God and You
My message to You:
T he gurgle of a babbling brook, the spring of pure water. In my heart, the Earth is like a blooming garden.
Snow-capped mountaintops.
The air in the mountains is always pure.
A haze over the city? Is it just exhaust fumes?
It is written that in a place where a lot of white magicians live the air is purer and peace officers have less to do.
Clean thoughts.
If a healthy and young person feels bad, is it customary to ask what he has been thinking about today?
When we have good thoughts and do good deeds we feel good. Many elderly people have managed to retain good health thanks to correct thinking.
Food. Lifestyle.
We can preserve our youth and health for a long time by leading pure lifestyle and eating only what is necessary for our body. By drinking pure water! Thinking good thoughts! Then, it will never occur to anyone to pollute nature, be obsessed with profit or do harm. People will live to great beauty and will not even think of abusing drugs. There are so much more possibilities for creative work in natural light than under narcotic intoxication.
Glow and be happy! The sun is shining even when we do not see it!
C atastrophes. The Earth. People. We love the Earth. We love people. But none of us love catastrophes. People suffer because of them; they lose their homes, loved ones, lives. There is another point of view on why catastrophes occur on Earth.
The first bad thought on Earth, thought by somebody, which was followed by a second and then a third. The first bad word, action. Violence, killing. We live on Earth. These thoughts and expressions do not disappear into the cosmos, the Earth bares everything. How long can the Earth bare these things? We have lived here for millions of years. The Earth expresses its pain in the form of catastrophes, earthquakes and floods. You don't have to believe in this or recognize it. Those in need must be helped in any case. In my heart, I support the worldwide Green movement.
Karakum desert adventure in autumn 1988
W e traveled from Tallinn to Moscow, and from there to Ashgabat (capital of Turkmenistan), no hotel bookings, a foreign countries and no acquaintances. Despite all this, our companions we met while being holed up in the desert became our close friends.
Thankfully, we got a hotel room for the first night (with air conditioning) and the following morning, we continued our trip to Tejen. We exited our train and were immediately surrounded by laughing and squealing children, as I was wearing trousers, but the women of Turkmenistan wear long dresses and cover their faces with headscarves. I cannot even remember how we ended up finding Ana, but he was filling to take us to the desert, away from the village, where we set up our tents. He supplied us with water and immediately brought us treats along with two friends. He cursed the bad luck that had destroyed the bottles of champagne in the trunk and could not understand why we did not want to party. Our explanation left his more or less satisfied, but our whole story still seemed unbelievable, as did others who heard it. We were even told that our stories reminded them of fairytales their parents had told them, but one important thing that must be remembered is that the Soviet Union was still alive and we were in Turkmenistan with "red" passports, although we could have exchanged them for "blue" ones half a year ago.
In Soviet times, no one believed in anything supernatural or in anything that couldn't be explained by the real world. Real was what one's fingers could grasp. But not everyone was like this.
We traveled through three places before we reached our goal. Ana found us a driver, who took us deep into the desert. From there on, another driver took us to the outskirts of the final village. We set up camp there and were soon hit by a ferocious storm. We couldn't see anything through the blasting sand and the wind almost blew us off along with our tents. Luckily, we had attached the tents to some bushes. The following day, we went to the village and asked to see the wisest and oldest man there. Instead, they took us to the village elder. He heard our story, asked our passports to check our identities (As Estonia was declaring its independence, he feared that we wanted to elope to Iran, as Iran was just a few miles off. Or maybe he thought we were criminals? Or maybe we were just hiding in the desert). He took our passports to the town with him. However, we ran to our tents. While running, my ex-husband called out "Watch where you step!" I looked down... and saw a snake sliding beneath my feet. I can remember myself being stranded up in mid-air, just waiting for the snake to slip away. I put my feet down after he had gone.
A few days later, we took our tents and bags back to the village. We were received as honored guests. They sat us down on a Turkmen carpet and enjoyed the fruit and delicacies they offered us. They heard our story. The next morning we went to the watermelon and melon patches and chose a supply for 40 days. The trip could begin. Soon we were 35 km away from the last village and both found perfect camping spots for our tents. The men told us that if you send a woman to the desert, she'll be back the next day. But me... 40 days. They also warned us of snakes, scorpions, tarantulas and night hunters hunting game during the night in their cars. In the spotlight, they cannot make the difference between a man and an animal, so they just shoot everything in sight. They gave us their blessing.
We escaped them all, except a scorpion who had bit me without me knowing anything about it, which I only became aware of when I had returned to Tallinn, when the hole in my foot began to rot( I thought that I had been stuck by a clumsily placed needle, because I had been sewing a dress for myself from a piece of fabric when I was there).
