Simrock, Die deutschen Sprichwörter,pp. 281, 614; Jente, Proverbia Communia, nos. 28,102.These proverbs reflect a chapter of life that most of us would preferto ignore. We do not like to be reminded of our own mortality, and intoday's world, institutions such as hospitals, hospices, retirementcenters, and funeral homes (euphemisms abound in the language of death!)shield us from the worst of the Grim Reaper's ravages. We cope, or so itmight seem, by pretending that death does not exist.The foolish man thinks he'll live foreverif he stays away from war,but old age shows him no mercythough the spears spare him....Cattle die, kinsmen die,one day you die yourself;I know one thing that never dies -- the dead man's reputation.Source: Poems of the Elder Edda, translated by PatriciaTerry, pp. 13, 21It has not always been so. In the religion of the ancient north, eventhe gods were mortal. For example, Balder -- the Norse god of light and joy,and the son of Odin and Frigga -- waskilled by a spear of mistletoe (according to Snorri Sturluson) or by amagic sword (according to Saxo Grammaticus). His death, we read in TheProse Edda, "was the greatest misfortune ever to befall gods and men."Other Nordic gods were also vulnerable. Loki, the infamous trickster,challenged the mighty Thor to wrestle his aged foster-mother, an old cronenamed Elli. Much to Thor's chagrin, the old woman beat him, but -- as Lokilater explained -- the trickster had temporarily placed Thor under thespellof old age, and "there never has been, nor ever will be anyone (if hegrows old enough to become aged), who is not tripped up by old age." Infact, none of the deities will be spared. According to Norse mythology,all the gods will be killed by the forces of evil on the day ofRagnarök (also known as the Götterdämmerung -- "Twilight of the Gods" -- perhaps best known now through RichardWagner'sopera).Our ancestors coped, from the evidence of mythology and folklore, bydirectly confronting the debilitation of age and the inevitability ofdeath.Distrust of old people in folkloreIn spite of the numerous tales and proverbs celebrating the wisdom ofold people and promoting their care, folklore is replete with reflectionsof a basic distrust of age. Various demonic personages, notablychangelings and the devil himself, can be rendered powerless by trickingthem into revealing their age. More significantly, in pre-industrialEurope superstitions abound that cast suspicion at old people, especiallywomen. Proverbs and popular superstitions state the claim succinctly:If the devil can't come himself, he sends an old woman. It is not good if one goes out in the morning and encounters an oldwoman. He who walks between two old women early in the morning shall haveonly bad luck the rest of the day. To meet old women first thing in the morning means bad luck; youngpeople, good luck. Many men would rather let themselves be beaten to death, than to passbetween two old women. A person on his way to an important undertaking will have bad luck ifhe encounters an old woman. Encountering a young girl will bring him goodluck.Source: Wander, Deutsches Sprichwörter-Lexikon, vol.4, col. 1105. Simrock, Die deutschen Sprichwörter, p. 554;Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie, vol. 3, items 58, 380, 791, 938,1015.Further, the sinister nature of old women is reflected in numerousfolktales, for example:An old woman, promised a pair of shoes by the devil if shecould bring discord to a happily married couple, told the wife that shecould increase her husband's love by cutting a few hairs from his chin.She then told the husband that his wife was plotting to cut his throatwhile he slept. The man pretended to sleep. Seeing his wife silentlyapproaching with a razor, he struck her dead with astick.Source: Retold from "An Old Woman Sows Discord," Ranke,Folktales of Germany, no. 66. Type 1353.Such tales help explain the widespread superstition, documented above,that if the first person you saw in the morning was an old woman, youwould have bad luck. A curious variant on this view is the belief thatmeeting a virgin or a priest first thing in the morning also would bringbad luck, whereas meeting a whore would bring good fortune. Germansformerly believed that old people had the power to attract vitality fromyoung people, but this -- of course -- came at the expense of the latter.Thefear of oldsters (especially females) is further reflected in the fairytales of many countries, where old women (even those who at first appearto be helpful and kindly) frequently turn out to be sinister witches. Evenin those instances where an old person helps the hero or heroine, the aidis often suspicious, and the old person rarely shares in thereward.Sources: Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie, vol. 3, p. 440, item177. Bächtold-Stäubli, Handwörterbuch des deutschenAberglaubens, vol. 1, col. 324.WidowhoodFor a selection of folktales featuring widows who are too eager to remarryfollowing the death of their husbands, see the following file:Widows in (Short-Lived)Mourning. Folktales ofAarne-Thompson types 65, 1350, 1352*, and 1510.Caring for old peopleResignationWidely distributed proverbs express with obvious irony and apparentacceptance the view that parents cannot necessarily expect the same carein their age that they earlier tendered to their children:One father can better nourish ten children than ten children cannourish one father. Parents love their children more than do children their parents. The old man saves, his son is a spendthrift. Good deeds are wasted on old men and on rogues. Age pipes and youth dances. The parents' death is often the children's good fortune.Source: Wander, Deutsches Sprichwörter-Lexikon,vol. 1, cols. 54, 56, 58, 63, 1507.If the mother looks after the child, both smile. If the child looksafter the mother, both cry. (Jewish proverb, heard in Pittsburgh, June1998)This pessimistic view is also reflected in animal fables:A raven was carrying his chicks, one at a time, from an islandto the mainland. In mid flight he asked the first, "Who will carry me whenI am old and can no longer fly?""I will," answered the young raven, but the father did notbelieve him, and dropped him into the sea.The same question was put to the second chick. He too replied,"I will carry you when you are old," and the father also let him fall intothe sea.The last chick received the same question, but he answered,"Father, you will have to fend for yourself when you are old, because bythen I will have my own family to care for.""You speak the truth," said the father raven, and carried thechick to safety.Source: Retold from Tolstoy's Fourth Reader (1872).This tale, type 244C*, is found primarily in Eastern European and Yiddishfolklore. Other examples include: "A Fable of a Bird and Her Chicks,"Weinreich, Yiddish Folktales, no. 12; and "The Partridge and HerYoung," Gaster, Rumanian Bird and Beast Stories, no.95.Euthanasia and geronticideEuropeEvery culture has its own folk medicine: rituals, practices, andpreparations believed to cure illness and preserve good health. However,not all health related rituals are directed at the patient's recovery. Forexample, numerous European superstitions -- still extant in the nineteenthcentury, and possibly later -- claimed to help the mortally ill die fasterand easier. From a purely medical perspective these were harmless acts.Removing roof tiles or simply opening windows was widely believed to speeddeath by giving the departing soul an easier exit. Similarly, some advisedfilling every hollow space in the house, thus denying the reluctant soul ahiding place. Other acts -- for example, taking away a dying person'spillow, cutting a scrap from one's clothing, or not allowing one to clinch one's thumb in one's fist -- were more intrusive, but still relativelyharmless.Sources: Grimm, Deutsche Mythologie, vol. 3, p. 448, no.439; p. 457, no. 664; p. 459, no. 721; p. 472, no. 992; p. 474, no. 