the blood of the poor creature.  In a single night he may, by working hard, kill five cows; but he seldom exceeds that number.  He can change his shape and weight very easily; for example, when he is sitting by day between the horns of a ram, the animal scarcely feels his weight, but at night he will sometimes throw himself on an ox or a cow so heavily that the animal cannot stir, and lows so pitifully that it would make your heart bleed to hear.  People who were born on a Saturday can see these monsters, and they have described them accurately, so that there can be no doubt whatever about their existence.  It is, therefore, a matter of great importance to the peasant to protect his flocks and herds against the ravages of such dangerous vampyres.  The way in which he does so is this.  On a Saturday morning before sunrise the village drummer gives the signal to put out every fire in the village; even smoking is forbidden.  Next all the domestic animals, with the exception of fowls, geese, and ducks, are driven out into the open.  In front of the flocks and herds march two men, whose names during the ceremony may not be mentioned in the village.  They go into the wood, pick two dry branches, and having stript themselves of their clothes they rub the two branches together very hard till they catch fire; then with the fire so obtained they kindle two bonfires, one on each side of a cross-road which is known to be frequented by wolves.  After that the herd is driven between the two fires.  Coals from the bonfires are then taken back to the village and used to rekindle the fires on the domestic hearths.  For several days no one may go near the charred and blackened remains of the bonfires at the cross-road.  The reason is that the vampyre is lying there, having dropped from his seat between the cow’s horns when the animals were driven between the two fires.  So if any one were to pass by the spot during these days, the monster would be sure to call him by name and to follow him to the village; whereas if he is left alone, a wolf will come at midnight and strangle him, and in a few days the herdsmen can see the ground soaked with his slimy blood.  So that is the end of the vampyre.[718] In this Bulgarian custom, as in the Slavonian custom described above, the conception of the need-fire as a barrier set up between the cattle and a dangerous spirit is clearly worked out.  The spirit rides the cow till he comes to the narrow pass between the two fires, but the heat there is too much for him; he drops in a faint from the saddle, or rather from the horns, and the now riderless animal escapes safe and sound beyond the smoke and flame, leaving her persecutor prostrate on the ground on the further side of the blessed barrier.

[The need-fire in Bosnia and Herzegovina.]