We dug the watermelons and other fruit deep (2 meters) into the ground, to preserve them and protect from the excessive heat and cold (for instance, in August, the days saw temperatures of +40 Celsius, nights +20 Celsius, but in November, daytime temperatures had dropped to +20 Celsius, but the nights were freezing at -7 Celsius).
But what were we doing in the desert? We drank water for 40 days, eating a melon or watermelon each day. But why? To improve our health, naturally. And no sex. This isn't a fairytale or a piece of fiction. Even the KGB came to check on us in their two black jeeps. They told us that there are more Estonians camping here just a few kilometers off. After having questioned us thoroughly, they seemed to be satisfied and even left us a big pouch of grapes.
The whole desert is filled with the cleanest of scents after the rain. It's worlds apart from the smell in the mountains near Ashgabat. The sunrises and sunsets are so special and beautiful. And the night sky! You stand there as if you were in the middle of a large plate. Everywhere you turn, you see stars. After sleeping for so long in the fresh air, all interior rooms feel stuffy, and all food except fresh fruit is heavy for the stomach. When we arrived back in Tallinn, I strolled barefooted in the winter garden of my ex-mother-in-law in a summer dress. I scared her to death with it. My feet seemed so light on the snowy streets (I had grown accustomed to walking on sand and sandy hills). But that's not all that happened in the desert.
At one moment I was alone in my tent (the fruit were also kept there), when a snake decided to join me. I didn't know what to do so I took a glass jar and hit it on the head twice, squishing its head. Another snake, who was moving towards me near the camp fire (thankfully, both the snakes were small) found itself in the flames. I injured with a stick and then pushed it to the fire. Did it ever take a long time to perish. But one snake got into my ex-husbands tent. It curled up on his pillow and just didn't wish to leave. It took my ex-husband quite a while of rattling the tent before it decided to leave. This snake was sporting yellow and black.
There were a lot of ground squirrels. They loved watermelon seeds. I also saw a fox eat a squirrel. There were cute little lizards, ones with large heads, the others with small. I even hunted flies for them. When I threw the flies, they caught them in their mouths perfectly. One day, when I was enjoying the sun, a large one ran up my leg and just stood there, watching. If you don't chase them away, they can stay there for a long time.
When we returned, everyone knew that we had gone to Egypt and for a wholly different reason than everyone knew.
I also have a story to tell about a nice family in Ashgabat (Russians), who provide their living room as a hotel. They fed us, introduced the city and the mountains to us, took us to the museum. All in all, we stayed there for three whole days. When we left, they even cried. I haven't seen any of the people we met there afterwards, but at least I have fond memories of them.
The poem "Diehos de Luz y Amor" by San Juan de la Cruz, which was on the first page of "Talks of Power" by Carlos Castaneda:
A lonely bird has five traits:
she always goes for the highest peak
she feels no need for a companion
even for one similar to her
her head is always turned to the heavens
she has no certain color
and finally, her song is very quiet
THE FAIRY TALES I WROTE
The dwarves, who rode the rainbow
T here once lived a boy named Pirra in a woodland farm. His parents were poor. His father cleaned the stables in a neighbouring farm, and his mother cared for their own field. The sun wasn't too generous with its daily sunshine for this woodland farm, and so the crop was always meagre. But somehow they managed. It was Pirra's job to gather brushes for the winter from the forest, from the break of dawn until the late of night, and as much as he could carry home. Soon, there wasn't a brush to be found within a 5 kilometre radius, but the stack of firewood was only half-filled. Late one evening, just before nightfall, Pirra was walking back home from the forest, when he noticed a dot of light near a stump.
"What's that?" Pirra wondered. He had walked past this spot countless times before, but this was the first time his eyes saw something like this. When he went closer, he noticed that the light was growing and his eyes informed him of a brightly glowing door. But a shadow fell upon the forest and Pirra saw a dragon swooping down on him, no doubt thinking of easy prey. Pirra was not about to let himself become a meal and with a tremendous leap, he was gone. The dragon looked around in dismay, and couldn't understand at all where the boy had disappeared to. He didn't see the door. But Pirra was flying through the air when he noticed a bunch of dwarves riding a rainbow just in front of him. Pirra stared at them, baffled as he was. But the dwarves laughed loudly and smiled at him. It was at that moment Pirra noticed he was floating through the air and just for a second, he thought that he was dreaming, but a quick pinch made him realize that this was real. But the pinch gave him such a fright that he began plummeting to the ground. He could already see the fir tops and realized that he was falling like a rock. But he realized it was not his time to die, so he decided to fly like dwarves. He spread out his arms and started gliding. The dwarves glided separately in sweeps, away from him only to disappeared, but Pirra landed on the soft-soft grass. He saw a huge glittery-white castle and fairies soaring above him. It was very cosy lying on a velvety carpet of grass. It felt like he was home.
