Lithuania

Egle

"Once somewhere in Lithuania lived a family that had three daughters and nine brothers. The youngest of the sisters, Egle, was the most beautiful of them. One day Egle and her sisters went to a beautiful lake for an evening swim. They left their clothes on the shore and ran into the cool water. Having swum and bathed as much as they wanted, the maidens left the water and started to dress. Egle, the youngest of them, discovered a serpent in her clothes. The serpent started speaking to her in a human voice. He asked Egle to marry him - then he would give her clothes back. Egle couldn’t imagine herself marrying a snake, but she just wanted the snake to leave and promised to become his wife. The serpent slithered out of the folds of her dress and disappeared into the thick grass. Seven days went by, and Egle forgot about her strange promise.

One morning she heard a great rumbling noise and saw that it was made by a carriage pulled by hissing grass-snakes. Soon there were snakes all over the ground. Frightened, Egle told her parents all that had happened that night at the lake. Egle’s parents could not accept the thought of losing their daughter. They dressed a white goose as the bride, adorned her with white flowers and lifted her into the carriage. The grass-snakes departed swiftly to the nearby forest. There they heard a cuckoo saying that this was not the bride they should have had, only a white goose. Furious, the snakes returned thundering to Egle’s house. They returned to claim the real bride. They startled her parents who still did not want to lose their daughter - and give them a sheep dressed all in white. The cuckoo warned the snakes once more.

Again they returned rumbling even more loudly. They started threatening to burn the house down if they were deceived once more. This time Egle had to keep her promise. Parents wept and bid farewell to their beloved daughter. The grass-snakes brought Egle to the sea shore where she found a handsome young man waiting for her. He revealed that he was that same serpent she had seen at the lake shore and promised to marry. He was also the king of the snakes - his name was Zhilvinas. Zhilvinas escorted Egle to his underwater castle. There she found everything her heart desired, and Egle spent her days happily with her loving husband. They had four children - Azhuolas (Oak), Berzhas (Birch), Uosis (Ash) and a little daughter Drebule (Aspen). Days went by, and Egle longed for her home and the sunny beach. She longed for her sisters and her parents more and more.

Zhilvinas promised her a trip home if she would wear out the iron shoes he had given for her. Egle walked on the rocks and pebbles, but the shoes did not have even a tiniest scratch on them. In despair, Egle turned to an old sea witch for advice. The witch told Egle to have a smith put these shoes in his forge - the shoes would wear out soon after that. The next day, Egle returned the worn shoes to her husband. She then received another challenge from him. She had to spin a tuff of silk. It seemed to be an endless job, for it did not shrink no matter how much she spun. Egle turned to the sea witch once more for help. She told Egle to throw the silk into the fireplace. The silk blazed up for a moment and the fire went out because it had a magic spell cast upon it. Afterwards she could quickly finish the spinning. Zhilvinas had then a third request for Egle. He asked Egle to bake some bread to bring home to her family. If she completed this task, then she would be free to go. He then hid every dish in the kitchen except an old sieve.

Tears ran down Egle’s bright face, for she did not know how to make bread without any pans. The old witch helped Egle once more. Eglewas told to go to the spring of fresh water, find some soft clay and stuff the holes of the sieve with it - then she could bring home some water and make a dough for the bread. After she completed this chore, there was nothing else to keep Egle from going home. In parting, Zhilvinas told Egle and the children not to stay longer than 9 days and upon returning to the seashore to call him by name and say: if you are alive, come as milk foam, if you are dead, come as blood foam. Egle left with her sons and the daughter. Her kinfolk had never expected to see their dearest daughter alive again and had a great feast to celebrate her visit. Egle’s brothers had no desire to lose Egle again and plotted to kill her beloved husband. At night they took the oldest son Azhuolas with them to pasture the horses and started asking him how they were to call their father when they wanted to return home. But Azhuolas was a stout boy and did not betray his father. Neither did Berzhas and Uosis when they were asked by Egle’s brothers on the next two days. On the fourth day, the brothers took little Drebule to the pasture. The little one was afraid of her angry uncles and their whipping switches. Afraid they would hurt her, she cried as she told them all about the song. The brothers at once set forth to the sea and called Zhilvinas. They saw that the waves had a milk foam and Zilvinas coming on them and attacked Zhilvinas with their scythes. After nine days Egle set out to journey back home. On the seashore she sang the song she was told to sing by her husband. She then looked for the milk foam on the sea. But instead, what she saw was a bright crimson blood foam. Deep pain shook Egle’s heart - she cast a spell on her children and they all turned into great Lithuanian trees. The sons became trees that are valued even today for their great strength. The little daughter turned to a frail aspen tree that shakes in the mildest wind. Egle herself turned to a fir tree and stayed close to the sea shore to mourn for her husband forever.”

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