The Legend Of The Rock Teeth
Yoav Bar-Lavi
On a green
slope resided the village Yarna, nearby was a river that twisted and went down
towards the next village, Sador. One shepherd from Yarna used to lead his flock
along the river's bank and cross to the other bank on the bridge which called
"The Rock Teeth Bridge", until he reached to a nice pasture. There he
liked to sit near a fountain and watch the landscape around Sador, while he was
amazingly playing the flute.
One day appeared there a maiden with red hair. She listened to the flute tunes for a long hour in silence, and the shepherd liked her.
"What the melody is about?" she asked.
"This is a known song among us at Yarna that tells about the flow of the river from the village, through The Rock Teeth, under the ground and until this fountain, where the river bursts out again to the air."
"Quite nice!" said her, "But the river does not end here, but flows towards us at Sador and goes on." and she went along the river and disappeared. The shepherd was sad, but at the next day they met again at the same place, and again he played for her for a long hour.
"This time it is the legends about The Lovers And The Red Rock Teeth," he answered her question. He held out his hand, but the maiden hesitated and moved back.
"This is a sad legend!" she said and immediately turned away and vanished.
Afterwards he has not seen her and his heart pined while he was waiting for her for vain until twilight, day after day. But one day at the springtime she appeared again and listened to the tunes of the flute, that trembled her heart. She was so engrossed in the melody, that she didn't notice that it was ended, and that the shepherd is looking at her in silence. She was suddenly aroused.
"Thank you for the tones, please tell me the story of this melody, the most beautiful one that I have ever heard!"
"It tells about the shy redheaded woman which I fell in love with, these tones are the voices of my heart that is suffering without her. No one has ever heard them except from you."
He held out his hand and this time she held it.
"Will you marry me?" he asked.
"With pleasure," she answered after she gazed into his eyes, "I only have one condition: you have to swear to me that you will never play this melody to anyone, it will be sacred to us."
"This you should not ask for, because it was already given to you," answered the shepherd.
Since that day they lived together. Everyday when the sun was setting, the woman was waiting for the return of the shepherd from the fields. Sometimes she was worried when he did not show up, but then when she listened, carried by the wind she heard the flute tones that reached her from a distance and reassured her. And sometimes she came and joined him and he was playing for her, hand in hand they walked slowly in the way back to their little house at Yarna.
"Do you believe in the legend about The Red Rock Teeth?" she asked him one day when they marched together on the bridge. He answered in the negative but his voice was drowned out by the water tumult. His gaze turned down towards the sharpened rock pillars that protruded out from the water, which gave the name to the place.
"Didn't you see the rock pillars? None of them is red," His voice was well heard now, as they continued and left the bridge behind.
"I saw indeed, but my grandmother told me that this is not a legend but a prophecy."
"Legend or prophecy, I do not believe in it! Did you know that in our village there is a superstition, saying that a man from Yarna should never choose a bride from Sador?"
"Is that so? But the same belief exists also in Sador, because of the legend."
"In the past no one dared to deny the faith, but nowadays things have changed, many men took brides from your village, long time before I did this."
The woman rested her head upon his shoulder and he surround her waist by his hand and pulled her close to him, his body contact banished disturbing thoughts away from her mind.
Years later it was the eve of the spring holiday when the woman was sitting as usual at the yard of their house after she completed her preparations to the holiday, and suddenly she heard from a distance the tones of the melody that was sanctified to her. Her heart stopped beating. Is the shepherd in trouble? She rushed to the fountain, but when she crossed the bridge, from distance, she recognized her husband in the company of a stranger woman. She threw herself from the bridge and died on the spot.
***
This is the time to go back to the beginning of the happy days of the shepherd and his wife and to tell how they seemed in other eyes, the eyes of demons that dwelt under the ground. Servants stood before the throne of their horrible mistress.
"There is a pair of lovers up there, no one can defeat the great love that is between them."
"You did well by coming to me," said the demons queen, "indeed I could not find what is that disturbing me lately."
She sent three of her most beautiful girls in order to tempt the shepherd, but he did not honored them even with a look, and one by one they came shamed back to her. Therefore she herself ascended to the earth and watched the lovers, during ten long years she followed them patiently.
That day as said was the eve of the spring holiday. The shepherd after enjoying the blossom, set by the fountain and played in his flute to welcome the holiday – when his wife showed up there. He smiled and played for her, but she looked down and his melody has faded. He laid down the flute and grasped her hand, but his hand recoiled back, her hand was cold as death.
"What happened to you, darling? You are not as usual."
She gave him the flute and then he played her the melody that he sanctified to her. He watched the ripples, how they touch the stone edge like the tones that he tried to send into his wife's heart. And suddenly the water turned red. He looked at the woman's face which was expressionless, a strange spark appeared in her eyes and her skin started to turn wrinkled and pale right before his eyes. The costume was removed from the demons queen and she dissipated in the air.
