Bearslayer : $b A free translation from the unrhymed Latvian into English heroic versePumpurs, Andrejs
General
Bearslayer : $b A free translation from the unrhymed Latvian into English heroic verse
Pumpurs, Andrejs
Epic literature, Latvian -- Adaptations; Epic poetry
Once again, time passes while Bearslayer studies at the Castle of
Burtnieks. One night he notices in the fortress's undercroft a
trapdoor, left half-open to reveal a stone staircase leading
below. He goes down and follows a tunnel until he enters a large
chamber that he judges to be beneath the centre of the lake. He is
in the Sunken Castle that Laimdota had told him about. He discovers
Laimdota reading an ancient book. She explains to him that if a
mortal remains in the Sunken Castle overnight and survives until
morning, the castle will rise once more into the light of
day. Bearslayer resolves to carry out this heroic task and Laimdota
leaves him.
Midnight passes and the Sunken Castle grows cold. Bearslayer lights
a fire from broken wood lying around. Suddenly seven evil spirits
enter the room carrying an open coffin, in which an old man with
huge sharp teeth and long nails is lying. He begins to groan
horribly and complain that he is cold. Bearslayer cannot bear the
sound and hauls the man from the coffin to the fire, but the old man
tries to bite off Bearslayer's ears, knowing that without them
Bearslayer is weak. Bearslayer fights back and holds the old man in
the fire, saying that he will only let him go if the Sunken Castle
is raised to the surface.
At this, a whirlwind springs up and the seven evil spirits return,
led by Spidala. They attack Bearslayer and he is about to be
defeated when he remembers the mirror that Staburadze gave him. He
pulls it out and holds it in Spidala's face. A howling fills the air
and all the evil spirits turn to dust and are whirled round the room
in the whirlwind. The spirit of Viduveds, a wise man of ancient
times, appears in human form and greets Bearslayer, saying that the
young hero will save the Latvian people. Viduveds's handmaidens make
a bed for Bearslayer, and he falls into a deep sleep.
Next morning the people are amazed to see a castle standing on an
island in the middle of the lake. Laimdota tells Burtnieks that
Bearslayer has spent the night in the castle, and the old man
realizes at once that Bearslayer has broken the magic spell and
saved the Sunken Castle. Laimdota and Burtnieks enter the castle and
wake Bearslayer. He claims Laimdota as his bride, and Burtnieks
gives his blessing, saying that the union of the two clans
(Burtnieks and Lielvarde) will save the Latvians.
One evening, later, Laimdota reads to Bearslayer from the ancient
books found in the Sunken Castle. She reads how the ancient Latvians
were led to the Baltic Sea from a land far to the east by
Perkons. With the favour of the gods, they settled in a valley,
built a castle, and established a golden age on Earth.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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