Pirra looked up to the roof of the castle and wondered how marvellous would it be to sit there and gaze at the surroundings. And just like magic, there he was! He also thought about how great it would be if his father's yard had a large stock of firewood that would last through the whole of winter; he also desired to be near a house on the riverbank that he could see behind vast fields. The next moment, he was there!
"Oh dear," Pirra thought, "in these parts, we travel like thoughts and every wish becomes true." He then remembered that he wished for a large stock of firewood for his father's house, but there was no way to check this.
"I wish to be home", he thought. But nothing happened.
This frightened him, but he regained his cool when he realized he had reached the lands of fairies. He had heard tales that the three wishes of people arriving at the fairy castle become true immediately. Now he knew that these weren't just fairytales.
"Ohhey!" shrieked Pirra and jumped victoriously to the air. The problem with winter firewood was solved! Now that he finally had time to look around, he found himself standing in a wondrous garden filled with blossoming cherry trees. He also saw a little girl with dark shoulder-length hair in a short white dress in the garden, looking at a tree top, where a spotted eagle was resting. But the eagle spread its wings and took to the sky. Pirra also saw the flying dwarves approaching. And then - hop - he is sitting on the rainbow with the dwarves, who take him to the gleaming door and put him on his home grass. For a moment, Pirra fears that this was all a dream, but seeing his mother and father staring at the brand new pile of firewood, he immediately runs to them and says:
"Dear mother and father! This is a gift from me and the fairies of Fairyland, for being so wonderful!"
They all share a warm hug and happily trot to the house and light a fire in the fireplace. That night, they fall asleep to the calm cracking of the fireplace in the warmest of rooms.
Exciting adventures in elf land
D eep in a forest far away, a snowflake falls on the window of wooden house andwatches: an elf is stoking the fire in the fireplace. The door slams open and in steps Santa Clause, allcovered with snow and joyful.
"Good evening", he says. "November is here and already the snow is so deep! I've just been to all of theelves houses, they have just awoken from their slumber and are now thinking about how to quickly fill thewishes made by all of the children; mountains of letters arrive everyday. I have my daughter sorting theletters and preparing a long list. Can you imagine: one boy wants to spend Christmas on the moon - togetherwith a Christmas tree, presents, his mother and father. Another wants to ride through thick woods in asleigh pulled by reindeer, while eating warm holiday bread. The third one wants to receive all of hispresents from Santa Clause himself under Santa's own Christmas tree. But think about it, does Santa Clauseactually have the time to take a moment and sit with all of his elves under his own shining Christmas treeand open presents".
He took off his snow-covered boots and sets them next to the fire to dry.
The elf can't imagine what is going to happen. There is still so much left to do. He leaves his work for amoment in order to bring Santa Clause a cup of hot tea.
"We have to take a trip," says Santa Clause. "We have to fly up to the mountains and visit the Elf Cave, tosee how far along they are. The previous Santa Clause built a toy factory and candy plant there. The BlueFairy watches over their safety both day and night, keeping the area clear of any kind of curiouspeople".
The fire crackles, while in the kitchen oven pies are baking and all of a sudden the air is full ofmysticism, because the Blue Fairy has just entered the room, hovering and waiting patiently until somebodynotices her.
"Ho-Ho-Ho"! Cried Santa Clause. "What winds have so unexpectedly brought you here"? We were just talkingabout you and were planning on flying up to the Elf Cave". The Blue Fairy nodded her head: "So many of ushave already gathered by the cave that the forest is empty. We are thinking about what to do. The forestmonsters have taken over the factory and plant, they are eating the candy, breaking presents and haverounded up and imprisoned all of the elves in the prison tower, so I came to ask for your advice, perhapsthe situation can be fixed without a fight. But in order to do so you, my dear Santa Clause, would have topersonally appear and it wouldn't be bad if Irr also came along. He has demonstrated his cleverness on morethan one occasion".
"Very well," said Santa Clause rising from his chair.
Preparations made, they sat in the sleigh and rode through the shining starry sky towards the BlueMountains. Landing on the roof of the candy plant, they ran carefully towards the shadow of the largechimney, and began to observe the area. There was nobody on the roof, but from below a stool could be heard:it was the guard who had fallen asleep.
The other monsters were also sleeping, only a few of them were tussling over a big piece of hard candy.
"If we make the slightest noise, they will all wake up," warned the Blue Fairy. The other fairiesapproached.
"How is it possible that the monster army was able to conquer the factory"? Asked Santa Clause.
"There were just too many of them, we decided to retreat and go for help".
