oices of the dead sound from their
graves; and thus a kind of soothing intercourse is kept up between the
living and the departed. The superstition of a certain species of
blood-sucking spectres, known to the novel reading world under the
name of _vampyres_, a superstition retained chiefly in Dalmatia,
belongs also here. In modern Greek, such a spectre is called
_Brukolacas_ in Servian _Wukodlak_. We do not however recollect the
appearance of a vampyre, in any genuine production of modern Greek or
Servian poetry. It seems as if the sound sense of the common people
had taught them, that this superstition is too shocking, too
disgusting, to be admitted into poetry; while the oversated palates of
the fashionable reading world crave the strongest and most stimulating
food, and can only be satisfied by the most powerful excitement.

In the whole series of Slavic ballads and songs, which lie before our
eyes, we meet with only one instance of the return of a deceased
person to this world, in the like gloomy and mysterious way, in which
the Christian nations of the North and West are wont to represent such
an event. This is in the beautiful Servian tale, "Jelitza[10] and her
Brothers." As it is too long to be inserted here entire, we must be
satisfied with a sketch of it. Jelitza, the beloved sister of nine
brothers, is married to a Ban on the other side of the sea. She
departs reluctantly, and is consoled only by the promise of her
brothers to visit her frequently. But "the plague of the Lord"
destroys them all; and Jelitza, unvisited and apparently neglected by
her brothers, pines away and sighs so bitterly from morning to
evening, that the Lord in heaven takes pity on her. He summons two of
his angels before him;

"Hasten down to earth, ye my two angels,
To the white grave where Jovan lies buried,
The lad Jovan, Jelitza's youngest brother;
Into him, my angels, breathe your spirit,

"Make for him a horse of his white grave-stone,
Knead a loaf from the black mould beneath him,
And the presents cut out from his grave-shroud;
Thus equip him for his promised visit."

The angels do as they are bidden. Jelitza receives her brother with
delight, and asks of him a thousand questions, to which he gives
evasive answers. After three days are past, he must away; but she
insists on accompanying him home. Nothing can deter her. When they
come to the church-yard, the lad Jovan's home, he leaves her under a
pretext and