Long time ago, when Kalevipoeg
was still around, there lived an Old
Devil near a soon-to-be lake now known as Võrtsjärv. An empty field and forest
filled the land where the was about to
get formed. The Old Devil lived on a
meadow because the forest was occupied
by fairies who protected the forest wholeheartedly. Every devilish beast was shooed
from the forest. Other fairies and God’s ambassadors were the only ones in the
forest. Only once a year, which happened to be in spring, God Himself gave a visit to the forest and the fairies. One sunny day, as the Old Devil was looking for a cool shade, he tried to sneak
into the fairy’s forest. He had reached a fine spruce, when a small fairy
spotted him and started to yell: „Help! The Old Devil is in the forest! Help,
help!“
The Old Devil tried to crawl as
much as possible into a coppice, but the Mother Fairy still saw him. She
screamed: „What are you doing over here?!“
The Old Devil stuttered: „It’s awful
to stand in the burning sun. Wouldn’t
you look for a shade if you were me?“
Mother Fairy gave a righteous answer
: „We gave you a great pasture with God’s permission, isn’t that enough for you?“
The Old Devil was still moaning :
„I am greatful for that, but on a day like this, the sun is unbearable.“
Mother Fairy replied: „No, it isn’t
my concern. When God comes for a visit, he’ll deal with you!“ That scared the
Devil and he said: „Oh no, I beg for forgiveness, I didn’t mean to disturb God,
I’m off now.“ So he left.
After a few days God came for his visit. The
Old Devil was sitting on his pasture and hoped that God wouldn’t meet him.
All the fairies had gathered to greet God. He arrived and asked: „Is there
any news?“
Mother Fairy together with the
other fairies told Him about the misdeed of the Old Devil. He was furious when he heard about what he had done. He
asked: „Where is this Old Devil? We need to drive him away as soon as
possible!“
Everyone went to the meadow to look
for him. The Old Devil knew that he couldn’t hide himself, so he had to talk to
them. God stepped in front of him and asked: „Who gave you a permission to come
into our forest and scare the little fairies?“
The old Devil answered: „Nobody
did, I came here on my own will.“
Then God continued: „If
nobody told you to, we have to punish you.“
The Old Devil was scared to death
and started to beg: „No, please don’t hurt me, I never meant to do any harm.“
God shouted: „I am not going
to hurt you, but you’re going to have to find a new place to live!“ The Old
Devil kept begging him to be left on the pasture, but it was all in vain. The
All-Mighty said: „Throughout the
year the sun will be burning, but only for you. You will be gone from the
pasture and near the forest and instead of the pasture, a lake will be formed! This
is your punishment! Had you behaved yourself, you would have been allowed to
cool yourself in the lake, but no longer!“
Suddenly a strong gust of wind
arrived and carved a huge hole into the ground. It started to rain and soon the
whole hole was filled with water. Along with the wind, The Old Devil was blown
away. He tried as hard as he could, but he was flown far
by the wind. After that, the lake was complete, which was a punishment to the Old Devil for sneaking into the forest. He had to suffer under burning sun for
the whole year, without being able to cool himself off in the lake. Knowing that the place he was
driven away had became a perfect place
to live was his punishment. After a lot of time, new settlers, named the lake as
Võrtsjärv.
That is the why Estonians have Võrtsjärv. All
thanks to the Old Devil's naughty tricks and attempts to fool God.
Author: Katarin Leppik, form 8A (14 years)
Teacher: Eva Pedaja
Translation into English: Kaarel-Eerik Sarapuu, form
8
No comments:
Post a Comment