1053.Bartsch, Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche aus Meklenburg(1880), vol. 2, p. 89, nos. 273-276. Kuhn Sagen, Gebräuche undMärchen aus Westfalen (1859), vol. 1, p. 47, no.126.However innocent these moves, their intent was clear to all concerned,and without doubt they sometimes may have set the stage for moreaggressive acts. Such symbolic responses not only reflect a resignationwith the inevitability of death, but they also claim -- indirectly butstillclearly -- that it is the survivors' prerogative to assist the naturalprocess of dying when it becomes evident that the time is right. AncientEuropeans had little sympathy for the infirm. To "die at the right time"was not a value first invented by Nietzsche's Zarathustra. Jacob Grimm, inhis German Legal Antiquities, lists numerous examples of lethalacts against the aged in pre-Christian Germany. Suicide, self-sacrifice inbattle, abandonment, and outright execution are among the solutionsapplied by our European forebears to those who lived too long.Sources: Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra, pt. 1, ch.21. Grimm, Deutsche Rechtsaltertümer, vol. 1, pp.669-675.On the other hand, folklore not only contains survivals of these primitive lethal actsagainst the aged, but it also celebrates old people's wisdom and calls fortheir continuing care. This ambiguity reflects a fragility in therelationship between the generations that his been with humankindthroughout all of recorded history. Hanns Bächthold-Stäubliexplains this apparent cultural contradiction by giving a doubledefinition of the word "old." In the more primitive stages, he claims,"old" designated people between 35 and 60 years of age, and these indeedwere given special status and privilege. However, once a person becamesenile and could no longer contribute to family and society, he was pushedfrom his position of honor, and even executed or abandoned.Source: Handwörterbuch des deutschen Aberglaubens, vol.1, col. 328.In times of war, forced migration, or famine the temptation to do awaythe weakest members of a group would be especially great. A saga containsthe following description of a famine in Iceland in the 10th century(circumstances which, coincidentally, led to the Norsemen's colonizationof Greenland and their discovery of America, some 500 years beforeColumbus): "Men ate ravens and foxes, and many loathsome thinges wereeaten which should not be eaten, and some men had the old and helplesskilled and thrown over the cliffs."Source: As quoted in Jacqueline Simpson, Everyday Life inthe Viking Age (New York: Dorset Press, 1987), p.40.One of the Grimms' German Legends (no. 454) tells how, in theeighth century, a community fleeing from enemy soldiers buried one oftheir old women alive to keep her from being taken captive. They carriedout the fateful task while chanting "Creep under, creep under, the worldis too sorrowful for you; you can no longer follow the commotion." Intheir commentary to this legend, the Grimms document two additionalinstances of ritualistic killing of the aged. In each of the Grimms' threeexamples the geronticide was accompanied by a ritualistic chant, whichsuggests that these had, to at least some extent, not only legitimized,but also formalized the killing of their aged.Karl Haupt, writing in the mid nineteenth century, gives a particularlydramatic (and relatively recent) example of socially sanctioned Europeangeronticide in Lausitz, a region in today's Southeast Germany. Himself aGerman, Haupt is quick to emphasize that this shameful custom waspracticed by Slavic groups living in this region. His account follows:During heathen times the Sorbian Wends of Lausitz practicedthe shameful and gruesome custom of ridding themselves of their old peoplewho were no longer able to contribute. When , a father would be struckdead by his own son A son would strike his own father dead when he becameold and incompetent, or he would throw him into water, or he would pushhim over a high cliff. Indeed, there are many examples of this, even afterthe advent of Christianity. For example:Herr Levin von Schulenburg, a high official in Altmark, wastraveling among the Wends in about 1580 when he saw an old man being ledaway by several people. "Where are you going with the old man?" he asked,and received the answer, "To God!" They were going to sacrifice him toGod, because he was no longer able to earn his own sustenance. When theofficial grasped what was happening, he forced them to turn the old manover to him. He took him home with him and hired him as a gatekeeper, aposition that he held for twenty additional years.Source: Karl Haupt, Sagenbuch der Lausitz, ZweiterTheil (Leipzig: Verlag von Wilhelm Engelmann, 1863), p.9.As a final survival of this gruesome custom, Haupt cites a Wendish ritualistic folk song, apparently still being sung as late as the mid nineteenth century:Old man, go to sleep!Young man, find a wife!Throw stones at the old man,And apples at the young ones;Old man, go to sleep!Young man, find a wife!Source: Haupt, p. 10. Karl Haupt's source is Leopold Haupt andJ. E. Schmaler, Volkslieder der Wenden in der Ober- undNiederlausitz (Grimma, 1841), vol. 2, p. 94. The German text of thesong follows:Schlaf, Alter, ein!Junger du mußt frei'n!Nach dem Alten mit den Steinen,Nach den Jungen mit den Äpfeln;Schlaf, Alter ein!Junger du mußt frei'n!Other primitive culturesAbandonment of the sick or the aged by primitive peoples, especiallythose with a nomadic culture, is well documented and reflects theharshness of life endured by many of our forebears. An Eskimo story, forexample, can begin, in a matter-of-fact tone: "One Winter there was an oldwoman who was left behind ... with only a few insects to eat." Similarly,a Chiricahua Indian myth tells how tribal members concluded that a certainold woman was "good for nothing" and hence decided to abandon her. Alone,she wept to the Mountain Spirits, and they performed a ceremony that curedher of her ailments. She returned to her people and shared with them thehealing ceremony, which became a part of their culture. The myth thuplains the origin of a certain healing ritual, but it does not directlycriticize the practice of abandoning an old, infirm tribal member tocertain death.Sources: Lawrence Millman, A Kayak Full of Ghosts: EskimoTales (Santa Barbara: Capra Press, 1987), p. 184. Margot Astrov,American Indian Prose and Poetry (New York: Capricorn), pp.211-212. See also Harry Hoijer, Chiricahua and Mescalero Apache Texts,The University of Chicago Publications in Anthropology, LinguisticSeries. (Chicago, 1938), p. 33.Sacrificing one's grandmotherOne of the crassest examples of disregard for the aged is found in manyfolk versions of the medieval jest "Unibos." (type 1535). An episodefrequently contained in this immensely popular tale describes how thehero-trickster unremorsefully sacrifices his aging mother or grandmother.Asbjørnsen's and Moe's "Big Peter and Little Peter," summarizedbelow, is typical:There were two brothers, both named Peter, one rich andone poor. Wealthy Big Peter maliciously killed his poor brother's onlycalf. Little Peter skinned the animal and then went from farm to farmtrying to sell the hide, but never with success. Overtaken by nightfall,he gained lodging from a farmer's wife, who -- as Little Peter soondiscovered -- was "making merry" with the village priest while her husbandwas away. The farmer unexpectedly returned, and the priest hid himself ina chest. Armed with this information and his own quick wit, Little Petertraded his calf skin for the chest and then extorted a small fortune fromthe captive priest.Back at home, Little Peter showed his rich brother theunbelievable sum that he had received for the hide. Big Peter, filled withgreed and envy, immediately slaughtered all of his own cattle and rushedto market with the hides, but instead of wealth, he found only ridiculeand scorn. He returned home, swearing to strike his brother dead that verynight. Little Peter heard the threat