Stribor's Forest by Ivana Brlic Mazuranic
(Croatian tale)

translated from Croatian by Juraj Kraljik, Ena Kljucevic, Valentina Perkovic, Anka Gavran, Ria Majic, Maja Majic, Kristina Rajter
Illustrated by Alexis and Kimberly (USA), Nadya R. , Zhenya (Russia), (Croatia)

One young man entered the Stribor's forest, but he didn't know that was a spelled forest and many miracles were happening there. Good miracles, but also bad ones – for everyone what deserves.
But that forest had to be under a spell as long as someone, who likes his troubles more than the entire world's happiness, steps into it.
Well, after that young man had cut enough wood he sat on a log to take a breath because it was a wonderful winter day. But, out of that log, an adder came out and started flattering around him. That wasn't the real adder but a human soul, damned for its sins and malice. The adder could be leberated only by one who would marry her. She was silvery blazing in the sun and looking directly into his eyes.
"Oh, my God, what a beautiful, little adder!" – said a young man in jest.
- "Here's a foolish head that will release me on behalf of his own misery ", thought the sinful soul in the adder, she rushed and transformed at once from the adder into a wonderful girl and stepped in front of the boy. Her sleeves were white and patterned as butterfly's wings, her feet were tiny and delicate. But, since she had had malice thoughts, the adder's tongue stayed in her mouth.
- "Here I am! Take me home and merry me!" – said the adder-girl to the young man.
He wasn't a very steady and witty boy, he didn't move the blunt end of an axe towards her and he didn't shout: "I don't want to merry you, a strange forest creature!"
In that case, the girl would become the adder again and she would flee under the log and disapper forever.

But that young man was so good and shy person, so it would be embarrassing to say no to the girl. And he liked her, because she was so pretty, but he couldn't know what she had in her mouth.
He took her hand and led her home. He lived with his old mother and was looking after her with love and respect.
- "Here, my mother, your daughter-in law", – said the young man whe he and the girl arrived home.
- "Thanks God, my son", – replied his mother looking at the beautiful girl. She was old and wise i realized immediately what she had in her mouth.
While the girl was changing her clothes, the mother said to her son:
-"You've chosen a nice and young one, but be careful, my son, isn't that an adder?"
The boy was standing astonished like a piece of stone: how did his mother know that the girl was the adder? He got angry in his heart and thought:
- "My mother must be a witch."
At once, he hated his mother.
They started to live together, but everything was bad and different than before. The daughter-in-law had a well-oiled tongue, she was evil, greedy and raging.
There was a very high cliff, up to the clouds, and one day the girl ordered the old woman to bring her some snow from the top, so she could wash her face.
– "No way to that peak", – said the old woman.
– "Take the goat to lead you there. Wher it goes up, there you go upside down", – said her daughter-in law.
The son was just listening. He laughed to those words. He just wanted to please his wife.
Mother got so distressed, she went to the high cliff to fetch some snow. She wasn't sorry for her life. While she was walking, she wanted to pray the God for help, but she changed her mind saying:
-"Mighty God would notice that my son is bad."
But, the God was of a great help to her and she brought the snow to her daughter-in-law from the peak under the clouds.
The second day, the girl ordered to the poor old woman:
- "You, go there to the frozen lake. There is a hole in the middle of it. Get me a fish in that hole for lunch."
- "The ice will break under me, I will fall into the lake". – answered the old woman.
- "The fish will be happy if it happens"– said the girl.
The young man laughed again. His mother was so sad and went to the lake. The ice was cracking under her feet while she was crying and her tears became ice on her face. But still she didn't want to ask the God for help. That was her secret – her son was sinner.
-"It's better to die", - she thought while walking on the ice.
But her time hasn't come yet. Suddenly, she saw a bird above her head. It was carrying a fish. The fish fell down right in front the granny. She took it and brought it to the girl happily.
On the third day the old woman was sitting by the fire mending her son's shirt. When her daughter-in-law saw that, she ran to her, grabbed the shirt out of her hands and shouted:
-"Leave it, you blind old woman, it's non of your business. "
So she didn't allow the mother to mend the son's shirt.
Her old heart became totally upset, she went out in front of the house, sat on the bench in that cold winter day and started to pray:
-"My God, help me! "
At that moment she saw a poor young girl coming along the path. She was having an old, ragged dress on, and her shoulder was blue of cold, because one of her sleeves was cut off.
But she was smiling... she was the one of a nice character creature. In her hand she had some dry pieces of wood.
- "Will you buy, granny, some pieces of my wood? " - asked the little girl.

- "I have no money, my daughter, but if you want me to mend that sleeve", – replied the sad granny. She had a needle and thread in her hands for her son's shirt.

The old woman mended the girl's sleeve and she gave her some dry pieces of wood, thanked her nicely and went away happy because her shoulder wasn't cold any more.

