THE DEVIL IN THE BATH-HOUSE
VELNIAS
PIRTYJE
“Seniai seniai gyveno du našliai -- vyras ir moteris. Abudu turėjo po dukterį.
Long, long ago, there lived
two widows – a man and a woman. Each had one daughter. Eventually, they
married, and began life together. But the woman loved her own daughter dearly,
and disliked her stepdaughter. She scolded her constantly, would not serve her
food, and made her wear old clothing. The poor girl was forced to make do with
everyone else’s leavings.
One Saturday evening the man
fired up the sauna bath-house, and everyone went to bathe. The men bathed first,
and then the women gathered. But the woman would not permit her stepdaughter to
join them. “You are filthy and ugly”, she said to the girl.
“You will wash by yourself, when the rest of us are finished.” She
was hoping that, on her way back to the house, the girl would be seized by
devils or witches. Everyone knew these evil creatures liked to hang around
bath-houses at night.
After everyone had bathed and
gone home, the stepdaughter quietly entered the bath and began to wash herself.
Just as she had finished, she heard a tap on the window and a voice: “Oh
maiden, dear maiden, hurry and finish your bath, and let’s go
dancing”. But she knew full well that it was the evil one calling to her,
and calmly answered: “How am I to wash, when there is no soap”? As
soon as she had spoken, the devil disappeared somewhere, then, soon enough, he
returned with a bar of soap. “Hurry, my dear, let’s go
dancing!”, he urged. “But how can I hurry,
when I have no washcloth”? said the girl. The
devil again sped away and returned with a washcloth for her. “Well, now,
wash quickly, and we shall go dancing”, said the devil impatiently.
“Well, think again”, said the girl, “as I have no dress to
wear.”
What then could the devil do,
but bring her a dress, but then the girl needed shoes, and after that, a comb,
then a shawl, then a few rings, and then a necklace, and after that, many other
things, without which she couldn’t consider going dancing. The devil ran
and ran his errands all night long, till he was so tired his tongue dragged on
the ground. Just as it seemed he had finally supplied the girl with every
single thing she could demand, the rooster crowed and the evil one, cursing,
vanished.
The stepmother was
congratulating herself on having got rid of the girl, since she hadn’t come
home all night, but as the dawn lightened the sky, she saw her stepdaughter
returning home, wearing a fine dress, beautiful shoes, with a pearl necklace,
and gold rings on her fingers and carrying a bag of money. Seeing her
stepdaughter in possession of such wealth, the resentful woman almost burst
with envy. She questioned the girl and, discovering the devil’s wish to
dance, decided to send her own daughter to the bath-house, all alone, so that
she, also, could obtain some of the devil’s wealth.
The next Saturday, the man
fired up the sauna and the woman sent her daughter to bathe alone. While
washing, she heard someone tap on the window and say, “Oh maiden, dear
maiden, hurry with your bath, and let’s go dancing!” “Oh,
go away with you!” cried the girl. “What can you be thinking? How can I go dancing, when I have no dress, no
shoes, rings, earrings and other jewels”? “Aha”,
answered the devil. “I will bring you all of that”. He
vanished like the wind, and after a half-hour returned with a group of little
devils, who presented the girl with everything she had asked for. “Come,
let us dance!” said the evil one. The girl, seeing that things were
going badly, and not knowing what else to ask for, finally demanded,
“Bring me a bag of money”. And he did.
She had no choice – she
had to go and dance with the devils. And they seized her and dragged her back
and forth among them, “dancing” with her until her poor feet
swelled and her hands grew numb. She danced, and danced until the morning, when
she fell to the ground, unable to take another step. Neither money, nor finery
was left. Her mother found her like that, barely alive,
after her night dancing with the devils. The stepdaughter married a
handsome young man from the village, and with her bag of money, they lived well
and happily.
Published by
“Vaiga” in
© English
Translation - Gloria O’Brien 20006
This article was printed in Bridges Sept 2006