and saved himself by changingsleeping places with his old mother. Thus, when Big Peter tried to carriedout his threat against his brother, he chopped off his old mother's headinstead.Little Peter then hatched a plan to use the old woman's corpseto further enrich himself. He put her body on a sledge, balanced thesevered head on her neck, and dragged her to market where he set her up asan apple seller. Her first customer was a quick-tempered fellow who,insulted because she would not respond to his questions, gave her a slap,literally knocking her head off. Little Peter, by now quite good atextortion, collected a substantial sum from the would-be apple buyer inreturn for not reporting him to the authorities.As if this were not enough, Little Peter returned home andshowed Big Peter the money their old mother's body had brought at themarket. The greedy brother, we are told, had an old stepmother, and hekilled her outright, taking the body to market hoping for a similarly highprice. But instead of money, he received only scorn and threats of arrest.Other tricks follow, tricks that ultimately cost Big Peter and his wifetheir lives and leave Little Peter a wealthy man.Source: East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon, pp.336-345.This story of primitive justice offers no apologies or regrets for thefact that the hero not only tricks the villain into killing innocentpeople -- his wife and stepmother -- but also quite consciously sacrificeshisown innocent old mother for his own well being.Note: Another example of a type 1535 tale containing theepisode of the intentionally sacrificed old mother or grandmother (herecalled a "great grandmother," presumably to emphasize her advanced age,and hence her dispensability): "Der Schelm von Mols" ("The Trickster fromMols" -- Denmark), Bødker, Dänische Volksmärchen,no. 23. In some tales of this type the grandmother's murder isrepressed. The storyteller lets her die of natural causes or accidentally,but the hero still uses her corpse to extort money from others. Examples:"Little Claus and Big Claus," Andersen, Complete Fairy Tales andStories, no. 2; "Master Sly" (Luxemburg), Bødker, Hole, andD'Aronco, European Folk Tales , pp. 99-102. In still otherversions, the trickster hero uses his wife in a similar fashion. Forexample, in "The Peasant Pewit," (Ranke, Folktales of Germany, no.51) the little peasant, threatened by enemies, exchanges clothing with hiswife, thus tricking them into killing her instead ofhim.The old woman in the chestOnly slightly less crass, applying twentieth-century standards, thanLittle Peter's mortal exploitation of his old mother is the tale of thewoman in the chest (type 1536A), also a story of how a poor man becomeswealthy at the hands of a rich man, using an innocent old woman (usuallythe hero's own mother) as a sacrificial pawn. The Chilean version "TheMiserly Rich Man and the Unlucky Poor Man" is typical of versions foundthroughout Europe and beyond.A rich man suspects, with justification, that his poor brother isstealing food from him. To gain evidence, he puts his old mother into achest, which he asks the poor man to safeguard for a few days. From herhiding place the old woman does indeed hear her poor son boasting aboutstealing a cow from his rich brother. Startled, she breaks her silence,and the poor man opens up the chest. Upon discovering the spy, the poorman jams a great chunk of hot meat and a piece of bread into her mouth,and she chokes to death. The rich brother reclaims his chest and finds hisdead mother inside. Not knowing how she died and obviously fearing anyofficial investigation, he takes the body to his brother and pays him asubstantial sum to bury it. The poor man takes the money, but onlypretends to bury the corpse, using it instead to extort more and moremoney from his miserly brother.Source: Pino-Saavedra, Folktales of Chile, no. 45.Additional examples: "Die Geschichte von der Metzelsuppue," ("The Story ofthe Meat Soup" -- Swabia), Zaunert, Deutsche Märchen seit Grimm,no. 23; "The Artful Lad" (Sweden), Booss, Scandinavian Folk andFairy Tales, pp. 208-220; "The Woman in the Chest," Ranke,Folktales of Germany, no. 52; "Wie ein Frau dreimal beerdigt wurde"("How a Woman Was Buried Three Times" -- Ukraine), Mykytiuk,UkrainischeMärchen, no. 35; "Die gestohlene Sau" ("The Stolen Sow"-- Austria), Haiding, Märchen aus Oberösterreich, no.19.Tales of type 1535 and 1536A thus turn the hostility felt by members ofdifferent socio-economic classes and different generations toward eachother into morbid jokes. Freud, in his famous essay Jokes and TheirRelation to the Unconscious (chapter 3, section 3) noted that a commonfunction of jokes is to provide verbal outlets for "brutal hostility,forbidden by law." Anecdotes of the types discussed above playfully depictthe killing of old people and the use of their corpses for the bettermentof their offspring. These tales thus continue to reflect feelings ofhostility toward the aged long after civilization has developed safeguardsagainst the literal killing of people deemed too old to be of furtheruse.Disposing of the corpse: a legend that is stillaliveThese stories not only turn the exploitation of the old into a joke,they also make light of problems encountered by the survivors in disposingof the corpse. These tales thus reflect the attitude that an old personcan, at the same time, be both an expendable resource and a troublesomeburden. This latter feature has given rise to an entire family of talesgenerically called "Disposing of the Corpse" (type 1536). An Icelandicversion entitled "The Woman that Was Killed Four Times" is particularlyrevealing. It relates how a woman killed her old mother-in-law (who livedwith her and her husband) and then set the body in a kneeling positionover her husband's treasure chest. The husband thinks the "intruder" is aburglar and stabs her. Recognizing the corpse as his own mother, heenlists his wife's help to dispose of the body. The younger woman twiceagain sets up similar tricks. Thus, she can rid herself of her agingmother-in-law only after she has had her "killed" four times.Source: "Die viermal getötete Frau," Schier,Märchen aus Island, no. 43."The image of the aging parent as a troublesome burden is only thinlyveiled behind the curtain of slapstick in these tales. And indeed, similarmotifs are still extant in the active folklore of the twentieth century."Disposing of Grandmother's Corpse" is still a popular theme in Europeanand American folktales.Note: Jan Harold Brunvand gives numerous examples, withinterpretations, of this and related urban legends in The VanishingHitchhiker, ch. 5. See also Alan Dundes, "On the Psychology ofLegend," in American Folk Legend; A Symposium, Wayland D. Hand, ed.(Berkeley: University of California Press, 1971), pp. 33-36. The legendwas built into the popular film National Lampoon's Vacationstarring Chevy Chase."The Stolen Corpse," collected in 1963 in England is typical ofversions told throughout Europe and America. This story, like most of itscounterparts, claims to be true. Its pedigree, following the tradition oflegends, is established in the tale's opening sentence: "This story wastold me by my cousin, who had heard it from a friend in Leeds, about acouple whom he knew, who went for a camping holiday in Spain with theircar." The account, retold below, continues:They took his stepmother with them, and the old woman died onenight in her tent. Not knowing how to deal with the foreign bureaucracy,they rolled the corpse up in a tent and tied it to the roof of their car.However, at their first coffee stop someone stole the car. Thus theyreturned to England without their car and without the stepmother. However,they were unable to prove her death for theirinheritance.Source: Briggs and Tongue, Folktales of England, no.48.The "stolen corpse" legends are exemplary in their economy. The burden(perceived or real) of an old person, nearly always a woman, on her familyis concentrated into