Track Information
Original Track ID
SA1953.210.6+211.1
Original Tape ID
SA1953.210
Summary
The man who pretended to be dead.
A man went to a house for shelter one night, and a woman let him in grudgingly. She was washing a corpse. She laid out the corpse and told the stranger she was going to visit her brothers. When she went, the corpse sat up, and told the stranger not to be afraid, as he was only pretending to be dead. The corpse made a meal for both of them and explained to the stranger that his wife was friendly with another man, and that this man would be returning with her and her brothers, bringing lots of food and drink. He told the stranger that as soon as he heard them coming, he would lie down again, and he asked the stranger to put a white sheet over him. He then asked the stranger to wait until the others had settled down to eat, before shouting loudly that the corpse was getting up. Instead of opening the door, he was to close it tight. The man did exactly as he had been told. The others eventually broke down the door and fled, leaving the corpse and the stranger to enjoy the food and drink in peace, before the stranger went away the next day.
Language
Gaelic
Genre
Story
Collection
SoSS
Classification
AT1350;