“Let him wake his waking worm”


Still so far, some people are convinced that stealing a book or not returning it to the owner is not a sin. Because of this, since ancient times special measures against book-keepers have been developed. Once in the libraries of Western Europe, the most valuable books were chained to their places by chains. But one of the most interesting measures against this evil was a tool widely practiced in Ukraine. On the margins of the book or at the beginning of it, a strong spell or abuse was written against the one who would want to assign the book. In ancient times, this method proved to be effective. Here are examples of such inscriptions: “Whoever delivers this book from this place will have dealings with me before God’s court,” “May this book remain forever in this church, and who will take it, be damned, be condemned to an unquenchable fire, and let him wake his waking worm “In one manuscript of the 18th century.

Hto b Mav syu book in the box,
Tom sіm lіt swine pasty.

Despite such spells, the books still stole: their new owners, in order to remove the spell, carefully scraped the “terrible” inscriptions or tore out the pages.


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“Let him wake his waking worm”