a single symbolic event, their inconvenience athaving to deal with her corpse while on a family vacation. The problemalways has the same solution -- theft. Here is poetic justice: Theantisocial elements that normally cause us anxiety and grief at last bringus relief, and they in turn will have to answer the embarrassing andpotentially threatening questions about the corpse in their luggage.However, getting rid of the old dependent does have a price: the familycar and tangled legalities concerning her will and insurance. Why old people are no longer put to deathAlthough "geronticide" as a linguistic expression is not nearly ascommon as "infanticide," survivals of such a practice occur in thefolktales of many lands, classified as type 981 and generically called "The Killing of Old Men," as the intended victims of these legend-like tales are nearly always male. Such stories, in the tradition of believedlegends around the world, typically open with a sparse matter-of-factness,describing the purposeful killing of old people as if everyone knew thatsuch acts were formerly necessary for the survival of the community.However, as these stories usually make clear, these views were selfishlyshort-sighted. The following tale from the Ukraine is typical:Once it was so on earth that the old people were killed. Whena person got old they take him and kill him. "He is old," they say, "whatgood is he? Why should we feed him bread for nothing?" However, one sonhad pity on his father and instead of killing him, as required by law, hehid him in the cellar and continued to feed him. A famine came to the landand the people ate all the stored grain, even that which had been setaside for seed. The old father, seeing the great need, told the son tothresh the straw from their roof and to plant the seed thus gleaned. Theson did as he was advised, and the seed grew immediately, miraculouslyyielding a quick and bountiful harvest. Everyone saw that it was the oldman's wisdom and God's blessing that brought the unexpected crop, and fromthat time forth people have been allowed to die their own death.Source: "Why Today People Die Their Own Death" (type 981,Mykytiuk, Ukrainische Märchen, no. 30).This story, which has universal social utility, is told around theworld. European, African, and Asian versions differ with respect to thenature of the problem solved by the old man, but the moral of the storyremains constant: Take care of your old people. Their knowledge, wisdom,and experience are an invaluable resource for the nextgeneration.Notes: For additional examples of type 981 tales see "The Kingand the Thief" (Lithuania), Range, Litauische Volksmärchen,no. 57; Folk-Lore, vol. 29, pp. 238 ff.; M. Gaster, "The Killing ofthe Khazar Kings" (Romania) Folk-Lore, vol. 30 (London: Folk-LoreSociety, 1919), pp. 136-139; "Killing of the Old Men" (Romania)Folk-Lore, vol. 32 (London: Folk-Lore Society, 1921), pp. 213-215;"The Mountain Where Old People Were Abandoned" (Seki, Folktales ofJapan, no. 53); "An Old Man's Wisdom Saves the Kingdom" (Arewa,Northern East Africa, p. 180). For a study of this tale type seePaudler, Die Volkserzählung von der Abschaffung derAltentötung.Proverbs, too, extol the wisdom of age and admonish youth to honorit:Age before beauty. An old man can see backward better than a young one can see forward.If an old man lacks knowledge, at least he has experience. There is wisdom in age. Age deserves honor. He who does not honor age does not deserve age. It is good to grow old in a place where age is honored. Even bad parents deserve our thanks. With old men take counsel. Old men should be honored. An old man can be outrun but not outcounseled.Sources: Wander, Deutsches Sprichwörter-Lexikon,vol. 1, cols. 55, 56, 62, 1503; Jente, Proverbia Communia, nos.181, 182, 525.Those who fail to give the honor and respect due to their elders cannotexpect the approbation of fate, a belief dramatically, illustrated in "TheOld Man and the Three Young Men," one of La Fontaine's best knownversified fables:An Old Man, planting a tree, was metBy three joyous youths of the village near,Who cried, "It is dotage a tree to setAt your years, sir, for it will not bear,Unless you reach Methuselah's age:To build a tomb were much more sage;But why, in any case, burden your daysWith care for other people's enjoyment?'Tis for you to repent of your evil ways:To care for the future is our employment!"Then the aged man replies --"All slowly grows, but quickly dies.It matters not if then or nowYou die or I; we all must bow,Soon, soon, before the destinies.And tell me which of you, I pray,Is sure to see another day?Or whether e'en the youngest shallSurvive this moment's interval?My great grandchildren, ages hence,Shall bless this tree's benevolence.And if you seek to make it plainThat pleasing others is no gain,I, for my part, truly sayI taste this tree's ripe fruit to-day,And hope to do so often yet.Nor should I be surprised to see --Though, truly, with sincere regret --The sunrise gild you tombstones three."These words were stern but bitter truths:For one of these adventurous youths,Intent to seek a distant land,Was drowned, just as he left the strand;The second, filled with martial zeal,Bore weapons for the common weal,And in a battle met the lotOf falling by a random shot.The third one from a tree-top fell,And broke his neck. -- The Old Sage, then,Weeping for the three Young Men,Upon their tomb wrote what I tell.Source: La Fontaine, Book 11, Fable 8.Gaining care by trickeryProverbial wisdom notwithstanding, old people do not always gain therespect and the care that they deserve. Where ethics and morality fail,trickery is justified. In folktales there is no trickier fox than an oldfox. The fox's cousin, faced with destruction, can also be clever.Old animals trick their mastersAnimal fables, one of the oldest and most honored genres of folklore,have been used for centuries to expose social injustice and to promoteethical behavior. A younger generation's care for the aged is a topic thathas not gone unnoticed in this genre. The fables often exhibit a cynicalview, suggesting that a younger person's moral sensitivity may not besufficient in causing him or her to care for older individuals. A certainamount of trickery and deception may be required, but -- taking the talesatface value -- in this case the ends do indeed justify the means.Especiallyif you are the old person whose life is thus preserved.A farmer intended to shoot a faithful dog, now too old to beof use. But the dog's friend the wolf had a plan. Accordingly, he seizedthe master's child; the dog pursued and with a pretended struggle rescuedthe child. The grateful farmer now promised to keep the old dog as long ashe lived.Source: Retold from "Old Sultan" (Grimm,Tales, no. 48, type 101). For additional tales of this type (from Germany, Bohemia, Russia, and Japan) see Old Dogs Learn New Tricks. Another, even better known, story about old animals who make a goodlife for themselves through trickery is "The Bremen Town Musicians":A donkey, a dog, a cat, and a rooster had all grown old andfeared for their lives, so they set out for Bremen, where they hoped tobecome town musicians. That night they came to a house in the woods.Seeing a band of robbers inside, they devised a plan to drive the villainsaway. The donkey placed his forefeet on the window ledge, the dog mountedthe donkey, the cat climbed on the dog's back, and the rooster perched onthe cat's head. Then each began to sing. The terrified robbers fled, andthe four musicians stayed there from then on.Source: Type 130, retold from Grimm, no. 27. For numerousadditional variants see Ashliman, A Guide to Folktales, p.28, and Animals inExile, folktales of Aarne-Thompson type 130.Significantly, the aging and threatened animals in this famous tale donot even seek refuge with their own people and in their own community. Therural society symbolically reflected in this fable has no safety net forthose too old to further