Ghost story · 1939
The whipping spruce behind Urvaste manor
Urvaste mõisa taga olnud peksukuusk
Behind Urvaste manor, the sixth form of the local school was told in 1939, there once stood a spruce with iron rings fastened to it. Serfs who had done wrong were tied there and flogged, and under the tree stood a wooden trough in which lesser offenders were laid for their beating with switches. On New Year's Eve, people said, spirits could be heard rattling in the trough. When the spruce was finally cut down, it was found to have bloody veins inside. The story is one of many in southern Estonia that remember the cruelty of serfdom through haunted trees.
Open it on the map See the spot on the old maps and as it is today
Eesti keeles
Urvaste kooli kuuendale klassile räägiti 1939. aastal, et Urvaste mõisa taga oli kunagi kuusk, mille külge olid kinnitatud raudrõngad. Sinna seoti süüdi jäänud pärisorjad ja peksti neid ning puu all oli küna, kus anti vitsu väiksematele süüdlastele. Vana-aasta öösel olevat künas kuulda olnud vaimude kolinat. Kui kuusk lõpuks maha võeti, olid selle sees verised sooned. Lugu on üks paljudest Lõuna-Eesti juttudest, mis mäletavad pärisorjuse julmust kummitavate puude kaudu.
Source: Estonian Folklore Archives ERA II 243, 193 (Urvaste parish, 1939), Lõuna-Eesti pärimuse portaal ↗