The Finger - Jewish Folklore That Inspired Tim Burton's Corpse Bride - Horror, scary, legend story
Episode 12
The Jewish story that the movie, The Corpse Bride, was based on
One night long ago, in the ancient city of Safed, three young men went out for a walk. Reuven, the eldest, was to be married the next day to a beautiful and wealthy maiden, and his companions laughed and joked and teased their friend. The moon was full that night, and the young men decided to leave the beaten path and walk in the thick forest that surrounded the city.
The moonlight cast its light into the darkest parts of the forest, and they passed through it fearlessly. At last they reached the riverbank and rested on large rocks near the shore, while they watched the river below. Here they continued to make merry for they very light hearted.
It was during this time that one of them noticed something strange nearby. It was an object the size of a finger that stuck out of the earth. They got up to examine it, assuming it was a root. But when they came closer, they saw to their amazement that is was indeed a finger that emerged there.
Now on a different night the young men might have felt pity for one buried so near the surface. But filled with high spirits, they joked about it instead. One of them said who among us will put a wedding ring on this finger?” And Reuven, the groom-to-be, quickly replied that it must be he, because he was to be the first one to marry. Then, as his friends looked on in amusement, Reuven took off his ring and slipped it on that finger, pronouncing as he did the words Harai at m’kudeshes li-“You are betrothed to me”-three times, as the law requires. But no sooner did he finish speaking than the finger began to twitch, much to the horror of the young men, who jumped back at the sight.
Suddenly the whole hand reached out from the earth, twitching and grasping. And as they stared at it in horror, frozen in place, the ground began to rumble, as if the earth were about to open. Suddenly the body of a woman, wearing a tattered shroud, rose out of the earth, her dead eyes staring directly into those of Reuven, her arms open as she cried out, “My husband!” in a terrible and terrifying voice. Hearing this, the three friends screamed in horror and took to their heels, running through the forest as fast they could go. But this time the way was dark, for the moon had slipped behind a cloud, and as they ran they tore their clothes on thorns and branches, but never did they stop running or even dare to look back until they had reached their homes in the city. For all the time they ran they heard the unearthly wail of the dead woman close behind. Only when they were safely in their own homes, with the doors locked and the windows shuttered, did they dare breathe a sigh of relief and tend to the many cuts they had acquired in their wild dash through the forest.
Corpse Bride
The next morning the three friends met together, still pale and shaken. And they agreed to keep the horrible events of the night a secret, for they were deeply ashamed of their jest and its terrible consequences. Then Reuven went to the ritual bath to prepare for the wedding and left his friends alone with their confused thoughts.
Now a great many people had gathered, for Reuven and his bride belonged to two of the most distinguished families in Safed. But just as the ceremony was about to begin, a bloodcurdling shriek came from the back of the crowd, followed by the screams of many others, provoking a panic. For there stood the corpse of a woman wearing only a worm-eaten shroud. Most of the crowd-including the bride and the families of the bride and groom-ran away when they saw her, until none were left there except for Reuven and the rabbi, who had been about to pronounce the wedding vows.
The rabbi, alone among all of those present, retained his composure. He addressed himself to the corpse and said, “Why is it, woman, that you have left your final resting place and returned to the living?” And the corpse replied, in her unearthly voice:
“What blemish does the bridegroom find in me, that he should want to wed another? For cannot all the world see that he is wed to me?”