Now it was Irr's turn. He had once read in a book about forest monsters how they live, what they like, andwhat they dislike.
"Do you know", said Irr "I have read that monsters can't resist the smell of fresh strawberries. They go alittle crazy and start to look for the source of the smell. If we could somehow get a basket ofstrawberries, it would suffice. I would go to the edge of the forest with the basket and after 15 minutesthe entire group of monsters would be there, which is when you would free the elves and be able to fortifyyourselves so that no uninvited guests would be able to get near. I would lead the monsters into the swamp.I am as fast as the wind and the basket of strawberries will remain in my hand. Then we would be free of themonster forever".
"Good idea. But where are you going to get a basket of strawberries in the middle of winter"?
"We have to find the magician Does anybody know where he is right now"?
"I think that he was in the Lossimäe tower yesterday writing recipes for the King, for new treats".
"Then fly there right away and ask him to conjure up a basket of strawberries".
"Ok," answered the fairies. And after a few minutes they were standing in front of Irr with the basket ofstrawberries.
"Thank you", said Irr. "And now, take me to the edge of the forest, please".
"It shall be done", replied the fairies, they took him between themselves and the trip began. Santa Clause,along with the other blue fairies, stayed on the roof of the factory where, to everyone's surprise, themagician had appeared.
"You should have also built the rooms for the factory and plant in the cave and not under the open sky" hesaid.
"Yes," replied Santa Clause, "but life was so quiet for so long, as if all of the monsters had died off along time ago. I thought they had already journeyed to the other side of the sea when I was a child, and Iam pretty old. Nobody could have predicted their return - and especially not in these numbers. We can'tdefeat them with force, but with advice we can".
The Blue Fairies dropped Irr off at the edge of the forest.
They wished him "Good luck" as Irr waved to them and took off running towards the swamp. It was about time,since the monsters had already caught a whiff of the berries.
"Oh, the smell of fresh strawberries! Where could there be fresh strawberries in the forest in the middle ofwinter?"
"Look," said another, "this path leads to the swamp; we could drown if we go there".
"Help! We're drowning!" teased some of the monsters, but none of them turned back - their desire forstrawberries was too great.
The elf ran along with the speed of the wind. He knew a place in the swamp where it was almost impossible tofind a way out. All of the monsters would be unable to find hard land and would drown there in the giganticquagmire.
Little Irr knew where the exit was, and placing the basket of strawberries on the ground he jumped from onedwarf pine tree to another and thus snuck in behind the group of monsters, just as they reached the basketof strawberries.
What a melee took place! The elf at the edge of the forest quietly laughed into his hand and quicklyscurried back along the path.
"Well done," praised the fairies. "You are very clever! Most of the monsters have already drowned. Those whogot to taste the strawberries first were the lucky ones". And so it was: the sheet of ice cracked andsuddenly the world was a place free of monsters . who could have believed that! Everybody was happy cleaningup after the monsters, because the future appeared bright.
After two days the elves and the fairies had repaired the factory and plant, and the lines started runningagain. A party took place at night. Having repaired the winter garden and placed lanterns, the magician casta party table covered with wonderful delicacies and sweets. The party lasted late into the night. The nextmorning Santa Clause and Irr flew home. Walking through the door they saw elves everywhere, sitting andstanding. How did they all fit into one room? And all of their eyes were just like big question marks.
Seeing this, Santa Clause and Irr began to laugh from their hearts.
"Be so kind, tell them, from the beginning, about how things went," said Santa Clause to Irr. And Irr beganto tell the story.
But you, dear children, study hard, and then the elves will continue to bring you gifts from their toyfactory and candy plant!
The spider aunt's adventures
T here once lived a wonderful and lovely spider aunt. But oh how she so very much missed her dear relatives and friends. She would have gone to visit them right away and given them all hugs, talked with them, and listened to their news, but her friends and relatives lived far away on the other side of the forest, and it was a long way to the other side of the forest.
One Evening, when the spider aunt was outside in her web swinging and knitting a pair of socks she just couldn't take it anymore. She packed her belongings, took her crooked hiking stick and, with a glow-worm as her lantern, started on her way. She hiked all night. Early in the morning, when the sun was rising, she stopped to rest a for a little while on the branch of an old maple tree because she was tired and was getting ready to go to sleep. The old man of the forest, with a birch hat on his head, was watching from afar. Soon the spider aunt woke up.
"Oh, dear,"she said boosting herself up and bending down to reach for her bundle. As she was picking up her crooked hiking stick from the ground, her hat fell down. Lifting her hat she saw a green grasshopper looking up at her from underneath the hat.
