人狼

解説

付記

ある晩、バイエルンの農民たちが狼を捕らえ、 尻尾を杭に縛りつけて寝床についた。 翌朝、そこには何もいなかった！ 途方に暮れた彼らは地元の司祭に相談した。 司祭は言った―― 「そやつは間違いなく人狼。 夜の間に人間の姿に戻ったのだ。」 そして付け加えた。 「次に狼を捕まえたなら、必ず脚を鎖で繋ぎなさい。 そうすれば翌朝そこにいるのは――ルター派の人間だろう。」

管理人コメント

Original

A wolf that was once, or is sometimes, a man. All werewolves are of evil disposition, having assumed a bestial form to gratify a beastial appetite, but some, transformed by sorcery, are as humane as is consistent with an acquired taste for human flesh.

Additional notes

Some Bavarian peasants having caught a wolf one evening, tied it to a post by the tail and went to bed. The next morning nothing was there! Greatly perplexed, they consulted the local priest, who told them that their captive was undoubtedly a werewolf and had resumed its human form during the night. "The next time that you take a wolf," the good man said, "see that you chain it by the leg, and in the morning you will find a Lutheran."