contribute. But there is always the hope greenergrass on the other side of the fence, the pot of gold at the end of therainbow, the pie in the sky. The dispossessed farm animals know what thecountry has to offer them: poverty and death. They, like multitudes oftheir real-life human counterparts, can hope that the city will be kinderto them. Bremen, residence of bishops, center of trade, and gateway to theworld surely can provide opportunity, even for old people whose onlyresources are naive faith and a willingness to sing for their supper.The inventor of this fable wisely did not allow the dispossessedanimals to find their way to the city, where -- by any realisticstandards -- their dreams would have been cruelly shattered. This is not acautionary tale, preaching exemplary behavior to the aged. This is a fableof fantasy escape, and our heroes find a safe haven in a remote corner ofthe forest, far from Bremen.Note: The good citizens of Bremen seem to have lost sight ofthis detail. One of the city's most photographed attractions is GerhardMarcks's statue of the four animal musicians located in the courtyard ofthe Pfarrkirche Unserer Lieben Frauen in the center of thecity.We are apparently little bothered by the fact that their security comesat the expense of another marginalized group, the robbers. We assume,if -- indeed -- we give such ethical details a second thought, that therobbers, like the witch in the Grimms' "Hansel and Gretel," the ogre inPerrault's "Little Thumb," and countless other sinister forest dwellers,came by their wealth dishonorably, and that it is hence legitimate bootyfor our (temporarily) disadvantaged heroes and heroines.The old father's pretended treasureAn old man, thinking himself near death, divided his propertyamong his sons. But he did not die, and his sons treated their nowimpoverished father cruelly. To correct this, he obtained four bags fullof gravel, and pretended they contained money he had received in paymentof an old debt. Hoping for an added inheritance, the sons immediatelybecame attentive to his every need, making every effort to please himuntil the day he died.Source: Retold from "How the Wicked Sons Were Duped" (type982, Jacobs, Indian Fairy Tales, p. 221. For additional tales of this type from India, Sri Lanka, Germany, and England see Ungrateful Heirs: Folktales of Type 982. Grandchildren come to their grandparents'aidThe man with the pretended treasure, Old Sultan, and the would-beBremen musicians ensured their well being in old age through blunttrickery. Another group of stories brings justice to helpless oldsters byawakening a sense of enlightened self interest in the younger generation.The story of "Half a Blanket" is typical:A man had a father who had grown too old to do anything buteat and smoke, so the man decided to send him away with nothing but ablanket. "Just give him half a blanket," said the man's son from hiscradle, "then I'll have half to give you when you grow old and I send youaway." Upon hearing this, the man quickly reconsidered and allowed his oldfather to remain after all.Type 980A. Retold from Glassie, Irish Folktales, no.24.A variation on this story, a Hispanic version from the AmericanSouthwest, carries the same message, adding the warning between the linesabout giving a woman unbridled authority in household matters. The talestarts with the explanation that "in the old days it was not unusual tofind several generations living together in one home," then continues:A woman disliked her old father-in-law who lived with herfamily, and she insisted he be removed to a small room outside the house.One winter day the old man, who was suffering from hunger and cold, askedhis grandson to bring him a blanket. The boy found a rug and asked hisfather to cut it in half for the grandfather. "Take the whole rug," thefather said. "No," replied the boy. "I must save half for you for when youare as old as grandfather." The man quickly restored his old father to awarm room in the house, and from that time on he took care of his needsand visited him every day.Retold from "The Boy and His Grandfather," Maestas and Anaya,Cuentos: Tales from the Hispanic Southwest, pp. 115-117. Type980A.The story of the grandfather who is denied his customary place at thefamily table contains the same lesson of enlightened self interest:An old man spilled his soup and let food dribble from hismouth, so his son made him sit behind the stove and eat from a woodenbowl. One day the man saw his own son, a boy of four, carving a piece ofwood. "This is a bowl for you to eat from when you are old," he explained.He immediately restored the old grandfather to his former place at thetable.Source: Retold from The Old Grandfather and His Grandson (type 980B, Grimm, no. 78).For additional tales of this type see Old Grandfathers and Their Grandsons.When enlightened self interest failsWe all know individuals who knowingly engage in behavior that willultimately hurt them: the person with poor health habits, with a fierytemper, etc. The knowledge that cruel or self-indulging acts will withtime prove costly, unfortunately, does not assure ethical behavior. Thefollowing tale of generational abuse illustrates this sad observation:A man in the prime of life abused his aging father; he wouldstrike him and even drag him out of the house by his hair. When he toobecame old his son treated him the same way. One day the son dragged himout the door and onto the street. "You go too far!" cried the old man. "Inever dragged my old father beyond the gate."Source: Retold from "Turn About Is Fair Play" (type 980C,Pourrat, Treasury of French Tales, p. 163).There is, of course, always the threat of divine punishment, should aperson fail to live up to his or her family and social obligations. AndGod, if we can believe the evidence of folktales, does indeed move inmysterious ways, his wonders to perform:A man, about to eat a roasted chicken, saw his aged fathercoming, and hid the bird so he would not have to share it. After the oldman left, the son resumed eating, but the chicken became a toad and jumpedinto his face, and it stayed there for the rest of hislife.Source: Retold from The Ungrateful Son (type 980D, Grimm, no. 145). The Grimms' source was Johann Pauli, Schimpf und Ernst(1522), ch. 437.An Eskimo variation, heard in Nain, Labrador, and East Greenland, iseven crasser:An old woman, blind, and lame, asked her daughter for a drinkof water. The young woman, tired of tending her old mother, gave her abowl of her own urine. The old woman drank it, and then asked: "Whichwould you prefer as a lover, a louse or a sea scorpion?" "A sea scorpion,"laughed the daughter, whereupon the old woman proceeded to pull seascorpions from the daughter's vagina, one after another, until she fellover dead.Source: Retold from "Old Age" (similar to type 980D), Millman,A Kayak Full of Ghosts, p. 192.The inevitability of senility anddeath"And they lived happily ever after," popular wisdom notwithstanding, isnot the standard ending for European folktales. English fairy tales, it istrue, often end with this formula, but stories from continental Europerarely promise their heroes and heroines everlasting life. If their futurelife is mentioned at all, it will most likely be with a generality such as"and they lived happily until they died," or possibly with the absurdlysafe promise that "if they have not died, they are still alive."Continental European folktales neither promise their leading characterslife without end nor do they treat death as a taboo, to be mentioned onlywith euphemisms and with great caution. Death is as much a part of life inEuropean folktales as are birth, marriage, and parenting. Like these otherevents, it can be painless (even fulfilling) or wrought with conflict andgrief. There is probably more folklore emanating from mortals' response todying and death than any other human experience. Mythology, religion,civilization, and science all offer their explanations and their aid tothe