Любовь Талимонова. Tales collection

 

 
   With the arrival of morning the seven Tuata and Beta ate a hasty breakfast, put out the fire and set off on their way once more. A little tired after the sleepless night, the Tuata walked slowly and often stumbled over clumps of grass or the roots of trees. Only the fairy remained as cheerful as ever and strode through the forest without any sign of tiredness. She continually reassured, comforted and encouraged her friends, fed them sweets from home and gave them water to drink from the magic jug, and thanks to her efforts the Tuata were able to press on through the dark and gloomy forest for several hours.
   The forest finally came to an end and the travellers emerged into a brightly-lit green meadow. All around them they could hear birds singing, there were flowers everywhere and there was the wonderful smell of honey in the air. The Sun’s rays danced merrily on large drops of dew and a multi-coloured rainbow kept appearing and then disappearing over the meadow. After the gloom of the forest depths the open sunny meadow seemed especially warm and inviting to the friends. The Tuata forgot about all their worries, clapped their hands with happiness and began to dance round and round. Then all at once they dropped onto the grass and fell asleep immediately.
   The friends did not know how long they slept, but when they woke the Sun was shining just as bright over the meadow and the birds were still singing, but nearby the Tuata saw some unfamiliar and very unusual people. They were all dressed in light, delicate clothes that seemed to be made from fine morning mist. When they walked, their light, nimble legs barely made an impression in the grass, and if these unusual people encountered a particularly beautiful flower in their path, they would simply float over it like graceful butterflies. The Tuata gazed at these strange people with curiosity, and the people themselves regarded the seven Tuata with great interest and smiled welcomingly at them. Every so often they tried to say something to the seven friends in their melodic language, which sounded just like birdsong, but the Tuata understood nothing and shrugged their shoulders helplessly. Only Beta understood their language and could even speak to them. And so the strange people all gathered round the fairy and began to talk with her and then discussed things amongst themselves. Once they had agreed something with Beta, they suddenly flew off and Beta explained to the seven Tuata that these strange flying people were meadow-elves and that they were her distant relatives. The fairy told them that the meadow-elves were a cheerful, kind and friendly people, and that in their meadow land they tended flowers and grasses, looked after hard-working bees, danced in the evenings, greeted the sunrise with songs and still knew the secret of preparing special cakes which gave strength and good spirits to all travellers. She also told the friends that the elves made their cakes from flower pollen, honey and freshly-collected dew.
 

 
   “When the elves found out where we were going and why, they decided to treat us to some of their wonderful cakes. And while the elves are busy preparing them we could take a walk through the sunny meadow, breathe the air that is as sweet as honey and look at their beautiful flowers”, suggested Beta, and the Tuata agreed with delight. The friends set off at a leisurely pace through the warm, flower-filled meadow, stopping to examine the flowers in detail. The Tuata saw bluebells, camomile and irises, but many flowers they did not recognize, so they asked Beta about them. She knew the names of all the flowers and grasses in the meadow and the Tuata were amazed at her knowledge, but the fairy said nothing to them about this and just smiled back at them. You see, she could not be a magic fairy without an understanding of nature and plants.
   An hour or two passed before the kind elves returned to the meadow. They treated their guests generously to the wonderful cakes and gave them hot tea to drink. For the journey the elves gave Beta and each of the seven Tuata a small linen bag of their cakes, and told them that there was still a long way to go before they reached the palace of Lugus.
   Then they led their guests to the edge of the vast flower-filled meadow and warned them that ahead of them lay the dangerous land of Grona, where elves also lived, but not such kind or friendly elves. The meadow-elves explained to the friends that the land of Grona consisted of marshes and swamps, and anyone who became bogged down in these would become a slave of the crafty marsh-elves forever. The marsh-elves used their slaves to make new jackets and shoes for them, do all their housework and look after their large underground herds of cattle. If a cow strayed into the marsh, the marsh-elves would immediately claim it for themselves and declare a holiday as a result of this, because the marsh-elves liked fresh warm milk more than anything else in the world.
   The meadow-elves also said that people usually avoided these marshes, but the shortest route to the palace of Lugus was through the marshes and swamps of Grona.
