THE GODDESS WIFE
ŽMONA DEIVĖ
“Kitą kartą buvęs
vienas medžiotojas. Jis vaikščiojęs
vaikščiojęs po mišką ir užėjęs
miške tokius gražius namus.....”
Once there was a hunter, who
walked and walked through the woods, and came upon a beautiful manor. Entering
the yard, he saw a handsome steer tied to a fence. Continuing further and
entering the house, he saw a woman gowned in silk. She beckoned him further,
into a lovely chamber. He walked in, and looking through the window, he spied a
group of young maidens, all beautifully dressed, advancing towards the house.
Each one held a strong birch rod, and struck the steer as they passed him. And
the steer shuddered with each blow.
And the woman gave each
maiden instructions about their duties for the next
day:
“You must strike down
this animal, you that other; you will strike down this person, you that
other,” and so on.
After they had been instructed and sent away, he again looked out
the window, and saw the last and most beautiful maiden of all, who strode up to
the steer and struck him such a blow that he fell dead. When she entered the
room, the woman said to her:
“Tomorrow it will be
your task to strike down this hunter.”
The man was almost paralyzed
by fear, unable to decide whether he should stand or run. Dismissing the
maiden, the woman led him out of the chamber and asked:
“Did you hear what that
beautiful maiden must do to you tomorrow?”
“I heard” - he responded fearfully.
“Do you still possess all of your mother’s wedding clothing?”
“I believe so”, answered the hunter.
“Then, when you go out tomorrow to cut the rye, take with you all of your mother’s wedding clothes. Tie twelve thick
birch rods together, and take all of that with you, leaving it all close at
hand near your workplace. When you have cut the third row of rye, you
will see a serpent. With your mother’s wedding handkerchief, grab it,
wring it by the throat and commence to strike it with the birch rods. Though it
will writhe and twist, even coil around your arm and body, it will not bite.
You must continue striking the creature, until it changes into that maiden,
whom you saw today. You must quickly tear off all her clothing and dress her in
your mother’s wedding clothes. Then be sure to burn the silken finery
that you have taken from her.”
Having said all that, she let
him leave the manor, with a final warning:
“Do not forget to do
everything as I have told you.”
“Yes, yes -- I will not forget!”, he
answered.
The next day, he gathered all
of his mother’s wedding clothes, including the handkerchief, tied twelve
birch rods together, and went out with the others to cut the rye, carrying
everything with him and putting it down at his workplace. He cut two
rows, and upon cutting the third, he saw a serpent. He immediately grabbed the
creature with his mother’s handkerchief, taking it by the throat and
pressing with all his might. Taking a rod, he struck the snake repeatedly until
the rod broke, then took another and continued, over and over. The snake coiled
itself around his arm, over his shoulder, writhing and squeezing, but he
remained fearless and continued to strike, over and over. Each rod shattered,
one after the other, and the struggle raged on. The rods were being used up,
but still the maiden did not appear. As he began to strike the creature with
the twelfth and last rod, it changed into the same silk-clad, beautiful maiden
he had seen the day before. She pleaded with him:
“Let me go, and I will
kiss you!”
He immediately tore off her
silken finery and dressed her in his mother’s wedding clothing, then set
her to the work of tying the sheaves of rye: he would cut, and she would tie.
They married right after rugiapiūtę
(the rye-cutting season) and lived happily for a long time. He was going to
burn those beautiful silk clothes he had taken from her, but decided it would
be a pity to do so. Instead, he brought them home and hid them under the
floorboards in his granary.
Though they lived well, she,
as if remembering something, would sigh heavily: for her, it was not so good
here, as it had been there.
Once, she began kissing him
over and over:
“Oi, oi, oi -- she said
-- if only someone would give me back my clothes, how good I would be to
them!”
“Do you really need them that badly?” -- he
asked.
“Oh, I need them, how I need them!”
He lifted the floorboard in
the granary, and gave her the silken clothing. She dressed herself, then pakšt - gave him a smacking kiss in farewell. He
fell dead, and she changed back into a serpent.
Source:
From “Lietuviškos
Pasakos” - “Lithuanian Fairy-tales”
Compiled by Dr. Jonas Balys
Published in 1951 by the Lithuanian Book Club, Chicago
© English
Translation - Gloria O’Brien
This article was printed in Bridges