The Killing of the Khazar Kings.
(Vol. xxviii. p. 382 et seqq.; xxix. p. 238 et seqq.)
Stories about the killing of the old men are not unknown among the Roumanians. The reason assigned for such practices is utilitarian. The old men have become useless, they are a burden to the community, hence they must be got rid of.
The two stories which I am giving here come from two widely separated sections of the Roumanian nation. One comes from Transylvania, and more especially from the Banat.
The Banat is that part of South-East Hungary in which the Serbian and Roumanian elements are almost equally divided. One may probably have influenced the other, and yet there is a profound difference between the Roumanian and the Serbian parallels published in Folk-Lore (xxix. p. 238 ff.).
This was published as far back as 1845 by the brothers Schott, in German, as being a story from the time of the Romans. Maybe that in consequence it is known to students and may have been referred to by Sir James Frazer. If so, I must be forgiven in repeating it in full. Its importance lies not only in the peculiar details, but in the relations to the Serbian, of which it is an independent variant.
A Story from the Time of the Romans.
In olden times it was the custom to kill the old people because they were considered useless. A young man did not have the heart to kill his old father, but as he stood in fear of the others he hid his father in the cellar in an empty cask. He gave him food and drink secretly, so that not a soul was able to discover his secret.
There came suddenly the order that all men capable of bearing arms should get ready to fight a terrible monster which was spreading round its lair misery and trouble. The pious son did not know how to provide during his absence for the imprisoned father so that he should not die of thirst and hunger. He brought all the victuals that were in the house and he told
