AN EXCHANGE WITH THE
DEVIL
MAINAI SU VELNIU
“Seniau žmonės dar iš
vakaro eidavo į rarotas. Vienas senelis
išsiruošė prieš Kalėdas į
bažnyčią ...............”
In earlier times, people used
to go to rarotas
(earliest Gregorian sung Mass, on
Sundays of Advent), often starting out the night before. One old fellow,
Juozas, set out to go to church just before Christmas, and as dusk fell he was on the way to town. It began to snow, and
he grew tired, so he sat down on a tree-stump to rest. He took out his tobacco
pouch, filled his pipe, and began to smoke.
After a little while, he
heard someone approaching. He thought it must be one or another of his
neighbors also on the way to rarotas, and watched to see who it might be. Instead of a
neighbor, he saw a fine young man, well-dressed, wearing a green hat with a
long red rooster’s feather tucked into the band. Surprised that such a
fine, proud young man would be traveling on foot, instead of in a carriage,
Juozas thought that the gentry could indeed sometimes behave oddly, and who
could figure them out!
The young man approached, sat
himself down next to Juozas, and took out his own pipe and tobacco pouch. He
filled his pipe and began smoking. And the fragrance of his tobacco was so
pleasing, the old man’s heart almost melted.
“Hey, Pop, let’s
exchange tobacco pouches, OK?”
“Well, but mine is very
poor”, Juozas answered, keeping his eyes glued on the young man’s
fancy tobacco pouch, which was decorated with all sorts of golden charms and
medals. “Your pouch is grand, and mine is just a peasant’s
bag.”
“Oh, that’s
alright” – the young fellow said soothingly, “and I’ll
also fill your pocket with some of my tobacco. It does smell good,
doesn’t it?”
“Well, if you’re
willing to do that, OK, let’s exchange”, agreed Juozas.
And so they exchanged tobacco
pouches. Juozas took the young man’s fancy pouch, and the other
fellow took Juozas’s filthy, worn old pouch. And as a bonus, the stranger
poured a quantity of his fragrant tobacco into Juozas’s pocket.
Politely taking his leave,
the fine young fellow went on his way, and Juozas continued his walk to church.
As he entered the churchyard,
he felt in his pocket to admire the beautiful tobacco pouch just once more. He
drew it out – and found, instead of a tobacco pouch, a horse’s
hoof. When he thrust his hand into his other pocket, which had been filled with
the fragrant tobacco, it came out smeared with something dark, that smelled of
the barnyard.
Only then did Juozas realize,
with whom he had made the exchange.
Source:
Published by “Vaiga” in
© English Translation - Gloria O’Brien 2007
This article was printed iin Bridges Nov 2007