"Oh,"said the spider aunt. The old man of the forest, wearing the birch bark hat, stuck his head out of the moss."In broad daylight there are old men of the forest growing like mushrooms after the rain", said the spider aunt laughing. A pine cone fell from the branch of the pine tree into her hat. The spider aunt jumped into the air in fright and the train of her dress got caught on a low growing tree branch, and she was left hanging there. Then she saw how the old man of the forest started to grow out of the grass, and he grew bigger and bigger until he reached the treetops. Tightly gripping the top of the tree, he pulled it out of the ground, lifting it in the air so that the spider aunt was at the same height as his eyes, and then he opened his mouth.
"Help," cried the spider aunt, "The old man of the forest wants to eat me"!
She struggled until her beautiful dress ripped and fell, without her dress, into a puddle of mud.
Water and mud sprayed right into the face of the old man of the forest. The old man of the forest snorted and shook himself, mud flew in every direction, and the birds were scared and flew away. The spider aunt stumbled away from the puddle as fast as she could.
"Bad old man of the forest!" She yelled, while fleeing. The old man of the forest opened his eyes wide and then started, in a very loud voice, to laugh. He had only wanted to help the spider aunt. But she was so horrified that she scurried away, leaving her bundle and crooked hiking stick behind. The old man of the forest placed them on the tip of his finger and started after the spider aunt.
In the middle of the forest there stood a beautiful house. Inside the house lived the spider maid. She chirped and sang in front of the stove, and spun herself around the middle of the room while dancing. Every so often she looked out of the window to make sure that there was nobody moving, and then continued to prepare her food. The muddy spider aunt hobbled up to the door and knocked on it.
"Whose there"? called the spider maid from in front of the oven. "Whoever you are, come inside."
The spider aunt opened the door. When the spider maid saw her, all covered in mud, she was so terrified that she jumped right up to the ceiling and crawled into the corner.
"So there you are" said the surprised spider aunt. The spider maid, however, had gathered herself together and crawled down from the corner of the ceiling.
"Dear Sir, who are you looking for"? She asked, shaking.
"I am not a he"puffed the spider aunt, jumping into a bucket of water and crawling out nice and clean.
"Oh, my"exclaimed the spider maid and ran towards her with a dressing gown."Put this on!" The spider aunt took the dressing gown, thanked her, and looked expectantly at the spider maid. Does she really not recognise me?
"Perhaps you would like to warm yourself by the fire?" Asked the spider maid, respectfully.
"The old man of the forest frightened me," replied the spider aunt, as she down on the stool in front of the stove and stretched her toes.
"Oh, how nice and warm,"she was very thankful and asked "How has such a beautiful spider maid such as yourself come to live here"?
"Oh, aunty"! Said the spider maid, now recognizing her mother's sister. "How nice it is to see you after such a long time"!
Now the spider aunt told her story, of how she had lost her bundle, crooked stick and dress. "Oh, dear", said the spider maid, clapping two of her hands togrther. "Somehow we have to get those back".
"Yes,"answered the spider aunt", but the morning is smarter than the evening. In the morning we will talk about what we shall do".
"Ok," answered the spider maid.
It was night time. The spider maid and the spider aunt were sleeping.The old man of the forest stood under the branch of a pine tree and watched their house from a distance. He placed the spider aunt,s belongings, crooked stick and hat in front of the door. Then he tiptoed quietly back into the trees, promising not to forget his new friends.
Waking in the morning, the spider maid and spider aunt found the lost belongings nicely placed in front of the door, together with a basket of forest berries. Now they understood that the old man of the forest was their friend and that he wasn,t planning anything bad. It was also promising to be a beautiful day, and the spider aunt, who had already managed to find her first relative and the spider maid went on their way together to look other relatives.
The adventures of the white dragon in fairytale land
- Part 1 -
T here once lived a White Dragon. He was the son of the Great Golden Dragon, who was the Ruler of these lands. The lived in a grand Crystal palace on the shores of the sea. All of the animals from the surrounding area came to admire the castle, since it shone so beautifully in the sunshine.
The Dragon's son had many friends, the best of which was the little white rabbit. They met in the spring. And this is how it happened.
The rabbit lived in a big pine forest. When he was old enough to be on his own a little, he hopped from his mother's to the edge of the forest, where the sea was supposed to be. And what a wondrous sight, for he saw the sea and also a very grand castle. Sitting at the window of the castle he saw the little white dragon.
"Who are you"? Asked the little rabbit.
"I'm the little White Dragon, son of the Great Golden Dragon, the future Ruler of this kingdom. Who are you"?
"I'm a bunny rabbit, a little White Rabbit, completely ordinary".
"Let's play a game together", offered the dragon. "What would you like to play"?
"I would like to fly over the sea on the back of a dragon," said the rabbit dreamily.
"Oh", replied the dragon in surprise. "Nobody has ever asked me to do such a thing before. But we can give it a try".
