Death of an Underground Person

or of the

King of the Cats

Translated and/or edited by

D. L. Ashliman
Copyright 1997

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Contents

1. H�bel and Habel (Germany)

2. Prilling and Pralling Is Dead (Germany)

3. The Troll Turned Cat (Denmark)

4. The King of the Cats (Scotland)

5. Mally Dixon (England)

6. Notes and Bibliography

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H�bel and Habel

Germany

A dwarf appeared to the owner of the Halbhufe farm near Mount Dittersberg, while
he was working in his field. He asked him to tell H�bel (a female dwarf) that
Habel (a male dwarf) had died. The farmer related this unusual incident at the
dinner table, and even as he spoke, a small woman, previously unseen, came into
view in a corner of the room. She ran crying from the room, and was never seen
again.

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* Source: Karl Haupt, Sagenbuch der Lausitz. Erster Theil: Das Geisterreich
(Leipzig, Verlag von Wilhelm Engelmann, 1862), p. 36.
 * Haupt's sources: J. A. B�sching, W�chentliche Nachrichten f�r die Freunde
der Geschichte, Kunst und Gelahrtheit des Mittelalters (Breslau,
1816-1818), v. 1, p. 99; Gr�sse, Sagenschatz des K�nigreichs Sachsen
(Dresden, 1855), p. 553.

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Prilling and Pralling Is Dead

Germany

The servant of Landholder Gireck (whose residence in Plau was on Elden Street
where Master Mason B�ttner's house now stands) was once hauling a load of manure
to a field abutting Gall Mountain. He had just unloaded the manure and was about
to put the sideboards back onto the wagon when he heard his name being called
from the mountain, together with the words, "When you get home say that Prilling
and Pralling is dead." Back at home, he had scarcely related this experience and
repeated the words, when they heard groaning and crying coming from the house's
cellar. They investigated, but found nothing but a pewter mug, of a kind that
had never before been seen in Plau. The master of the house kept the mug, and
when he later moved to Hamburg he took it with him. About seventy years ago
someone from Plau saw it there.

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* Source: Karl Bartsch, Sagen, M�rchen und Gebr�uche aus Meklenburg (Vienna,
1879), v. 1, pp. 42-43.

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The Troll Turned Cat

Denmark

About a quarter of a mile from Sor�e lies Pedersborg, and a little farther on is
the town of Lyng. Just between these towns is a hill called Br�ndh�i
(Spring-hill), said to be inhabited by the troll-people.

There goes a story that there was once among these troll-people of Br�ndh�i an
old cross-grained curmudgeon of a troll, whom the rest nick-named Knurremurre
(Rumble-grumble), because he was evermore the cause of noise and uproar within
the hill. The Knurremurre having discovered what he thought to be too great a
degree of intimacy between his young wife and a young troll of the society, took
this in such ill part, that he vowed vengeance, swearing he would have the life
of the young one. The latter, accordingly, thought it would be his best course
to be off out of the hill till better times; so, turning himself into a noble
tortoise-shell tom-cat, he one fine morning quitted his old residence, and
journeyed down to the neighboring town of Lyng, where he established himself in
the house of an honest poor man named Plat.

Here he lived for a long time comfortable and easy, with nothing to annoy him,
and was as happy as any tom-cat or troll crossed in love well could be. He got
every day plenty of milk and good grout to eat, and lay the whole day long at
his ease in a warm arm-chair behind the stove.

Plat happened one evening to come home rather late, and as he entered the room
the cat was sitting in his usual place, scraping meal-grout out of a pot, and
licking the pot itself carefully. "Harkye, dame," said Plat, as he came in at
the door, "till I tell you what happened to me on the road. Just as I was coming
past Br�ndh�i, there came out a troll, and he called out to me, and said,

Harkye Plat
Tell your cat,
That Knurremurre is dead.

The moment the cat heard these words, he tumbled the pot down on the floor,
sprang out of the chair, and stood up on his hind-legs. Then, as he hurried out
of the door, he cried out with exultation, "What! is Knurremurre dead? Then I
may go home as fast as I please." And so saying he scampered off to the hill, to
the amazement of honest Plat; and it is likely lost no time in making his
advances to the young widow.