   When they heard all this the seven Tuata started to worry how they would be able to pass through the marshes and swamps safely, but the beautiful golden-haired queen of the meadow-elves reassured them. She revealed to Beta and the Tuata the secret of the crafty marsh-elves. It turned out that they were afraid of the magical powers of an ordinary meadow flower: white clover. If the marsh-elves touched it they would lose the ability to speak or move for a whole hour, and so they would not harm any travellers who carried the leaves and flowers of white clover. And the beautiful elf-queen handed each of the seven Tuata and Beta a sprig of white clover and embraced them. Then the meadow-elves wished the friends a safe journey in their melodious language.
   Everything turned out exactly as the queen of the meadow-elves had predicted. As soon as the Tuata and Beta crossed the border of the marshy land of Grona, the gleeful marsh-elves began to run towards them from all directions. They were ready to pinch and tickle the travellers, tug at their sleeves, pull on the tails of their cloaks and urge them on towards the swamp. However, when the elves saw that Beta and the Tuata were holding flowers and leaves of white clover, they stopped in their tracks and sighed with disappointment, then looked at the cautious travellers with a mixture of hurt and annoyance and sat down at a safe distance from them on mounds of grass in the marsh. Occasionally the elves called out loudly or whistled to try to cause the travellers to lose their way and fall into the swamp, but at the start of the path through the marsh Beta had instructed the seven Tuata to follow in her footsteps without fail. Because she was a magic fairy, Beta could see through water and earth, and so she knew exactly which ground was hard and which was dangerous swamp. The Tuata realised this and so they followed Beta slowly and carefully, but also bravely and confidently.
   And so they passed through all the obstacles and dangers of the marshy land of Grona and found themselves once more on firm and dry ground. When the Tuata looked back they saw that the furious marsh-elves were waving their fists at them. But the friends were not frightened by this. On the contrary, they found it funny, and waved farewell to the marsh-elves with their white clover, and were about to throw it away when the fairy stopped them. She told them that the clover would come in useful on the return journey. At first, Ruta, Kana, Bradag, Krudlakh, Gaire, Ebor and Anun doubted this, as they thought that by that time the white clover would have become wilted and dry, but Beta reminded the friends that the clover was a present to them from the meadow-elves.
   “Such flowers never wilt and never dry out”, she said, and the seven Tuata had no reason to doubt the fairy. On her advice they put away the magic clover in the pockets of their waistcoats and set off again on the path without looking back.
   Soon a range of low, rocky hills appeared on the horizon and the friends started to hear a rumbling sound in the distance. This was the River Ton crashing and roaring. It was not a particularly deep river, and it would have been possible to wade across it if it were not so wide, fast and turbulent. The river Ton flowed between two rocky banks, rumbled and foamed around large stones that protruded from the water, and then burst out into the sea.
   When the Tuata approached the high and steep banks of the river, they suddenly realised that it would be impossible to wade across it or even cross it in a boat. There was also no bridge to be seen and the Tuata began to lose heart. They started to discuss what to do next, but the noise of the water drowned out their voices. In their distress the friends completely forgot about the bluish-grey magic stones that had been given to them by kind Dan. It is just as well that the fairy remembered them. Having looked down at the swift and raging river, she took one of the little bluish-grey stones from her pocket, threw it far out into the water and a bridge suddenly appeared across the river. The friends hurried across it, and when the last of the Tuata had stepped onto the opposite bank of the fast-moving River Ton, the bridge turned into a bright rainbow that shone over the river. The travellers then continued on their way, and with each step they climbed higher and higher into the hills.
   The seven Tuata eventually grew rather tired and sat down on a large stone beside the path to eat some of the elves’ wonderful cake and drink the water from Dan’s magic jug. Beta then said: “I think we have reached Uim, the land of caves. As far as I know, gnomes live here. These are a small but very hard-working race of people who live and work deep underground. The gnomes mine different valuable metals and precious stones, but they love and value green emeralds most of all. They believe that the special magic powers of emeralds protect gnomes, elves and people from bad things. However, gnomes also like anything green. My dear pupil, the seagull-child, told me that the gnomes usually wear green jackets and green caps. I suppose everyone likes different things… The gnomes hide all of the treasures that they have mined in underground caves and no-one has yet managed to find these treasures. I believe that the gnomes are very friendly to people, as long as they do not try to deceive them or take away their treasures by force. We are not going underground in search of gold and silver so they have nothing to fear from us, but all the same I should warn you in advance: if you see bars of precious metals or beautiful sparkling stones in the underground passages and caves, then it is safer not to touch them.”
