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
However, this made the Devil jealous, and he commanded a whirlwind
to suck up a lake and deposit it in the valley. This was done and
the valley, including the castle, was drowned. The people would have
died too, but Liga, the Goddess of Song, saved them by using the
music of her kokle to open up under the lake a tunnel that led them
to safety. The castle is the one Bearslayer raised, and the tunnel
the one he used to enter the castle.
On another occasion, Laimdota reads to Bearslayer the story of the
creation. In eternal space there was once nothing except a celestial
light. In it lived God and a second mighty spirit-the Devil. At that
time the Devil still obeyed God, although he was already growing
rebellious. God decided to create the Earth and sent the Devil to
fetch a handful of slime. The Devil was curious and kept a second
handful for himself, hiding it in his mouth. When he brought the
slime to God, God commanded the slime to form the Earth, throwing it
down. The slime began to grow, and formed the level plains of the
Earth. However, the slime in the Devil's mouth also obeyed God and
grew until the Devil could no longer hold it in his mouth. He spat
it out and it fell to the newly created Earth, forming the
mountains.
From His own substance God created the Sun and Moon. He was so
pleased with the Earth and Sun He had just created that He also
created the first living creatures: the Sons of the Gods and the
Daughters of the Sun. The Moon took a gigantic Daughter of the Sun
as his wife, and the stars are their thousands of children. The Sons
of the Gods divided up the Earth among themselves.
The Devil grew more rebellious and began to defy God. A great
rivalry grew up between them, and the Devil tried in vain to outdo
God, who, however, always had the upper hand. Eventually, God
created humans and made them capable only of good, but the Devil
interfered and gave them the power to be evil as well as good. God
grew furiously angry at seeing His creation ruined, and banished the
Devil to Hell. There the Devil created evil demons and with them
rose up from Hell and fought against God and all good
spirits. Eventually, the Devil was defeated and driven back to Hell,
after Perkons intervened in the fight
Later Laimdota reads from the teachings of the guardian of the
Latvian race, in which he listed the tasks of worthy human beings:
to seek perfection of the human race, to fight against evil by
obeying the ancient teachings, to make just laws and drive out bad
rulers, and to love nature.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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