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* Source: Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology (London: H. G. Bohn, 1850),

pp. 120-121.

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The King of the Cats

Scotland

Many years ago, long before shooting in Scotland was a fashion as it is now, two
young men spent the autumn in the very far north, living in a lodge far from
other houses, with an old woman to cook for them. Her cat and their own dogs
formed all the rest of the household.

One afternoon the elder of the two young men said he would not go out, and the
younger one went alone, to follow the path of the previous day's sport looking
for missing birds, and intending to return home before the early sunset.
However, he did not do so, and the elder man became very uneasy as he watched
and waited in vain till long after their usual supper-time. At last the young
man returned, wet and exhausted, nor did he explain his unusual lateness until,
after supper, they were seated by the fire with their pipes, the dogs lying at
their feet, and the old woman's black cat sitting gravely with half-shut eyes on
the hearth between them. Then the young man began as follows:--
"You must be wondering what made me so late. I have had a curious adventure
to-day. I hardly know what to say about it. I went, as I told you I should,
along our yesterday's route. A mountain fog came on just as I was about to turn
homewards, and I completely lost my way. I wandered about for a long time, not
knowing where I was, till at last I saw a light, and made for it, hoping to get
help. As I came near it, it disappeared, and I found myself close to a large old
oak-tree. I climbed into the branches the better to look for the light, and,
behold! it was beneath me, inside the hollow trunk of the tree. I seemed to be
looking down into a church, where a funeral was in the act of taking place. I
heard singing, and saw a coffin, surrounded by torches, all carried by ---- But
I know you won't believe me if I tell you!"

His friend eagerly begged him to go on, and laid down his pipe to listen. The
dogs were sleeping quietly, but the cat was sitting up apparently listening as
attentively as the man, and both young men involuntarily turned their eyes
towards him. "Yes," proceeded the absentee," it is perfectly true. The coffin
and the torches were both borne by cats, and upon the coffin were marked a crown
and scepter!" He got no further; the cat started up shrieking, "By Jove! old
Peter's dead! and I'm the King o' the Cats!" rushed up the chimney and was seen
no more.

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* Source: Charlotte S. Burne, Folk-Lore Journal (London: Published for the

Folk-Lore Society by Elliot Stock, 62 Paternoster Row, 1884), vol. 2, pp.
22-23.

* Note in original: References to parallel stories in Shropshire Folk-Lore,

p. 52, note.

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Mally Dixon

England

Stories of fairies appearing in the shape of cats are common in the North of
England. Mr. Longstaffe relates that a farmer of Staindrop, in Durham, was one
night crossing a bridge, when a cat jumped out, stood before him, and looking
him full in the face, said:

Johnny Reed! Johnny Reed!

Tell Madam Momfort
That Mally Dixon's dead.

The farmer returned home, and in mickle wonder recited this awfu' stanza to his
wife, when up started their black cat, saying, "Is she?" and disappeared for
ever. It was supposed she was a fairy in disguise, who thus went to attend a
sister's funeral, for in the North fairies do die, and green shady spots are
pointed out by the country folks as the cemeteries of the tiny people.
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* Source: James Halliwell-Phillipps, Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales

(London, 1849), pp. 51-52.

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Notes and Bibliography

Migratory legend type 6070B; Aarne-Thompson type 113A.

In many versions of this tale the deceased is a cat, usually the "king of the
cats," while the mysterious person who runs off after hearing of the death is
the family housecat. Many folklore traditions, of course, connect cats with
elves, fairies, and other supernatural beings.

"Death of an elf (or cat)" tales are classified as type 113A tales in the
Aarne-Thompson folktale classification system, or as a migratory legend type
6070B.

For more information about folktale types see:

* Aarne, Antti, and Thompson, Stith. The Types of the Folktale: A

Classification and Bibliography. FF Communications, no. 184. Helsinki:
Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, 1961.

* Ashliman, D. L. A Guide to Folktales in the English Language. New York;

Westport Connecticut; and London: Greenwood Press, 1987.

* Christiansen, Reidar Th. The Migratory Legends. FF Communications, no. 175.

Helsinki: Suomalainen Tiedeakatemia, 1958.

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