# Plague Story Origin: Is it a Folktale?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plague-story-origin-is-it-a-folktale/389832>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [January 28, 2007, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plague-story-origin-is-it-a-folktale/389832 "2007-01-28T13:28:55Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\
**Post date:** [January 28, 2007, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plague-story-origin-is-it-a-folktale/389832/1 "2007-01-28T13:28:55Z")

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There’s a song by Robyn Hitchcock called “Lady Waters and the Hooded One” ([lyrics here](http://www.jh3.com/robyn/base/song.asp?squid=361)). It’s essentially a “cheating Death” story. In the midst of a plague, Death approaches Lady Waters on her estate and asks to dance. Lady Waters demurs, then tricks Death into threatening to take “everything she has,” at which point Lady Waters reveals she has the plague…and Death is forced to take not only her whole estate, but also the plague itself, leaving Lady Waters with nothing but her life.

This just sounds so much like a folk tale that I wonder if Hitchcock adapted it from an earlier tale. Does anyone know?

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**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\
**Post date:** [January 29, 2007, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plague-story-origin-is-it-a-folktale/389832/2 "2007-01-29T00:45:23Z")

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It reminds me of the general theme of a great many different folktales.

Nothing specific, though.

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**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\
**Post date:** [January 29, 2007, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plague-story-origin-is-it-a-folktale/389832/3 "2007-01-29T12:38:32Z")

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Yeah; “tricking death” is a popular folktale theme, and the plague seems like it would make a good backdrop for a tale.

Anyone else have a comment, even negative? My poor thread has over 200 views, and only **Bosda** could work up the nerve to comment. ☹

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**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\
**Post date:** [January 29, 2007, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plague-story-origin-is-it-a-folktale/389832/4 "2007-01-29T13:32:21Z")

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I can’t find diddly on the Web.

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**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\
**Post date:** [January 29, 2007, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/plague-story-origin-is-it-a-folktale/389832/5 "2007-01-29T15:45:14Z")

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It sounds like an inversion of Poe’s [The Masque of the Red Death](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Masque_of_the_Red_Death), re-imagined for a happy ending.