He gracefully flew from the windowsill down to the rabbit and after a few moments they were flying towards the sea. After circling over the sea the dragon and rabbit landed on the beach. There were many beautiful sea shells on the beach: pink, white and striped, and there were also colourful rocks. On the bottom of the sea a city could be seen. It belonged to the Sea King. A couple of fairies poked their noses out of the water to inform the rabbit and dragon.
"If you want, I can introduce you to the Cobra that guards the treasure in the cliff cave in the middle of the sea. He likes visitors. The Sea King's daughters go there all the time to talk. But I have to ask my mother for permission first".
"Ok, replied the rabbit. He scurried off towards home, while the dragon flew to the castle where his mother was already waiting for him, having already set dinner on the carved golden table.
"When is father coming home"? Asked the dragon.
"In a few days," replied the mother dragon and warmed her son's dinner over a small flame. "You should start practicing your fire breathing. You're big enough to try".
"Some other time", replied the dragon. "I'm so tired. I found myself a new friend, a little rabbit. Tomorrow I will tell you all about him".
The Dragon mother picked her son up and took him to his feather soft bed, where he fell asleep.
In the rabbit hole it was pretty exciting for a while. The little rabbit told everybody about his new friend, the castle, the Sea King's daughters and the Treasure Cave, until the Rabbit's mother turned out the light and asked everyone to go to sleep.
Another beautiful day dawned. Suddenly, someone knocked on the door of the Rabbit's house. "Knock-knock"!
"Who is it"? Asked the rabbit's mother, timidly.
"A horrible and big fire breathing dragon," answered the lizard Sissi", grimacing and shaking all about. If you don't open the door right away, I am going to eat you".
"Oh, dear," said the rabbit mother, shaking. But when she saw that it was Sissi she invited him in.
"Where did you come from, not all the way from Sabaoru"?
"Yes, from Sabaoru. I came to see the castle. Stories about the castle have spread very far. A lot of people are travelling this way".
"I see. The people here are doing the same. Yesterday my son went to the seashore, saw the castle and even met a little dragon. The dragon gave him a ride over the sea, and promised to take him to Treasure Island today, to meet the Cobra. Perhaps you would like to go along; children need to do exciting things".
"Of course I would like to go", replied Sissi. So, after breakfast, the little White Rabbit and Sissi headed off towards the Dragons' Castle. It promised to be an interesting day.
The White Dragon was waiting for them at the castle window. Having gotten permission from the dragon's mother, they head off towards Treasure Island, the rabbit riding in between the wings of the dragon, while Sissi rowed a boat. After arriving, they neared the mouth of the cave and upon entering they saw the treasure cave sparkling with the light from gold and jewels. The heads of monsters were placed in the corners of the ceiling to scare visitors, and in the cracks in the wall and floor snakes slithered. The guardian of the treasure, the King Cobra, raised his crowned head and hissed menacingly when he saw the visitor's shadows moving at the mouth of the cave. But when he saw who the visitors were, he rushed to greet them.
"Welcome, my small friends! What brings you to this neck of the woods today? Are you wanting to hear adventure stories or are you on your own adventure"?
"A little of both", replied the dragon. You have to make life interesting for yourself. There are so many interesting things in the world. You are a big story teller, the best that I have know and I brought my friends to listen to your stories. And also to look at the treasure. Don't worry, they aren't thieves. Do the mermaids still bring you treasure from shipwrecks"?
"Yes, they do. With each accident and sinking ship they bring more treasure. Sometimes they bring very strange things, golden vests and armour, dress sewn with gold and silver thread. Take a look. One of them is hanging on the wall on display. It is beaded with rubies and sapphires, mother of pearl and white agate. Isn't it beautiful? The Sea King came to look at the dress, wishing to buy it as a wedding dress for his oldest daughter".
The Sea King's daughter is getting married"? Asked the rabbit.
"Oh, yes, the Sea King has found a worthy bridegroom from the neighbouring waters, from the Silham Ocean. It is said that he is very mean, but who cares when there is a lot of money involved".
"If it was up to my father to decide, he wouldn't let any mean rulers into our waters," said the dragon.
All of a sudden there was a rumble, as if a bolt of lightning from the sky had fallen and bits of stone from the platform in front of the cave flew in every direction. It was a good thing that those inside were standing in the shadow of an iron knight, otherwise they would have been hurt by the stone shards.
"What is the meaning of this"? Asked the Sea King, as he entered the cave. At the same time everyone saw how the royal carriage with Zarum and Silvia passed by.
"This isn't right," said the Cobra, shaking his head and watching the perplexed visitors standing in front of him. "Zarum seems to have evil thoughts. The wall of the cave is like mirror for the soul, like a mirror of truth, nobody with evil thoughts can enter this cave. This is to make my job easier".
