Wednesday, July 29, 2009

10 Books A Day: #97











Egyptian Myth And Legend...Donald A. Mackenzie...Bell Publishing Company
The Book Of The Sacred Magic Of Abramelin The Mage...tr. S. L. MacGregor Mathers...Dover
Vampires And Vampirism...Montague Summers...Dover
The Werewolf In Lore And Legend...Montague Summers...Dover
The Fairies In Tradition And Literature...Katherine Briggs...Routledge Classics
Christmas Customs And Traditions...Clement A. Miles...Dover
A Treatise On Angel Magic...ed. Adam McLean...Weiser Books
Magic In The Middle Ages...Richard Kieckhefer...Cambridge Medieval Textbooks
A Dictionary Of Symbols...J. E. Cirlot...Barnes & Noble Books
A Treasury Of Jewish Folklore...ed. Nathan Ausubel...Crown Publishers
Today we begin a run of books on legend and lore. One of my favorite little combos of wisdom and humor comes from A Treasury Of Jewish Folklore, and goes as follows: "A man was carrying a heavy load of wood on his shoulders. When he grew weary he threw the bundle down and cried bitterly: 'O, Death, come and take me now!' Immediately, the Angel of Death appeared and asked, 'Why do you call me?' After a frightened pause, the man answered, 'Could you please help get this load back up on my shoulders?' "
Book Count: 1219.

1 comment:

AlanDP said...

That's a great little story, I'll have to remember it.

I have the Abramelin book, and another book on werewolves that I can't recall the title right now but it uses that same old woodcut for its cover graphic.