 

2
In the evening, the daughter-in-law said to the granny:
- "We are going to see our cousin. You must heat some water till I get back"
She was so greedy and always wanted to be somebody's guest.
After they had left, the granny stayed alone at home, she took some dry pieces of wood that she had receoved from a girl and lit the fire in the hearth and then went to the shed to fetch some wood.
While she was looking for wood, she heard something snapping in the kitchen, something knocking, knocking: Knock! Knock!
- "Who is that, in the name of God? " - asked Granny from the shed.
- "Domachy! Domachy! " - some tiny, soft voices replied from the kitchen, babbling like the sparrows under the canopy.
It was strange to the Granny - what is that in the hight? And she entered into to the kitchen. When she stepped in, she was looking at the just inflamed pieces of wood in the fireplace and around it Domachy are playing all round, all half - forearmed shot men. Sheepskins on them, small caps and leather boots red like the flames, their hair and beards grey as ashes , and their eyes raptorously twinkling like a live coal.
More and more of them are coming out of the flame, each flame is crating one of them. As they are jumping out, they are laughing and screaming, tumbling above the fire squeaking of joy and holding each other hands in the round.

Just look at that amazing round: on the fire, in the ashes, under the shelf, on the chair, on the pot, on the bench! Dance! Dance! Play! Play! Fast! Faster! Squeaking, shrilling, pushing each other and giggling. They slopped the salt, they spilled the yeast, they ruined the flour – all of a great joy! The fire is glimmering and shining, cracking and heating and the Granny is looking and looking. She isn't sorry for the salt nor for the yeast, but she is rejoicing to the feast that the God is sending to her for her comfort.

It seems to the Granny as she gets younger – she is smiling like a dove, she is jumping like a girl, dancing with Domachy while holding their small hands. But she has some more misery in her heart, and that was so hard, so the dancers stopped immediately.
- "My brothers in God", - said the Granny to the Domachy then - "could you help me to see the tongue of my daughter-in-law, to tell my son what I saw with my own eyes, it might bring him to reason! "

She started to telling to Domachy about everything how it was. Domachy were sitting around the edge of the fireplace, their tiny feet hanging down and waving, lining up close to each other sticked as burs listening to the Granny, nodding their heads, wondering. As they are nodding their heads, their small red caps are shining: somebody would think that is the fire blazing on the hearth.
When the Granny finished her story, one of the Domachy, named Malik Tintilinich, shouted:
- "I will help you! I'm going to the sunny land and will bring you some magpie eggs. We will underlay them to the hen, so when the new magpies hatch out, your daughter-in-law will make a mistake: she will become greedy as every forest adder to the magpies and she will protrude her evil tongue."
All Domachy screamed of joy because Malik Tintilinich had such a marvellous idea. While they wer screaming loudly, there was coming the daughter-in-law carrying a cake for herself.
She attacked the door angrily to see who was screaming in the kitchen. When she opened the door – the flame banged, Domachy jumped, bootted their small feet on the fireplace, rose above the flame, flew under the roof – flicked the boards on the roof and Domachy disappeared.
Only Malik Tintilinich stayed and hid in the ashes.
As the flame suddenly burst up, the daughter-in-law got frightened and sat down on the ground as a sack. Her cake spilled in her hands, her hair and combs scrumbled, starring her eyes and yelling in anger:
- "What was that, you old misery? "
- "The wind had put up the flame when you opened the door", – answered the Granny wisely.
-"And what's that in the ashes over there? " – she asked again, because a red heel of Malik Tintilinich was peeping out of ashes.
-"That's a live coal" – replied the Granny.
But the evil daughter-in-law doesn't believe, but she goes to see closer what's in the ashes. She moves her face to the fire, but Malik Tintilinich quickly hit her nose with his tiny feet. She cries as she is drowning in the sea, sooty face, and her tousle hair full of ashes.
- "What's that, you old misery? " - asks the daugter-in-law.

- "The chesnut has splashed out of fire" - the Granny replies, and Malik Tintilinich is laughing in the ashes.
When the daughte-in-law went to wash her face, the Granny took Malik Tintilnich to the chamber where her daughter-in-law had a hen laying on eggs to have young chick for Christmas. Yet the same night Malik brought some magpie's eggs and underlaid them under the hen instead of hen's eggs.

3
So, the daughter-in-law has ordered to Granny to look after the hen and let her know when the chicks come out of eggs. She will invite the people from the village to see her chick on Christmas when nobody have them.
The time has come, small magpies came out of eggs. The Granny informed her daughter-in-law about the big event, and she invited the villagers. The neighbors, olds and youngs came as well as Granny's son. Daughter-in-law ordered Granny to bring the nest on the porch.
The Granny did so, picked up the hen, and that in the nest something was squawking: naked magpies jumped out: hop! hop! all around the porch.

