Читать книгу Кельтские сумерки. Уровень 1 / The Celtic Twilight - Уильям Батлер Йейтс - Страница 8

On old maps, unexplored areas were marked with “Here are lions.” In the villages of fishermen and farmers, we can only write: “Here are ghosts.”

My ghosts live in the village of H–, in Leinster[39]. A person needs to be very careful when passing the village at night. Someone once complained, «By the cross of Jesus! How can I go? If I pass by Dunboy Hill, old Captain Burney might see me. If I go around by the water and up the steps, there’s the headless one and another on the quays[40], and a new one under the old churchyard wall. If I go all the way around the other way, Mrs. Stewart appears at Hillside Gate, and the devil himself is in Hospital Lane.”

I don’t know which spirit he met, but I’m certain it wasn’t the one in Hospital Lane. During the time of cholera, there was a building there to treat patients. After the need was gone, it was torn down, but ever since, the area has been haunted by ghosts, demons, and fairies. There’s a strong farmer in H– named Paddy B–. One night, while passing through Hospital Lane, he saw what he initially thought was a pet rabbit, but then realized it was a white cat. As he came closer, the creature started growing bigger and bigger. The farmer felt his strength draining away, as if it was being sucked out of him. He turned and ran away.

The “Fairies Path” runs through Hospital Lane. Every evening, the fairies travel from the hill to the sea and back again. There’s a cottage at the end of their path, by the sea. One night, Mrs. Arbunathy, who lived there, was waiting for her son to come home and left the door open. Her husband was asleep by the fire when a tall man entered and sat beside him. After a while, the woman asked, “Who are you in God’s name[41]?” The man got up and left, saying, “Never leave the door open at this hour, or something bad may happen to you.” She woke up her husband and told him what happened. He said, “One of the good people has been with us.”

The man probably met Mrs. Stewart at Hillside Gate. When she was alive, she was the wife of the Protestant priest. The village people say that her ghost never harmed anyone.

Not far from Hillside Gate, where she haunts, there was a more interesting spirit for a short time. It appeared in a green lane at the western end of the village. Here’s the story in detail: In a cottage at the village end of the green lane, lived a house painter named Jim Montgomery and his wife. They had several children. One day, he beat his wife, who was a very large woman. Her sister heard about it and came over. She took down one of the window shutters and beat him with it. Jim Montgomery’s behavior worsened over time, and his wife began to go hungry. She didn’t tell anyone because she was very proud. Sometimes, she wouldn’t even have a fire on a cold night. People in the area often heard her husband beating her, but she never told anyone. She became very thin. Finally, one Saturday, there was no food in the house for her and the children. She couldn’t bear it anymore and went to the priest to ask for some money. He gave her thirty shillings. Her husband met her, took the money, and beat her. On the following Monday, she became very ill and sent for Mrs. Kelly. As soon as Mrs. Kelly saw her, she said, “My dear, you’re dying,” and called the priest and the doctor. She died within an hour[42]. After her death, the landlord had taken children to the workhouse[43]. A few nights after they left, Mrs. Kelly was walking home through the green lane. The ghost of Mrs. Montgomery appeared and followed her. It didn’t leave her until she reached her own house. She told the priest, Father R, but he didn’t believe her. A few nights later, Mrs. Kelly met the spirit again in the same place. She was too terrified to go the whole way and stopped at a neighbor’s cottage halfway, asking them to let her in. She cried out, “In the name of God, let me in, or I will break open the door.” They opened the door, and she escaped from the ghost. The next day, she told the priest again. This time he believed her and said the ghost would continue to follow her until she spoke to it.

She met the spirit again in the green lane. She asked why it couldn’t rest. The spirit said they need to take its children from the workhouse and to say three masses[44] for its soul to find peace. “If my husband doesn’t believe you,” she said, “show him this.” She touched Mrs. Kelly’s wrist with three fingers, and the places where they touched turned black. Then the spirit was gone. Montgomery, for a while, didn’t believe that his wife had appeared. He said, “She wouldn’t show herself to Mrs. Kelly, she prefers to appear to respectable people.” But he believed it when he saw the three marks, and took the children out of the workhouse. The priest said the masses, and the ghost hasn’t shown up since. Some time later, Jim Montgomery died in the workhouse because of extreme poverty caused by drinking.

One person saw a woman with white borders on her cap following him, when he was passing the old graveyard wall at night. The strange woman only leaves him when he reaches his own door. The villagers believe that she follows him to seek revenge for some wrongdoing[45]. “I will haunt you when I die” is a common threat. His wife was once scared by what she believes was a demon in the form of a dog.

These are a few examples of outdoor spirits. The more domestic ones gather indoors.

One night, Mrs. Nolan was watching over her dying child in Fluddy’s Lane. Suddenly, she heard knocking at the door. She didn’t open it, fearing it was something inhuman. The knocking stopped. After a while, the front door and then the back door burst open and closed again. Her husband went to see what was wrong and found both doors locked. The child passed away. The doors opened and closed again as before. Then Mrs. Nolan remembered that she had forgotten to leave a window or door open, as is customary[46], for the soul’s departure.

House ghosts are usually harmless beings. They bring good luck to those who live with them. I remember two children who slept in one small room with their mother, sisters, brothers, and a ghost. They sold herrings[47] in the streets of Dublin and didn’t mind the ghost much because they knew they would always sell their fish easily as long as they sleep in the “haunted” room.

I know some people who can see ghosts in the villages of western Ireland. The stories from Connaught[48] are different from those in Leinster. The spirits in H– have a serious and dark manner. They appear to announce someone’s death, fulfill obligations[49], seek revenge[50] for wrongs, and even pay their debts[51]. It’s demons, not ghosts, that transform into white cats or black dogs. The tales from the west have a strange charm. The people who share these stories live in wild and beautiful landscapes. They are farmers and workers who sometimes go fishing. The ghosts here have a good sense of humor. In one western town, spirits are so energetic that if someone who doesn’t believe in them dares to sleep in a haunted house, they throw him out of the window with his bed. In the villages nearby, these creatures take on the most unusual looks. For example, a dead old gentleman steals cabbage from his own garden looking like a large rabbit. And a wicked sea captain stayed inside the plaster of a cottage wall for years, making scary noises in the form of a snipe[52].