The
Corpse Bride
Once
upon a time there was a young man who lived in a village in Russia. He was to
be married and he and his friend prepared to go to the village where his bride-to-be
lived, two days walk from his own village.
The
first night the two friends decided to set up camp by a river. The young man who
was going to be married spotted an unusual looking stick in the ground that looked
like a bony finger. He and his friend started joking about this bony finger sticking
out of the ground and the young man who was going to be married took the golden
wedding ring from his pocket and put it on the strange-looking stick. And then
he started to do the wedding dance around the stick; he danced around the stick
with the golden wedding ring three times and he sang the Jewish wedding song,
and recited the entire marriage sacrament as he danced around the stick, he and
his friend
laughing the whole time.
Their
fun stopped suddenly when the earth started rumbling and shaking beneath their
feet. The place where the stick had been opened up and a very bedraggled looking
corpse emerged, a living corpse, she had been a bride, but now was barely more
than a skeleton held together by shreds of skin, still wearing an old torn white
silk wedding dress. Worms and spider webs hung on the once-beaded bodice and tattered
veil.The two young men were aghast."Ah," she said, "you have done
the wedding dance and pronounced the marriage vows and you have put a ring on
my finger. Now we are man and wife. I demand my rights as your bride."
Shuddering
with terror at the corpse bride's words, the two young men fled to the village
where the young bride was waiting to be married. They went straight to the rabbi."Rabbi,"
asked the young man breathlessly, "I have a very important question to ask
you. If by some chance you're walking in the woods and you happen to see a stick
that looks like a long bony finger coming out of the ground and you happen to
put a golden wedding ring on the finger and do the wedding dance and pronounce
the wedding vows, is this indeed a real marriage?"
Looking
very puzzled, the rabbi asked, "Do you know of such a situation?""Oh
no, no, of course not, it's just a hypothetical question."Stroking his long
beard thoughfully, the rabbi said, "let me think about it." And just
then, a big gust of wind blew the door open, and in walked the corpse bride. "I
lay claim to this man as my husband, for he has placed this wedding ring on my
finger and pronounced the solemn marriage vows," she demanded, her bony finger
rattling as she shook it at her intended brigegroom.
"This
is indeed a very serious matter. I'll have to consult with the other rabbis,"
said the rabbi.Soon all the rabbis from the surrounding villages were gathered
together. They went into conference, while the two young men anxiously awaited
their decision. The corpse bride waited on the porch tapping her foot, declaring,
"I want to celebrate my wedding night with my husband."
These
chilling words made every hair on the young man's body stand on end, though it
was a warm summer day.While the rabbis were conferring, the real human bride arrived
and wanted to know what all the fuss was about. When her fiance explained just
what had happened, she started weeping, "Oh, my life is ruined, all my hopes
and dreams are shattered; I'll never be married, never have a family."
Just
then the rabbis came out and asked: "Did you indeed put a gold ring on the
finger, and did you dance around it three times and did you indeed pronounce the
wedding vows in their entirety?" The
two young men who by this time were cowering in a far corner nodded their heads.
Looking
very serious the rabbis went back to confer again.And the young bride wept bitter
tears, while the corpse bride was by now gloating at the prospect of her long
awaited wedding night.After a short while the rabbis solemnly marched out, took
their seats, and announced, "Since you put the wedding ring on the finger
of the corpse bride and you danced around it three times reciting the wedding
vows, we have determined that this constitutes a proper wedding ceremony. Even
so, we have decided that the dead have no claim upon the living."
Sighing
and murmuring could be heard from all corners, the young bride was especially
relieved.The corpse bride, however, howled, "Oh, there goes my last chance
for a life; I'll
never have my dreams fulfilled now, it's forever lost,"
and she collapsed on the floor. It was a pathetic sight, a heap of bones in a
tattered wedding gown, lying there, lifeless.
Overcome
with compassion for the corpse bride, the young bride knelt down and gathered
up that old heap of bones, carefully arranging the shredded silk finery and holding
her close, half sang, half murmured, as if cradling a crying infant, "don't
worry I'll live your dreams for you, I'll live your hopes for you, I'll have your
children for you, I'll have enough children for the two of us and you can rest
in peace knowing that our children and our children's children will be well cared
for and will not forget us."
Tenderly
she closed the eyes of the corpse bride, tenderly she held her in her arms and
slowly and with measured steps she marched down to the river with her fragile
charge, took her down by the river where she dug a shallow grave for her and laid
her in it and crossed the bony arms over the bony chest, the one hand clasping
the one with the ring on it, and folded the wedding gown around her. Then she
whispered, "May you rest in peace, I will live your dreams for you, don't
worry,
we will not forget you."
The
corpse bride looked happy and at peace in her new grave, as if she somehow knew
that she would be fulfilled through this young bride And the young bride covered
up, slowly, the corpse bride, covered up the tattered wedding gown in the shallow
grave, covered it all up with earth, then put wildflowers all over the grave and
stones all around it.
Then
the young bride went back to her fiance and they were married in a very solemn
wedding ceremony and they lived many happy years together. And all their children
and grandchildren and great grandchildren were always told the story of the corpse
bride, and so she was not forgotten, nor was the wisdom and compassion she had
taught them forgotten either.
BACKGROUND
............
The Corpse Bride is a story based on actual
events that occurred in 19th century Russia, at a time when anti-semitism was
widespread in eastern Europe. Very often bands of anti-semites would waylay a
Jewish wedding party on their way to the wedding. And because the bride would
be the one to bear future generations, she would be ripped out of the carriage
and murdered. She would then be buried in her wedding gown.
From
The Tim Burton Collective.com