When the daughter-in-law saw the magpies so suddenly, she blundered away, her greedy adder's temper appeared, she rushed around the porch after the magpies and outstreched her thin and peaky tongue as she was in the forest.
The neighbours and villagers were screaming and praying and took their children home because they knew that was really a forest adder.
Mother came to her son saying happily:

- "Get her away, my son, you have just seen with your own eyes, who you are having in your house." – trying to hug her son.
But her son was still a foolish man, he was aginst the village and his mother and against his own eyes: he doesn't want to blame his adder-wife but shouts to his mother:
- "Where have you found these magpies, in this part of the year, you old witch? Go away from my house!"
Now, the mother realized that there was no help. She puled and asked her son not to send her from home at daylight. She was ashamed and didn't want the people see what a son she had been nurtured.
He son agreed and his mother stayed in the house till night.
When it was dark, the Granny took her bag, some bread and some pieces of dry wood that she got from that poor girl. Then she went away crying from her son's house.
As soon as she stepped over the door step, the fire in the hearth went out and the cross fell down from the wall. Her son and his wife stayed alone in a dark room – and now the son felt that he had made a huge sin to his mother and was sorry a lot. But he was afraid of his wife, he only said:
- "Let's go after my mother to see how she will die of cold. "
His wife jumped up, put on their leatherskin coats and followed the old woman from distance.
The Granny is walking desperately through the high snow, in the middle of the night, across the frozen fields. When she arrived to one large stubble, she got so cold and couldn't walk any more. She took some pieces of dry wood out of her bag, removed the snow and put up the fire to get a bit warmer.
The tiny fire has just started its flames, but look at that miracle! Here Domachi are coming out as they are in the house fireplace!

They are jumping out of fire all around in the snow, and bright sparks are glittering after them everywhere in the gloomy night.
The Granny is pleased, she even starts crying of suavity. Domachi haven't left her all alone on her way. They are gathering around her, laughing and whistling.
- "Oh, my brothers in God", – said the Granny, – "I'm not happy, but help me in my misery."
She is talking to Domachy about he foolish son who is even worse to her, since he and the entire village have seen that his wife really has the adder's tongue.
- "He has banished me out of my home, help me if you can, please."
Domachy are listening in silence for a while cleaning the snow from their leather boots and don't know what to say.
Then, Malik Tintilinch said:
- "Let's go to Stribor, our headmaster. He is a wise man and a good advisor."

Malik climbed up the hawthorn bush, whistled his fingers, and a red deer and twelve squirrels came to the stubble, out from the dark and across the silence.
They lift up the Granny on the deer's back, Domachi rode the squirrels and hit the road to the Stribor's Forest.
They are riding through the night – the red deer's horns are full of shiny stars. Shiny is the red deer itself illuminating the road, and twelve squirrels after him rushing, each squirrel has two eyes like two diamonds. They are all hurrying and running. From far away the daughter-in-law and the son are running, too, totally powerless.
So they arrived to the Stribor's Forest and the red deer took the Granny through the thick forest.
The daughter-in-law saw everything in the dark. She knew that was Stribor's Forest, where she had already been damned for her sins, but being so evil she wasn't able to remember her new sins, she wasn't afraid of them, but even more happy she said:
-"The stupid Granny will die in this forest surrounded by all these magic." - and flew faster after the red deer.
The red deer brought the Grnny in front of Stribor. Stribor was a forest headmaster. He was sitting in the middle of the forest, in the log so big that there were seven gold castles and one village, surrounded by a silver fence, it that log. In front of the most wonderful castle Stribor is sitting on his chair in his red coat.

- "Help the Granny, she has been perished by her adder daughetr-in-law", - told Do­machy to Stribor, after they had all bowed him. They told him the whole story as it was. The daughte-in-law and the son stalked to the log, watching and listening what would happen.
When Domachy ended their story, Stribor said to Granny:
- "Don't be afraid, old lady! Leave your daughter-in-law to live in her evil, until her evil takes her there where she has come from. I will help you easily. Look at that village over there, with that silver fence!"
The Granny looked there. That was her own village where she was born, where she spent her youth, and in the village feast and joy. The bells are ringing, bagpipes are playing, flags are waving, people are singing.
-"Go in through the fence, clap your hands and you will be young again. You will stay in your village to make people younger and to be happy as you used to be fifty years ago! " – Stribor said.
The Granny has cheered up as never before, she ran to the fence, grabbed the silver gate, but then she recalled something and asked Stribor:
– "But, what about my son? "
– "Don't be silly, Granny! "- Stribor replied, - "how would you know about your son? He will stay in his own time, but you will return to your youth! You won't know for your son! "
When the Granny heard that, she got worried a lot. Then, she slowly rerutned to the fence, came back to Stribor, bowed him and said:
-"Thank you, my good master, for all your gifts you are offering me. But I prefer to live with my sorrow knowing that I have a son, more than all world's treasures and goodness. I can't forget my son! "

When the Granny pronounced that words, the forest resounded tremendously, the magic of the Stribor's forest desappeared, because the Granny liked her troubles more than the happiness of this entire world.
Swang about The thick forest swang about completely, the ground intruded failed , and the huge log failed into the ground together with its castles and with its village and silver fence, Stribor and Domachy disappeared, - the daughter-in-law yelled behind the tree, turned into the adder - ran into the hole - and mother and her son were standing together in the middle of the forest all alone, next to each other.
The son kneeled down in front of her mother kissing her hands, and then took her home, where they arrived at the dawn.
The son is praying the God and his mother to forgive him his sins. The God did it, and his mother didn't blame him at all.
The young man got married later to that poor and dear girl who brought Domachy to his home.
Now, they live happily all together. Malik Tintilinich is still coming to their fireplace during long winter nights.

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