Storytelling time was over. The situation was serious. The return home of the Great Golden Dragon was awaited, since a story was circulating that Zarum had placed the Sea King under his spell, which is why he believed him to be good and sympathetic. And that the Sea King's daughter had been cursed, which is the only reason she loves him, and their opinions were the most important. It was also said that to Zarum the only important thing was power, and when he ascended the throne he would smash the armies of all those who resisted. The animals were now faced with a great task, to free the Sea King from the spell which he was under and his daughter from the curse, so that Zarum's dark deeds would be brought to the light.
The Great Golden Dragon, Ruler of the Kingdom, arrived home. He was grateful to find his wife and child healthy. He had rushed home because the news about Zarum being in his home waters had made him anxious. His childhood meeting with Zarum was an unpleasant memory. Once, the Golden Dragon had flown with his father to visit his great uncle who lived on the shores of the Silham Ocean.
His great uncle was big and overflowing with graciousness. He was called the White Horse, since he could take the form of a horse whenever he wanted. He was, in a small way, a magician, helping the people of the beach whenever they were in need. The son of the master of the sea was already by then an impish brat that tended to fight with everyone, tease them, and even made it so that the best of friends became mortal enemies.
But the friends soon made up and didn't want to see Zarum anymore. Then he went to some different waters and until know nobody had heard anything about him. But before this, he had an encounter with the Golden Dragon.
It was a beautiful morning, the sun was shining, the ocean was glimmering and the White Horse was entertaining the people on the beach by shape-shifting. They laughed and shrieked with joy, but suddenly the dragon felt himself being hit with rocks. He turned as a new rock barely missed hitting him.
"Why are you hitting me with rocks"? Asked the dragon, but Zarum just kept on throwing rocks and didn't answer. Retreating towards the sea, he continued to throw rocks, until he swam into the waves and disappeared. It was an unpleasant minor incident, which the dragon remembered. What was Zarum like now? The test of the cave's interior stone platform indicated that he was bad, even though there could be others who went unnoticed nearby at the same time.
- Part 2 -
One beautiful morning, while the White Dragon was visiting the King Cobra with his friends, the mouth of the cave closed and no amount of force was able to open it. Nobody knew that the animal's children were in the cave because the mother dragon thought they were still playing in the yard. Only in the evening, when it was discovered that they were missing would she realize that they had gone to Treasure Island, but right now it was still daytime. They only stopped by for a minute to give the Cobra an elongated triangle diamond that they had found on the beach so that he could protect it because it looked like it was very valuable. And now the door had closed. The Cobra always had some comforting stories to tell just in case something like this happened, but right now it looked like he was having trouble remembering any of those stories. Suddenly his eyes started to shine. "Children, do you know that this diamond reminds me of an old and ancient tale, where elves and the people of the forest had to journey through a chain of mountain caves in order to find a door or exit to save themselves from what seemed like eternal captivity. It was a long and dangerous road, where they had to fight with all sorts of creatures and monsters that lived inside the mountains, befriending some of them that helped them with the meagre amount of food and water that they had to offer. All together there were eight souls remaining when Abraham found a long triangle shaped diamond, similar to this one here and took it with him. After they finally arrived at what appeared to be a door they tried as hard as they could but the door wouldn't budge, so Abraham took the diamond and placed it in a crack, pushing once more, hoping that somehow strength would come from somewhere, when suddenly the diamond caused the door to move and an opening appeared. This didn't make any of them happy because out of the underground cave a giant snake appeared, who swallowed the entire group with a single gulp and swam away along the river. But this doesn't mean that the story ends here, and nobody died. Abraham, still holding the sharp diamond in his hand, cut the snake's stomach open and the entire group landed in the water, which happened to be the White River in between the Black Mountains, and all of them were saved. The skin of the giant snake, it is said, can still be found on the rocks by the bank of the river, but the diamond has not been seen since. This rock, which you have brought me, appears to be quite similar to the diamond key. If we are lucky, we may still be able to open the door. If not this one here, then travelling through the under sea tunnel, it may be possible to open the door on the other side of the island. If not, then only a miracle will help us to escape from this cave. The White Dragon remembered their family's magician, the one that could change himself into the shape of a horse and do other amazing tricks, but he had already been gone for a long time from this world and the dragon didn't know anybody else. They decided to try and use the diamond on the door to the cave, but nothing happened. After they rested for a while they realized that they had to travel through the under sea tunnel to the other cave and try the key there. The path through the tunnel had become dangerous. The tunnel was old, in danger of collapsing, and a bigger storm would have been fateful. The caves would have been flooded and the treasures carried to the depths of the sea. It was discussed that the treasure should be taken back to the old Forest Cave which was guarded by the great Grizzly. But right now the mouth of the cave was closed, and what happened next depended upon how clever and brave the prisoners were.
