Pig-Nosed Women, Jack the Jumper and Other Urban Legends Believed by People in Different Countries

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

All the stories from this review at one time had great popularity and left a significant mark on the culture. On their basis, films are still being made and books are being written, they are mentioned as signs of the times. It's amazing what people didn't believe in before, but remember how in childhood it became scary when friends talked about the “green eye that appears on the wallpaper” or “red knee-highs”. All urban legends have one thing in common - they reflect some kind of massive fears lurking in our subconscious. Most likely, most of them had some kind of real foundation, although sometimes researchers are at a loss as to what could have spawned such a fantastic tale.

Pig-nosed women

This is a very old legend, it arose in the middle of the 17th century, people believed in it until the beginning of the 20th century, and traces of it can still be found in creativity (like, for example, the famous character Porco Rossa from Hayao Miyazaki, a man who, as a result of a curse partially turned into a pig). The origins of the legend lie even in earlier medieval stories.

So, the plot of this horror story is as follows: a pregnant noble woman encounters a beggar on the street, drives her away and speaks impolitely about her children, comparing them to pigs. The offended beggar curses the noble but rude beauty, and she gives birth to a girl in due time - healthy, smart and kind, but with a pig's snout instead of a face. The child grows up, learns to speak, but his habits sometimes resemble those of a pig, and his speech is grunting. Usually, the storytellers made this unfortunate child the sole heir of a huge fortune and sometimes even invented stories with a happy ending that the curse could be lifted by a man who wished to link his fate with this monster - such is the "Scarlet Flower" on the contrary.

This legend was known in the Netherlands and in France, but the British believed in it especially fiercely. Charles Dickens wrote in 1861 about how surprisingly long this bike lives and noted that. For almost three centuries, mentions of pig-faced women can be found in newspapers and printed brochures, which provided detailed illustrations and told very specific cases, indicating the dates, names and names of cities where, allegedly, this happened. The owners of the booths added fuel to the fire, who, under the guise of this curiosity, adapted to show shaved bears dressed up in women's dresses. Modern researchers believe that the basis for the creation of such a myth could have been the appearance of children with congenital deformities or facial defects. In those days, such cases were often explained by witchcraft or the impressions of a pregnant woman.

Jack-jumper or Jack-springs-on-heels

In 1837, Victorian England was shocked by the appearance of a completely unusual criminal. This creature, which numerous witnesses have described as a very thin person, could make huge leaps and maim people with incredible cruelty. This case differs from the rest of the legends in that the police took part in its investigation, therefore, quite real documents and descriptions of eyewitnesses have been preserved, but the perpetrator remained unknown. According to the characteristic print of his shoes, detectives came to the conclusion that Jack was jumping with the help of powerful springs, but no one has yet succeeded in constructing such a device.

Thanks to his amazing super abilities, this antihero instantly became a darling of the tabloid press. Then many novels of dubious quality were written about him, where the image of a terrible killer began to take on human features and eventually transformed into an ambiguous, but quite attractive personality. It should be noted that eyewitnesses described the criminal's unusual clothes. So, for example, Miss Alsop, who saw Jack the Jumper on the night of February 20, 1838, reported that he wore a kind of helmet on his head, and he was dressed under a cloak in tight white clothes made of oilcloth-like fabric. The strange paths of human fantasy led to the fact that it was this monster, which filled the streets of London and the suburbs with fear, became the prototype of many Superheroes who flooded the pages of comics, and now captured the cinema screens.

Interestingly, during the Second World War, Jack the Jumper seemed to be reborn. This time - in the Czech Republic under the name Perak. This hero could also make huge jumps and climb the walls of buildings, but now he allegedly helped the fight against the Nazis - he destroyed German patrols and killed important military and political leaders of the Reich. Despite the fact that there was no evidence of such heroes, this urban legend terrified the invaders, and morally supported the resistance fighters, so it’s impossible to say that superheroes are completely useless.

Men in Black

This urban legend still should not be written off, because many US residents firmly believe that there is a mysterious organization whose members "work" with eyewitnesses to paranormal phenomena, take pictures and videos from them, and demand secrecy. In popular culture, these characters have become not only well-established, but also beloved - thanks to the multi-part film Men in Black and the wonderful performance of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones.

The legend itself arose in the United States after the war, and according to eyewitnesses, representatives of this secret organization, in addition to black strict suits, have a Mongoloid appearance and look more like Asians.

Crocodiles in the sewers

Despite the absurdity, it is this legend that has some ground under it and wanders around the world, terrifying the inhabitants. Our country, by the way, is no exception. The fear of huge underground communications, which themselves look like cities, seems to sit firmly in our heads, and what exactly to inhabit it - crocodiles or mutant rats - is already a matter of the imagination of the editors of the yellow press and local climate features.

By the way, it is precisely because of the climate that researchers do not attach much importance to the first case, which received wide publicity in the press and gave rise, in fact, to this urban legend. Allegedly in the 1930s, a whole brood of alligators was actually found in the sewers of New York. The animals escaped from their owners and bred in suitable conditions. In fact, zoologists still argue that this is impossible. But in the hotter southern states, such a horror is really not a legend, but a reality. In New York itself, on average, the authorities also catch from two to four small crocodiles a year, which, as a rule, turn out to be someone's thrown pets.

Hanako-san

Interestingly, latrines, despite the apparent lack of romance, often become the backdrop for urban legends. In any case, these places fit exactly into the theory of hidden fears. Hanako-san or Dressing Hanako is the Japanese Crybaby Myrtle. The urban legend of the ghost of a young girl originated in Japan in the 1950s and is still popular with young people today. It is believed that the ghost of the unfortunate Hanako appears if, in the right place (a purely Russian pun turned out), her name is shouted three times. The versions of the legend differ, but in any case, they feature a young girl who died at school and did not find rest. Today Hanako-san is a popular character in manga, anime and the heroine of several films.

Interestingly, a similar character existed in Chinese folk mythology. Tzu-gu ("purple maiden") - the goddess of latrines, according to legend, during her lifetime was a beautiful girl, the beloved concubine of the head of the district, but fell victim to the jealousy of her lawful wife. The mistress pierced her with a sword, and threw the corpse into the restroom. The unfortunate one was “appointed” as the deity of latrines, since all other “vacancies” were already taken. By the way, in the X-XIII centuries, this kind of goddess was very popular with noble ladies, they turned to her during predictions.

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