A long time ago, there lived a woman named Iva,
her mother long dead, and her lover gone to war.
Iva went to town to learn the fate of her own lover.
She asked the fortune teller, "Is he dead or alive?"

Get seven bones from seven graves, boil ‘em til midnight.
For seven days and seven nights, til your love comes back to you.

If he is alive, he’ll be walking over mountains.
But if he's dead, he’ll come riding a horse.
If his spirit’s good, on a horse the darkest color...
But if he is evil, his horse, it will be white.

So seven days and seven nights Iva sat by the fire
To keep the bones brewing so her lover would return.

Steam spilled from the cottage, into the forest,
It whispered, they whispered, she whispered,
"Come back, oh come back to me."

"Putce putce putce."

On the seventh night, the bones boiled harder and harder.
As midnight drew near, they started to shout.

"Putce putce putce."

Suddenly, a shadow fell over Iva’s fire.
She knew it was her lover.
He came riding a horse.
That horse, it was white.

"Putce putce putce! Oh come back, come back to me."

The fortune-teller had told her to prepare seven bundles,
seven bundles of cloth to protect her through the night.
And if Iva were to leave home, she should take her rosary.
It would keep her safe. Keep her safe from evil, safe til morning light.

Iva’s lover bid her get on the horse behind him
To leave their town and be married at last.

As the horse galloped along, he said...

"How the moon brightly shines, how the horses swiftly run.
How the moon brightly shines, how the horses swiftly run."

And as they went farther and farther from home,
He repeated the words, somewhat changed.

"How the moon brightly shines, how the ghosts, they swiftly glide.
How the moon brightly shines, how the ghosts, they swiftly glide."

Til finally, they came to a church.

They stopped at his grave.

She realized his intentions, threw her bundles to the ground.
As he stooped to pick them up, she ran as fast as she could.
She ran to a nearby cottage, through cobwebs in the woods.

Breathing high and fast, quickly she bolted the door.
Inside, there were just some chickens and a dead man on the floor.

She hung her rosary inside, and it shone gently in the moonlight.

Her ghost-lover stood outside. He called to the dead man.
Iva hid trembling, wishing she was home again.

But the rosary hung inside, and it shone gently in the moonlight.

Iva turned to the chickens, begged the rooster to crow.
It would make these spirits vanish, but the rooster … he said, "No."

"I won’t crow for you, Iva, though I see your plight.
For when you used to feed the chickens, I was chased til I was out of sight."

Meanwhile, Iva’s ghost-lover clawed at the cottage walls,
And the dead man opened his eyes and towards Iva, he did crawl.

Iva pleaded with the rooster, “Only you can save me!
As penance for my actions, you’ll get more food than you ever need.”

So the rooster, he stood tall and proud, and he let out a crow.
The dead man went back to being dead, and the ghost-lover was seen no more."

The rooster fluffed his feathers, settling down, and all was right.
Iva kept her promise - brought him food for all his life.

"How the moon brightly shines, how the horses swiftly run
How the moon brightly shines, how the horses swiftly run."

And the rosary hangs inside, shining gently til the sunrise.