 

 
   “But why do we have to go down into the gnomes’ underground caves at all”, asked the surprised Tuata.
   “I’m afraid that we can’t avoid it. The land of Uim is not only a land of caves, but also of mountains. Ahead of us lie mountain peaks so high that the snow on them never melts, and a cold, biting wind always blows through the gorges. We cannot cross mountains like this, so we have no choice but to go down into the caves”, replied Beta firmly.
   “But I heard that there are not only good gnomes, but evil ones too. My grandfather told me that evil gnomes lure travellers in, and then force them to work in their mines and never let them return. Dear fairy, is this true?” asked Ruta timidly, and even shivered at these unpleasant thoughts.
   “I believe this does happen. There are evil gnomes. They dig for metals underground and very rarely come to the surface. I have never seen such gnomes myself, but have also heard about them”, said Beta thoughtfully, and the seven Tuata fell silent. They began to look round warily and listened closely to every sound, but the fairy suddenly smiled cheerfully and promised the friends that if they were watchful and careful along the way then nothing bad would happen to them.
   “In the ancient books I once found the secret of the good and evil gnomes: the good gnomes paint their passages and caves in their beloved green colour, whereas the evil gnomes paint theirs grey. As long as we don’t hurry through the underground passages and caves, but calmly and carefully examine everything around us, then we are sure to find ourselves among friends. But in order to better distinguish green from grey, I would advise you to equip yourselves with torches before we go underground”, said Beta firmly. And so Bradag, Ebor, Krudlakh, Anun and Gaire quickly headed off to a nearby forest to gather some suitable branches and resin in order to make torches. They soon returned and set about making some torches from the dry pine branches.
   When everything was ready the friends set out once again on the steep, rocky path, climbing higher and higher until they reached a narrow and dark crack in the cliff. This was the entrance to one of the caves.
   Beta immediately lit the lantern that she had brought with her from home, the Tuata lit their torches, and they all began to examine carefully some signs and markings on the walls of the cave. Once they had made sure that the signs were only in green paint, the friends cheered up: they had been very lucky to find the right cave straight away. However, there were several passages leading from it, and how would they choose the right one?
   On the fairy’s advice the Tuata lit some extra torches, and in the bright light of the flame they found that one passage was painted a green colour. They all set off slowly along it. As soon as the passage forked the Tuata again lit more torches and thoroughly investigated the colour of the new passages. In this way the friends gradually moved deeper and deeper underground. All around them it was exceptionally quiet and dark.
   But what was that noise ahead of them? The friends stopped, extinguished their torches just in case, leaving just Beta’s lantern, and began to move ever more slowly and carefully along the green wall of the passage, holding their breath as they went. In the distance they could see different coloured lights, and could hear some kind of singing, the sound of music and the stamping of small feet. The Tuata listened and decided that only good gnomes could dance so cheerfully and sing such happy songs. The friends moved forward again, but this time a little faster and more boldly. The passage opened out unexpectedly into a large high cave, where coloured torches were burning, cheerful music was playing, and small people in green jackets and caps were singing and dancing.
   When they saw their unexpected guests, the little people stopped singing and dancing and the music in the cave died down. The gnomes stood rooted to the spot and frowned. They could not understand who these people were who had arrived during their festival, and why they had come. The gnomes looked at the fairy and her friends in puzzled silence, and the Tuata, who had never seen gnomes before, also said nothing and gazed wide-eyed at the little people in their green jackets and caps. Several minutes passed like this. Beta was the first to break the awkward silence. The fairy strode bravely up to the kind gnomes, gave a little bow and wished them good day or good evening and a happy festival. The gnomes were clearly impressed by Beta’s words and manners, and they began to discuss something among themselves animatedly. Then, the kind little people fell silent once again and one of the gnomes with a very long beard slowly and solemnly went up to Beta. It appeared that he was the oldest and wisest gnome present at the festival. He first briefly introduced himself: his name was Beglakh. Then he asked Beta and the seven Tuata who they were and why they had come to the gnomes’ underground caves. When the fairy and the Tuata had given him a detailed account of the purpose of their journey and how they had found themselves in the land of Uim, the kind gnome began to smile, stroked his beard and invited the friends to sit down at a table. At the same time he gave a sign to the rest of the gnomes, and after a minute or two plates and cups filled with every kind of food and drink appeared on the table in front of Beta and the seven Tuata.