The shepherd now rushed back to his home, but when he crossed the bridge he saw the sight which for him was worse beyond any imagination. He threw himself down right away, and since that day they say at Yarna and Sador that the red color cannot be removed from the rocks.
One day appeared there a maiden with red hair. She listened to the flute tunes for a long hour in silence, and the shepherd liked her.
"What the melody is about?" she asked.
"This is a known song among us at Yarna that tells about the flow of the river from the village, through The Rock Teeth, under the ground and until this fountain, where the river bursts out again to the air."
"Quite nice!" said her, "But the river does not end here, but flows towards us at Sador and goes on." and she went along the river and disappeared. The shepherd was sad, but at the next day they met again at the same place, and again he played for her for a long hour.
"This time it is the legends about The Lovers And The Red Rock Teeth," he answered her question. He held out his hand, but the maiden hesitated and moved back.
"This is a sad legend!" she said and immediately turned away and vanished.
Afterwards he has not seen her and his heart pined while he was waiting for her for vain until twilight, day after day. But one day at the springtime she appeared again and listened to the tunes of the flute, that trembled her heart. She was so engrossed in the melody, that she didn't notice that it was ended, and that the shepherd is looking at her in silence. She was suddenly aroused.
"Thank you for the tones, please tell me the story of this melody, the most beautiful one that I have ever heard!"
"It tells about the shy redheaded woman which I fell in love with, these tones are the voices of my heart that is suffering without her. No one has ever heard them except from you."
He held out his hand and this time she held it.
"Will you marry me?" he asked.
"With pleasure," she answered after she gazed into his eyes, "I only have one condition: you have to swear to me that you will never play this melody to anyone, it will be sacred to us."
"This you should not ask for, because it was already given to you," answered the shepherd.
Since that day they lived together. Everyday when the sun was setting, the woman was waiting for the return of the shepherd from the fields. Sometimes she was worried when he did not show up, but then when she listened, carried by the wind she heard the flute tones that reached her from a distance and reassured her. And sometimes she came and joined him and he was playing for her, hand in hand they walked slowly in the way back to their little house at Yarna.
"Do you believe in the legend about The Red Rock Teeth?" she asked him one day when they marched together on the bridge. He answered in the negative but his voice was drowned out by the water tumult. His gaze turned down towards the sharpened rock pillars that protruded out from the water, which gave the name to the place.
"Didn't you see the rock pillars? None of them is red," His voice was well heard now, as they continued and left the bridge behind.
"I saw indeed, but my grandmother told me that this is not a legend but a prophecy."
"Legend or prophecy, I do not believe in it! Did you know that in our village there is a superstition, saying that a man from Yarna should never choose a bride from Sador?"
"Is that so? But the same belief exists also in Sador, because of the legend."
"In the past no one dared to deny the faith, but nowadays things have changed, many men took brides from your village, long time before I did this."
The woman rested her head upon his shoulder and he surround her waist by his hand and pulled her close to him, his body contact banished disturbing thoughts away from her mind.
Years later it was the eve of the spring holiday when the woman was sitting as usual at the yard of their house after she completed her preparations to the holiday, and suddenly she heard from a distance the tones of the melody that was sanctified to her. Her heart stopped beating. Is the shepherd in trouble? She rushed to the fountain, but when she crossed the bridge, from distance, she recognized her husband in the company of a stranger woman. She threw herself from the bridge and died on the spot.
***
This is the time to go back to the beginning of the happy days of the shepherd and his wife and to tell how they seemed in other eyes, the eyes of demons that dwelt under the ground. Servants stood before the throne of their horrible mistress.
"There is a pair of lovers up there, no one can defeat the great love that is between them."
"You did well by coming to me," said the demons queen, "indeed I could not find what is that disturbing me lately."
She sent three of her most beautiful girls in order to tempt the shepherd, but he did not honored them even with a look, and one by one they came shamed back to her. Therefore she herself ascended to the earth and watched the lovers, during ten long years she followed them patiently.
That day as said was the eve of the spring holiday. The shepherd after enjoying the blossom, set by the fountain and played in his flute to welcome the holiday – when his wife showed up there. He smiled and played for her, but she looked down and his melody has faded. He laid down the flute and grasped her hand, but his hand recoiled back, her hand was cold as death.
"What happened to you, darling? You are not as usual."
She gave him the flute and then he played her the melody that he sanctified to her. He watched the ripples, how they touch the stone edge like the tones that he tried to send into his wife's heart. And suddenly the water turned red. He looked at the woman's face which was expressionless, a strange spark appeared in her eyes and her skin started to turn wrinkled and pale right before his eyes. The costume was removed from the demons queen and she dissipated in the air.
The shepherd now rushed back to his home, but when he crossed the bridge he saw the sight which for him was worse beyond any imagination. He threw himself down right away, and since that day they say at Yarna and Sador that the red color cannot be removed from the rocks.