dying and to the survivors, and we want more. Folklore too has addedits voice in helping us to cope with the inevitable and ultimately theunexplainable final chapter.Young men may die, old men must die. Seventy years is the span of our life,eighty if our strength holds;the hurrying years are labor and sorrow,so quickly they pass and are forgotten.Sources: Jente, Proverbia Communia, no. 122 (p. 141).Simrock, Die deutschen Sprichwörter, p. 281. Psalms90:10.Stages of lifeFrom Shakespeare's As You Like It (act 2, scene 7):All the world's a stage,And all the men and women merely players:They have their exits and their entrances;And one man in his time plays many parts,His acts being seven ages. At first the infant,Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.Then the whining school-boy, with his satchelAnd shining morning face, creeping like snailUnwillingly to school. And then the lover,Sighing like furnace, with a woeful balladMade to his mistress' eyebrow. Then a soldier,Full of strange oaths, and bearded like the pard,Jealous in honor, sudden and quick in quarrel,Seeking the bubble reputationEven in the cannon's mouth. And then the justice,In fair round belly with good capon lined,With eyes severe and beard of formal cut,Full of wise saws and modern instances;And so he plays his part. The sixth age shiftsInto the lean and slipper'd pantaloon,With spectacles on nose and pouch on side,His youthful hose, well saved, a world too wideFor his shrunk shank; and his big manly voice,Turning again toward childish treble, pipesAnd whistles in his sound. Last scene of all,That ends this strange eventful history,Is second childishness and mere oblivion,Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans every thing.The Grimms' "The Duration of Life," a tale collected from a peasant inhis field in 1840, presents the same pessimistic outcome, but adds aplayful teleological explanation:When God created the world he gave the ass, the dog, themonkey, and man each a life-span of thirty years. The ass, knowing thathis was to be a hard existence, asked for a shorter life. God had mercyand took away eighteen years. The dog and the monkey similarly thoughttheir prescribed lives too long, and God reduced them respectively bytwelve and ten years. Man, however, considered the thirty years assignedto him to be too brief, and he petitioned for a longer life. Accordingly,God gave him the years not wanted by the ass, the dog, and themonkey.Thus man lives seventy years. The first thirty are his humanyears, and they quickly disappear. Here he is healthy and happy; he workswith pleasure, and enjoys his existence. The ass's eighteen years follow.Here one burden after the other is laid on him; he carries the grain thatfeeds others, and his faithful service is rewarded with kicks and blows.Then come the dog's twelve years, and he lies in the corner growling, nolonger having teeth with which to bite. And when this time is past, themonkey's ten years conclude. Now man is weak headed and foolish; he doessilly things and becomes a laughingstock for children.Source: Retold from "The Duration of Life," Grimm, no. 176,type 173 (also categorized as type 828). Other versions include: "Man'sYears," Daly, Aesop without Morals, no. 105; "The Span of Man'sLife," Noy, Folktales of Israel, no. 26.For more tales of this type see Stages of Life: Folktales of Type 173. No one wants to dieAn old woodcutter, too weary to pick up his load of sticks,exclaimed: "I wish that Death would take me!" Even as he spoke, Deathappeared, but seeing him, the old man changed his mind. Now his onlyrequest was: "Would you help me lift this load to myshoulders?"Source: Retold from "The Old Man and Death," Jacobs, TheFables of Aesop, no. 69, type 845.Death's approach should surprise no oneDeath promised a man that he would not take him without firstsending messengers. The man's youth soon passed and he became miserable.One day Death arrived, but the man refused to follow him, because thepromised messengers had not yet appeared. Death responded: "Have you notbeen sick? Have you not experienced dizziness, ringing in your ears,toothache, and blurred vision? These were my messengers." The man, at lastrecognizing the truth, quietly yielded and went away.Source: Retold from Death's Messengers, Grimm, no. 177, type 335. This was a popular plot for the medieval writers of jests and fables.Lutz Röhrich gives twelve variants in his Erzählungen desspäten Mittelalters und ihr Weiterleben in Literatur undVolksdichtung bis zur Gegenwart, vol. 1, pp. 80-92.Attempts to trick deathOne of mankind's most persistent dreams is to postpone death. Folktalesdescribe many such attempts, cloaked in a variety of symbolic garbs. Theyrarely succeed, not even in the fantasy world of the magic tale. Thewidespread story of "Godfather Death," retold below in a Swedish version,is typical:A poor man with a large family could find no one to begodfather for his latest son. Finally Death appeared, and the poor manchose him, saying: "You make no distinction between high andlow."Years later, on the godson's wedding night, Death called himfrom his bed and took him to a cave where countless candles wereburning."Whose light is that?" asked the godson, pointing to a candlethat was flickering out."Your own," answered the godfather. The godson pleaded withDeath to put a new candle in his holder, but the godfather did not answer.The light flickered and went out and the godson fell downdead.We find from this that you can neither persuade nor cheatDeath.Source: Retold from Thompson, 100 Favorite Folktales,no. 18, type 332. Similar tales include "The Godfather" (Grimm, no.42) and "Godfather Death" (Grimm, no. 44). See Godfather Death: Tales of Aarne-Thompson Type 332. Although death cannot be avoided permanently, there are many folktalesthat describe temporary respites. The story of the blacksmith who trickeddeath (sometimes identified as "the devil") is one of the most popularfolktales in Europe:The Lord granted a smith three wishes, and the latter chose apear tree that would detain anyone who climbed into it, an easy chair thatwould hold anyone who sat in it, and a bag that would imprison anyone whoclimbed into it. The devil came to get the smith, and the smith invitedhim to help himself to some fruit from his pear tree. The devil climbedinto the tree and was stuck there. The smith would not release him untilhe promised to give the smith four more years of life. When the time wasup the devil returned, but he made the mistake of sitting in the smith'smagic chair, and he had to promise four more years before the smith wouldrelease him. On the devil's third visit, the smith tricked him into hisbag, and then beat the bag with his hammer until the devil promised toleave him alone.Later the smith got to thinking that he had perhaps actedunwisely, and he knocked on the gate of hell to make amends. However thedevil would have nothing to do with him, so the smith found his way toheaven. He got there just as St. Peter was letting someone in, and thegate was still ajar. The smith made a rush, and if he didn't get in, thenI don't know what became of him.Source: Retold from "The Master-Smith," type 330(Asbjørnsen and Moe, East o' the Sun, p. 105.) Foradditional variations on this very popular theme see Ashliman, A Guideto Folktales, pp. 73-75From a theological perspective, possibly the most interesting aspect ofthis tale is the cavalier attitude that it demonstrates about agreementsmade with the devil. The devil of these folktales is not the cunning,sinister, wicked, nearly omnipotent being of traditional religion, but isinstead a bungling fool, and one who can be outwitted by a clever mortal.This is not an unusual situation in folktales. In fact, even St. Peter isfrequently portrayed as a fool, both in his role as keeper of the gate toheaven and as a contrast to his much wiser companion Jesus.Death trivializedDeath has become one of the great taboos of the twentieth century. Atthe