GRATEFUL
DEAD: The motif of a cycle of folk tales which begin with the hero
coming upon a group of people ill-treating or refusing to bury the
corpse of a man who had died without paying his debts. He gives his
last penny, either to pay the man's debts or to give him a decent
burial. Within a few hours he meets with a travelling companion who
aids him in some impossible task, gets him a fortune or saves his life.
The story ends with the companion disclosing himself as the man whose
corpse the hero had befriended.(Funk & Wagnall's Dictionary).
Mousetrap
Powered Car Project February
2009
