" In various parts of Mecklenburg, where the belief
in the Corn-wolf is particularly prevalent, every one fears to cut
the last corn, because they say that the Wolf is sitting in it;
hence every reaper exerts himself to the utmost in order not to be
the last, and every woman similarly fears to bind the last sheaf
because "the Wolf is in it." So both among the reapers and the
binders there is a competition not to be the last to finish. And in
Germany generally it appears to be a common saying that "the Wolf
sits in the last sheaf." In some places they call out to the reaper,
"Beware of the Wolf"; or they say, "He is chasing the Wolf out of
the corn." In Mecklenburg the last bunch of standing corn is itself
commonly called the Wolf, and the man who reaps it "has the Wolf,"
the animal being described as the Rye-wolf, the Wheat-wolf, the
Barley-wolf, and so on according to the particular crop. The reaper
of the last corn is himself called Wolf or the Rye-wolf, if the crop
is rye, and in many parts of Mecklenburg he has to support the
character by pretending to bite the other harvesters or by howling
like a wolf.
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