most basic level, the level of sustenance, we do our best to hide fromourselves (and certainly from our children) the harsh facts about friedchicken, hamburgers, and bacon. A pet, too old and frail to live muchlonger, is "put to sleep." At the human level, we are even more isolatedfrom the one final act that we must all experience. Few people die athome. Funeral "homes" turn the act of mourning a "departed" loved one intoa sanitized reunion of family and friends. The deceased are not "dead,"they have merely "passed on." Euphemisms proliferate.It has not always been so. Our forebears, young and old alike,frequently witnessed the slaughter of animals (or their capture bypredators), and they were not spared the reality of human death. Theycould not avoid this reality, but they could laugh at it.Laughter is one of humankind's most basic defense mechanisms. Even inthe face of death, we can show our resolve and demonstrate our lastbastion of control by doing the unexpected: laughing. Gallows humor, inone form or another, permeates pre-industrial European folklore, evenmaking its way into children's nursery tales and rhymes. Indeed, somecritics have claimed that traditional nursery rhymes are preoccupied withdeath and violence and have hence urged that they be rewritten for a morehumane and enlightened era. Consider the following catalog of horrorsostensibly found in traditional children's rhymes by GeoffreyHandley-Taylor, writing in 1952:The average collection of 200 traditional nursery rhymes containsapproximately 100 rhymes which personify all that is glorious and idealfor the child. Unfortunately, the remaining 100 rhymes harbor unsavoryelements. The incidents listed below occur in the average collection andmay be accepted as a reasonably conservative estimate based on a generalsurvey of this type of literature.8 allusions to murder (unclassified), 2 cases of choking to death, 1 case of cutting a human being in half, 1 case of decapitation, 1 case of death by squeezing, 1 case of death by shriveling, 1 case of death by starvation, 1 case of boiling to death, 1 case of death by hanging, 1 case of death by drowning, 4 cases of killing domestic animals, 1 case of body snatching, 21 cases of death (unclassified), 7 cases relating to the severing of limbs, 1 case of the desire to have a limb severed, 2 cases of self-inflicted injury, 4 cases relating to the breaking of limbs, 1 allusion to a bleeding heart, 1 case of devouring human flesh, 5 threats of death, 1 case of kidnapping, 12 cases of torment and cruelty to human beings and animals, 8 cases of whipping and lashing, 3 allusions to blood, 14 cases of stealing and general dishonesty, 15 allusions to maimed human beings and animals, 1 allusion to undertakers, 2 allusions to graves, 23 cases of physical violence (unclassified), 1 case of lunacy, 16 allusions to misery and sorrow, 1 case of drunkenness, 4 cases of cursing, 1 allusion to marriage as a form of death, 1 case of scorning the blind, 1 case of scorning prayer, 9 cases of children being lost or abandoned, 2 cases of house burning, 9 allusions to poverty and want, 5 allusions to quarreling, 2 cases of unlawful imprisonment, 2 cases of racial discrimination. Expressions of fear, weeping, moans of anguish, biting, pain andevidence of supreme selfishness may be found in almost every otherpage.Source: As quoted by Baring-Gould, The Annotated MotherGoose, pp. 20-21.Nursery rhymes have no monopoly on such tragedies. The following talesare known, in many variations, throughout Europe:The death of the little henThe little hen choked on a nut. The cock ran to seek help, butwhen he returned, the hen had already died. Six mice pulled her funeralcarriage, but they slipped into a stream and drowned. The little cock dugher a grave; then he sat down and mourned until he died.Source: "The Death of the Little Hen" (type 2021, Grimm, no.80). For additional examples see Ashliman, A Guide to Folktales,pp. 311-312.An animal mourns the death of a spouseA flea and a louse were brewing beer. The louse fell in andwas killed. A door, a broom, a cart, an ash pile, a tree, and a girl alljoined the flea in mourning the louse's death. Then a spring broke looseand drowned all the mourners.Source: Little Louse and Little Flea, (type 2022, Grimm, no. 30). For additional examples see Mourning the Death of a Spouse:Chain Tales of Aarne-Thompson Type 2022 and Ashliman, A Guide to Folktales, p.312The fleeing pancakeA pancake rolled out the door and down the road. Many animalstried to stop it, but it rolled past them all. A pig offered to carry itacross a brook. The pancake agreed, and the pig swallowed it in onegulp.Source: "The Pancake" (type 2025, Norway, Thompson, 100Favorite Folktales, no. 100). For additional examples see The Runaway Pancake: Folktales of Aarne-Thompson Type 2025 and Ashliman,A Guide to Folktales, pp. 312-313The day the sky fell inAn acorn fell upon Chicken-licken's head, and she thought thatthe sky had fallen, so she set off to tell the king. On the way she wasjoined by Hen-len, Cock-lock, Duck-luck, Drake-lake, Goose-loose,Gander-lander, Turkey-lurkey, and finally Fox-lox. Fox-lox offered to showthem the way, but instead he took them to his den, where he and his youngones ate up poor Chicken-licken, Hen-len, Cock-lock, Duck-luck,Drake-lake, Goose-loose, Gander-lander, and Turkey-lurkey, and they neversaw the king to tell him that the sky had fallen!Death as punishmentBogeys, hobgoblins, and bugbearsAn unusual (at least for twentieth-century taste) statue stands guardat in Bern, Switzerland. High on a pedestal at the Kornhausplatz,in the center of the old city, stands an ogre, derChindlifrässer, surrounded by terrified children. He hascaptured a half dozen children. They are in his pockets and arms, allawaiting the fate of the one whose head he has taken entirely into hismouth. Since about 1545 this statue has graphically warned Swiss childrenof the potentially dire consequences of disobedience. Note: The Swiss children frightened by this bogey included, Ipresume, my grandfather Johann Aeschlimann (1868-1943) and my wife'sgreat-grandparents Jacob Spori (1847-1903) and Magdalena RöschiSpori (1851-1900). For an account of the legendary background of thisstatue see Ernst Ludwig Rochholz, Schweizersagen aus dem Aargau(Aarau: Sauerländer, 1856), vol. 2, p. 209.The Swiss are, course, not alone in their use of such primitivepsychological pedagogy. Bächtold-Stäubli, in the index to hisHandwörterbuch des deutschen Aberglaubens, lists no fewer thantwenty-eight different spirits who punish bad German children, oftenfatally. England too has its share of bogeys, hobgoblins, and bugbears,one of whom carries the German-sounding name Menschikoff:Baby, baby, naughty baby,Hush! you squalling thing, I say;Peace this instant! peace! or maybeMenschikoff will pass this way.Baby, baby, he's a giant,Black and tall as Rouen's steeple,Sups and dines and lives reliantEvery day on naughty people.Baby, baby, if he hears youAs he gallops past the house,Limb from limb at once he'll tear youJust as pussy tears a mouse.And he'll beat you, beat you, beat you,And he'll beat you all to pap;And he'll eat you, eat you, eat you,Gobble you, gobble you, snap! snap! snap!Note: "Menschikoff" is probably a corruption of "Menschenkopf"(human head). In some versions of this poem the ogre is named "Wellington"or "Bonaparte." Source: Eliza Gutch and Mabel Peacock, CountyFolk-Lore, vol. 5: Examples of Printed Folk-Lore ConcerningLincolnshire (London: Folk-Fore Society, 1908), pp.383-384.Naughty or disobedient children often meet tragic ends in fairy tales.The Germans have a descriptive word for this sub-genre of cautionarytales: Schreckmärchen (scare-tales). One of the mostfamous of such stories is the tale of "Little Red Riding Hood" who in manyversions -- including the classical telling by Perrault -- does notsurviveher encounter with the wolf. She disobeys her mother, leaves the straightand narrow path, gets into bed