Oh, fate of the drowned, of those hanged and tormented lives who chose to end them on their own. They say they see you emerging from the grave at night, from Krvavica to Burovo.
Wailing, moaning, lamenting heavy tales… You came to haunt those who wronged you in life. They can neither destroy nor comprehend you; you will vanish only when your soul finds peace, touches tranquility, and embraces salvation.
They say you weren’t buried according to tradition, an unbaptized child who, after death, often visits your parents, not allowing them to forget their sins.
In Poljanica near Vranje, they claim you are the soul of a fallen soldier. Tall, thin neck, with only one leg, resembling a dog, cat, or goat.
A ghost that roams graveyards and forests, your cries can deafen a person. You seek revenge between midnight and dawn, trembling at daylight and fleeing with the first morning roosters.
You are most dangerous during the period of unbaptized days, from Christmas to Epiphany. You lure your victims to pits, caves, mills, and willow trees. You attach yourself to lost travelers, forcing them to carry you until dawn. When dawn breaks, you leave them scratched and exhausted by the roadside, alone somewhere on the edge.
Your fur drags along the ground as you walk, creating new wounds. For those who think they’ve escaped you, you visit them in dreams at night.
Calm yourself, drekavac, harbinger of bad events, you who foretell illness, fire, death, and war.
Jackal, sleep paralysis, cuckoo – you are the ominous bird.