Having taken a torch from the wall, the animal children started on their way. The Cobra stayed behind to guard the treasure. After having walked for a while, there was a great blow and they all fell in different directions against the tunnel wall. They could hear a roar and the slithering, and with great speed and swaying the King Cobra approached. "Dear children"! I am glad that you didn't make it very far. Zarum, who happened to be nearby, saw that the mouth of the cave had closed and asked Blue Whale to pound on the tunnel wall, so that perhaps the mouth of the cave would open. And it did open. "Hurray to the Blue Whale! Thanks to the Zarum!" They all cried together.
It was decided that the treasure should be returned to the old cave. From the banks of the White River the skin of the giant snake was brought, the one that the cobra told the story about, and it was placed in front of the mouth of the cave. Finally, when the last coin had been gathered together, the snake skin was bundled together and the journey could begin. The Great Golden Dragon was the leader of the caravan, carrying in his talons the King Cobra, while Sissi sat on his back. On the back of the White Dragon sat the bunny rabbit, the rest of them carried the treasure, holding onto the snake skin with their talons. They were on their way back to the Forest Cave, where the great Grizzly was waiting for them. Upon seeing his old friends he stood up on his hind feet and roared with delight. Since it was night and dark outside, they made a giant bonfire. Sissi was placed on a stump to keep watch. Even so, two little mice and one mischievous little rat were able to drag a gold medal into the forest, under the cover of darkness.
The carrying of the treasure into its previous place of storage had gone well. A party was arranged in its honour, to which everyone was invited. Zarum was also there, thanks to his good deed which had absolved him of his old sins and convinced everyone that he wasn't really all that bad. The Sea King and the Rabbit.s Mother, sea nymphs and Grizzly, danced all helter-skelter, and knocked over several goblets on the party table. The dragons watched the party from their castle and flew into the sky, turning the sky and land into a golden colour with their shimmering.
The young hedgehog’s adventure
O nce upon a time there lived a jolly young hedgehog. He happened to be nappingagainst a large oak tree. The oak was located on a hill a short distance from the forest, with a view of abluish river. The sun was shining and it was very relaxing to nap in the cool shade of the oak tree. Thesleep was very good. I must surely tell you about the adventures the young hedgehog had in his dreams.
The hedgehog was walking near his old home, which had been flooded during the flood, when a fox suddenlycrept out of the marsh and pushed him into the river with his snout. The young hedgehog sank beneath thewater and saw in mind the old home in-between the rays of sunlight penetrating the water. From the window thereshone a candle and he could see his mother working in the kitchen. Then the hedgehog felt someone pullinghim out of the water. It was a big white swan, who had seen the actions of the mischievous fox from afar.There was nothing the angry fox could do, except for prance about and make loud noises. He was unable to getto the young hedgehog. The swan placed the young hedgehog on a swaying piece of bark and pushed itdownstream with its beak, majestically swimming after it. The fox raised his tail and started to follow theyoung hedgehog and swan along the bank of the river. He didn't make it very far, since the river branched intwo and the swan, sensing the fox's plan, chose the branch of the river, the bank of which the fox wasunable to follow. The fox barked angrily - what else could he do - turned around, and strolled into theforest.
What an amazing view opened up to the young hedgehog. He had never ridden on a piece of bark on the riverbefore. He didn't dare move, afraid that the bark would capsize. He was comforted by the fact that the swanwas swimming next to him.
"How are you, young hedgehog?" asked the swan.
"Awesome!" replied the young hedgehog, and thanked the swan for saving his life. After which he said: "Ihave to go home soon, or else my mother will start to worry".
"OK," replied the swan and called to the other swans swimming nearby. Having heard what had happened andthat the young hedgehog had to go home, three swans grabbed the piece of bark with their beaks and flew thehedgehog towards the forest. The hedgehog closed his eyes tight, but soon he had to open them to show theswans the way. The young hedgehog's home hill was already visible. The swans glided to the banks of theriver with the hedgehog sitting on the piece of bark, and placed it on the grass, and then they took offagain. The young hedgehog waved and thanked them. The other hedgehogs, who had hidden when they heard theflapping of the swans' wings, came out to investigate what had happened. When the young hedgehog had toldthem of his adventures they couldn't believe him.
"You saw that in a dream," they replied.
The young hedgehog opened his eyes. He was sleeping in the shade on the hill.
"Did I really only see that in a dream?" he thought.
Copyright © Ãœlle Põllu
All fairy tales are written by Ülle Põllu.
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