 

 
   While the friends were eating and resting the gnomes began to discuss something amongst themselves again. Then several of them ran off somewhere and soon returned carrying three packages. Beglakh explained to Beta and the Tuata that in the first package was food for them all for the journey, while in the second were precious emeralds especially for the fairy. The gnomes had taken a particular liking to her.
   “She is as wise and kind as we are! And so wondrously beautiful too!” said one of them with delight.
   And in the third package lay a single sweet wrapped in paper. The Tuata were surprised that a sweet could help them on their journey, as it would be very difficult to divide it into eight parts, but the wise gnome advised them not to jump to conclusions.
   “When you leave our mountainous land of Uim, you will reach the bank of the fiery river Tan. This river does not look very wide, deep or fast-moving at first glance, and some think that it is even safe to wade across it, but they are mistaken. The quiet river Tan is a dangerous river. As soon as something or someone enters it, its water turns into flame. And that is why we are giving you this sweet. When you approach the bank of the fiery river, you should immediately throw the sweet into it and you will see what happens next”, Beglakh said to them and smiled again.
   Of course, the seven Tuata really wanted to know what would happen to the fiery river when they threw the sweet into it, but they did not question Beglakh any more about this, as they did not want to tire the wise gnome with their excessive curiosity. He had told them that the sweet would help them, and so that is what would happen.
   When Beta and the Tuata had rested well and even slept for a while, the gnomes led them through the labyrinth of underground passages. They knew all the underground routes and paths very well, so it was not long before they had led the travellers all the way back up to the surface. The high snowy mountains were behind them. The friends were now standing on top of a green hill, at the foot of which flowed a placid river that glittered in the sunlight. At this point, Beta and the Tuata thanked the kind gnomes for their gifts and hospitality, said goodbye to them and continued on their way, and the gnomes went back into their underground caves.
   The Tuata and Beta moved slowly down the side of the hill. Around them they could smell flowers and grasses, birds were singing and the Sun warmed them gently, and the seven Tuata found it hard to believe that the beautiful little river at the bottom of the hill held so many dangers. The friends were already beginning to doubt whether this could be the river that the wise gnome had told them about, but to be on the safe side, when they reached the warm sandy bank of the quiet and peaceful-looking river, Anun threw a little stone into the water. As soon as the stone hit the water, flames leapt up in the air before disappearing again, and this convinced the Tuata that the kind, wise gnome had been right about the dangers of the river. Nevertheless, they still had doubts about the magic power of the sweet, but the fairy advised the friends that there was no time to lose and that they should test it as soon as possible.
   “Whatever you may think, it is better to do as Beglakh told us rather than stand around wasting time on the river bank”, said Beta, and with these words she threw the chocolate sweet far out into the river. To the surprise of the seven Tuata, this time the river did not burst into flames. It actually began to grow even calmer and more placid than before, except for one large wave that suddenly crashed loudly against the bank. And at the same time, as if from nowhere, a man in reddish-gold clothes suddenly appeared next to Beta. With a smile of delight on his face he than ran up to the fairy, took her hand and began to thank her whole-heartedly for her kindness and generosity.
   The Tuata, who were standing nearby, looked at the strange red man and Beta but had no idea what was happening. It was only after the friends had listened attentively to what the stranger was saying to Beta that they guessed that they were dealing with the Master of the River Tan himself. It seemed that he was very fond of sweets, but no-one, besides the gnomes, ever treated him to any.
   “And because you were generous with the sweet and decided to share it with me, I promise that I will help you to cross the fiery river”, said the Master of the River to Beta and her friends and clapped his hands loudly.
