The following is a story about an Irish legend.  The informant is represented by the letter S, and I am represented by the letter K.

Piece:

K: Tell me more about your folklore.

S: So, uh, the Púca is an Irish legend, and supposedly, this… creature, uhm, takes you in the night, and you – uh, it forces you to ride it around the country, of Ireland, obviously. Uhm, so a lot of people would use this to get out of trouble. Say they- they went to the bar, and the next morning, they come home at 6 o’clock, in the morning – I think I said that- and their wife’s like, where have you been? And… they say, “I swear… I left the bar at 10 o’clock, but the Púca took me on a crazy 8-hour ride around the country and I’m only just getting home.” And you know, obviously, they probably got too drunk and fell in a ditch or something, but- but uh, the Púca was a good escape for them.  So, uh, if ever I’m- I’m in that situation where I’m supposed to be home and I’m not, I’ll just tell my parents that the Púca took me on a ride around the country.

K: And who told you this legend?

S: My dad.

Context:

We were sitting at a dining room table on Easter Sunday.  We had just eaten dinner and celebrated the holiday.  We were sitting around and just talking and sharing stories and folklore that we knew about.  The informant is my friend’s younger sister, so she lives at the home we were at and she was sitting with her friend, with me, her brother, and our other friend sat across from them.

My Thoughts:

It’s clear that this legend is like the informant mentioned, a large way in which people can get themselves out of trouble.  Since the creature only seems to take people on a ride during night time, it seems like a very feasible excuse for children to say why they came home late or for husbands to explain why they were at the bar so late.