with an unprincipled male, and pays for herindiscretion with her life. Unlike Perrault, the Grimms let their "LittleRed-Cap" escape, but not all disobedient children in their collection geta second chance:A little girl went to see Frau Trude, although her parentstold her not to. On the steps she saw a black man. Frau Trude said it wasa charcoal burner. Then she saw a green man. "He was a hunter," said FrauTrude. Then there was a blood-red man. "He was a butcher," was theexplanation. Finally the girl said, "When I saw you through the window, itlooked like the devil with a head of fire." Frau Trude answered by turningthe girl into a block of wood, which she threw into thefire.Source: Retold from Frau Trude (Grimm, no. 43, type334).The girl who spoke to the wolf (in Perrault's account) and the girl whovisited Frau Trude were adequately warned by their parents but stillyielded to temptations that, as it turned out, were fatal. The wolf andthe witch in these two stories are believable symbols of real threats tochildren in any era. The children relaxed their guard and were destroyedby the evils that well-meaning s had warned them about. In somestories, however, it is not evil per se that takes the disobedient child,but God himself:There was once a child that was stubborn and did not do whathis mother wanted. For this reason God was displeased with him and causedhim to fall ill, and no doctor could help him, and in a short time he layon his deathbed. He was buried in a grave and covered with earth, but hislittle arm came forth and reached up, and it didn't help when they put itback in and put fresh earth over it, for the little arm always came outagain. So the mother herself had to go to the grave and beat the littlearm with a switch, and as soon as she had done that, it withdrew, and thechild finally came to peace beneath the ground.Source: Literal translation of The Willful Child (Grimm, no.117, type 779).The Grimms derived this story from an oral tradition of miraclestories, legends whose credibility was reinforced both by theology and bysacred relics. For example:In the church at Lunow, three quarters of a mile fromOderberg, there is a chopped off, dried up hand on display. It is clenchedinto a fist and holds a switch between its fingers. It comes from a sonwho in a godless manner had once struck his father. God himself punishedhim, for when he died and was buried, his hand emerged from the grave.However often they reburied it, it always reappeared. Finally they beat itwith a switch, thinking that it would then return to beneath the earth,but that did not help. Therefore they chopped off the hand, put the switchin its fist, and placed it in the church at Lunow as an eternal warning togodless children.Source: Hand wächst aus dem Grabe" (Kuhn and Schwartz,Norddeutsche Sagen, Märchen und Gebräuche, pp. 44-45, no.46). Essentially the same story describes the origin of a withered-handrelic on display in the village church at Groß-Redensleben, one hourfrom Seehausen ("Die Hand auf dem Grabe," Temme, Die Volkssagen derAltmark, pp. 48-49, no. 56). According to Temme, this legend also wastold frequently in Szamaiten and in Poland.What can one say about stories so flagrantly cruel? For good or forbad, literary, cultural, and theological traditions have taught us that itis good when a wicked person dies (countless evildoers meet violent endsin folktales, and we shed no tears in sympathy). But can any reasonableperson of today see justice in punishment, both before and after death,meted out to the "godless" children in the above tales?Excessive griefThe Grimms' sentimental, legend-like tale "The Burial Shirt" reflectsthe belief that excessive mourning would prevent a deceased person fromresting in peace:A mother had a little boy of seven years who was so attractiveand good-natured that no one could look at him without liking him, and hewas dearer to her than anything else in the world. Now it happened that hesuddenly became ill, and God called him home. The mother could find nosolace, and she cried day and night. However, soon after his burial, thechild began to appear every night at those places where he had sat andplayed while still alive. When the mother cried, he cried as well, butwhen morning came he had disappeared. The mother did not cease crying, andone night he appeared with the white shirt in which he had been laid intohis coffin, and with the little wreath on his head, he sat down on the bedat her feet and said, "Oh, mother, please stop crying, or I will not beable to fall asleep in my coffin, because my burial shirt will not dry outfrom your tears that keep falling on it." This startled the mother, andshe stopped crying. The next night the child came once again. He had alittle light in his hand and said, "See, my shirt is almost dry, and Iwill be able to rest in my grave." Then the mother surrendered her griefto God and bore it with patience and peace, and the child did not comeagain, but slept in he little bed beneath the earth.Source: The Burial Shirt (Grimm, no.109).That this belief was not limited to unnamed characters in admittedlyfictional tales is evidenced by the following account from northernEngland:An old woman still living (1854) in Piersebridge, who mournedwith inordinate grief for a length of time the loss of a favoritedaughter, asserts that she was visited by the spirit of her departedchild, and earnestly exhorted not to disturb her peaceful repose byunnecessary lamentations and repinings at the will of God; and from thattime she never grieved more. Events of this kind were common a centuryago.Source: The Denham Tracts, vol. 2, pp.58-59.For more tales of this type see The Death of a Child: Folktales about Excessive Mourning.Death as a divine releaseDeath, of course, is not always looked upon as punishment. In fact, inmany religious stories virtuous people (often children) are "called home,"frequently under miraculous circumstances. For these blessed individuals,death is a divine release from the sorrows of this world.Once there was a poor woman who had two children. The youngestone had to go into the forest every day to find wood. Once a little childhelped him gather the wood, carried it to the house, and then disappeared.The child told his mother about the helper, but she didn't believe him.One day the helper child brought a rose and told the child that when therose was in full blossom he would come again. The mother put the rose intosome water. One morning the child did not get up; the mother went to hisbed and found him lying there dead. On that same morning the rose cameinto full blossom.Source: Retold from The Rose (Grimm, Children's Legends,no. 3). For similar accounts of foretold deaths, see Grimm, GermanLegends, nos. 263-267.Religious legends are told throughout the world, and those describingpremonitions and forewarnings of impending death are particularlywidespread and persistent. Such accounts spontaneously emerge at solemnfamily gatherings, then disappear when the mood brightens. They surfaceagain when needed -- unrehearsed at other sober occasions, orsophisticatedly refined in universal myths and in the great tragedies ofworld literature. At their primeval level, these accounts describe onlymodest miracles: the opening of a flower, the appearance of a bird, thedream of a departed loved one, or perhaps nothing more portentous than anuncanny feeling. They do not claim the power to change the course of humandestiny, nor do they offer explanations to life's unfathomed mysteries.Instead, they are expressions of faith in continuity and of hope forjustice, even at times when it is painfully evident that, on this earth atleast, we do not live happily ever after.Related LinksOld Folks in Aesop's Fables. Godfather Death: Death in Fairy Tales by Terri Windling.Return to:Table of ContentsD. L. Ashliman's folktexts, alibrary of folktales, folklore, fairy tales, and mythology.Revised May 12, 2008 |
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