Chapter 39 The corn-spirit transforms into an animal: The corn-spirit transforms into a cat

In addition, it is also imagined that the corn-spirit sometimes changes into a cat.In Kiel [a seaport in northern Germany] children are warned not to go into the cornfields, because "cats" hide there.In Oberland in Eisenach [a city in western Germany] adults say to children that "the corn-spirit cat is coming for you" and "the corn-spirit cat is walking in the corn".In some parts of Silesia, when the last stalks of corn are mowed, it is said that "the old cat has been caught"; when threshing, the person who hits the last is called "the old cat".Around Lyon the last sheaf of corn cut from the field and the harvest supper are called "Old Cats"."We caught the cat by the tail," said people harvesting the last grain in their fields near Vesoulles [a region near Lyon in France] in Dauphine [a region in southeastern France bordering Italy. Briançon, at the beginning of the harvest, decorated a cat with ribbons, flowers, and ears of corn, and called it le chat de peaude balle.If the Reaper bruises anywhere while working, let the cat lick the wound.When the harvest is over, decorate the cat again with ribbons, flowers, and ears of corn, and dance around it.At the end of the dance, the girls carefully stripped off the decorations on the cat.In Silesia's Green Mountain City [also translated as "Gegeberg"], the person who reaps the last handful of grain in the field is called "Tom the Cat".They wrapped him in rye straw and willow branches, and tied a long braid on him.Sometimes another person is also dressed up in the same way, and he is called "the mother cat" as his companion.Their duty is to chase people when they see them, and beat them with long sticks when they catch up.Near Lamian [a city in northern France], near the end of the harvest, people said "they're going to kill the cat"; a live cat was killed on the farm when the last handful of grain was cut in the field.In some parts of France a cat is put under the last sheaf of corn to be threshed, killed with a flail, and roasted as a feast on Sunday.In the Vosges, the end of the harvest is called "cat-catching," "dog-killing," and occasionally "hare-catching."According to the quality of the crops, the cat, dog or hare is said to be fat or thin.The person who cuts the last ear of rice or wheat is said to "catch the cat", "catch the hare" or "kill the dog".