   At the same moment a brightly-painted wooden boat appeared beside the riverbank. As a precaution the Tuata touched it first with a twig, but the boat did not burst into flame, and so the friends calmly climbed into it and waited patiently for Beta, who was still talking to the Master of the River. The fairy was questioning him in detail about the route ahead, and he told her that it was not far now to the palace of Lugus: they only needed to pass through the forest of Dokart in which the mischievous wood-spirits lived. The Tuata heard him explain to the fairy that these wood-spirits liked to tickle travellers and surprise them by running across their path; they also like to scare them with mournful groaning and sad sighing, to shroud the path in fog, and to make travellers feel sleepy by singing lullabies. The Master of the Fiery River advised Beta and her friends to follow only the sandy path through the forest of Dokart, and not to turn off it or look to either side, to think only about the meeting with Lugus and not to pay any attention to the tricks of the wood-spirits.
   “That way, they will soon grow tired of playing pranks on you and will leave you in peace”, said the fiery-red Master of the River Tan, and promised that from this day onward, Beta and her friends could use his river without being troubled by fire. He cheerfully invited the fairy and the seven Tuata to come and visit him in future, to sit in the evening on the riverbank in front of a campfire and talk at leisure about all the things in the world. The Tuata and the fairy gladly accepted his invitation, and then Beta joined her friends in the boat and the Master of the Fiery River carefully pushed the boat away from the bank. It glided smoothly across the river by itself without oars or sails, and Bradag and Ebor only needed to change its course every now and again with the help of long poles.
 

 
   While the friends were crossing the fiery river, its master stood and watched them from the sandy bank and waved a brightly-burning torch that had appeared in his hand as if from nowhere.
   And so Beta and the Tuata overcame another obstacle on the road to the Land of the Sun and its wise master, Lugus. On the opposite bank of the fiery river they found the sandy path without difficulty, followed it past green hills covered in flowers, and finally reached the unusual forest of Dokart where the mischievous wood-spirits lived. The travellers had only taken a few steps into the forest when they felt some kind of strange movement around them. It seemed as though the whole forest had suddenly begun to stir and rustle, and then everything happened just as the Master of the Fiery River had told them it would: they began to catch sight of the wood-spirits, dressed in white, darting here and there across the path and trying to frighten the travellers with their loud moans, sighs, whistles and laughter. Even though the Tuata tried hard to ignore this, every now and again they still glanced to the side, sometimes meeting the glances of the wood-spirits and then finding themselves moving much slower. As a result of this, Anun and Kana fell behind the rest of the Tuata and almost lost their way, and so the wise fairy had to take decisive action. She took the large green emeralds from the package that the kind gnomes had given her and placed it in the palm of her hand so that it was clearly visible to the wood-spirits. As soon as she did this the groans, sighs and laughter in the forest stopped. The wood-spirits of Dokart understood immediately that the fairy could only have obtained such an emerald from the gnomes, and if she and her friends had passed through the underground passages and caves of Uim unharmed, then loud groans, whistles and laughter would certainly not frighten them. And so the wood-spirits fell silent, and instead of trying to hamper the progress of the travellers, they watched the Tuata and Beta from a distance with great curiosity and respect.
   Nothing else managed to delay the friends on their journey. They moved quickly and easily along the good sandy path and they soon left the forest of Dokart behind them. The Tuata waved farewell to the mischievous wood-spirits, who they were no longer angry with, and pressed on without slowing their pace or stopping along the way. The Tuata could feel that they were already getting close to the Land of the Sun and they were absolutely right. When the path climbed to the top of a hill, they could see before them a wonderful emerald-green valley surrounded by strangely-shaped mountains and cliffs coloured the same shade of green. At the bottom of the valley they could see a large deep-blue lake with fluffy white clouds reflected in its waters. On a flat area of the lake shore a park of astounding beauty had been laid out. It was filled with all kinds of flowers that were brightly-coloured yet not too overpowering; carved wooden bridges had been built over the cool, clear streams; little summerhouses with red and gold roofs were dotted here and there in the lush meadows; and amongst the blossoming trees and bushes the Tuata could make out a very unusual building. It was made entirely of wood and its columns, roof, windows and doors were decorated with carvings, so that from the top of the hill it seemed to the seven Tuata that the building was made from lace. They guessed immediately that this was the palace of the great Lugus.
 

 
   “And there, it seems, is the ruler of the Land of the Sun himself”, said Beta thoughtfully, when a tall man in a very simple and modest cloak appeared on the threshold of the wooden palace.