Mama's Home Remedies: Discover Time-Tested Secrets of Good Health and the Pleasures of Natural Livin, Svetlana Konnikova [classic fiction .TXT] 📗

The owl flew through the dense forest three nights. Ula followed her step by step. Three days the owl sat in the hollow of a tree, and Ula slept under the same tree. On the fourth night the owl said to Ula, “Now we’ll soon be in the sorceress’ charmed place. She’ll try to put you to sleep, but you shouldn’t fall asleep because you’ll lose control, and you will not be able to save your father. Fill your pockets with stones and small twigs. Put them under your body when you feel drowsy, and then you can guess what you have to do. I’ll be close by; don’t worry.”

At midnight Ula came to a beautiful, sparkling green meadow. He heard a ringing of cymbals and a tinkling of bells. A young girl’s voice was singing a melodic song. Every flower emanated its radiance. Ula could see a yellow thin strip between all flowers of the meadow.

Ula could hardly keep his eyes opened. He lay down on the emerald grass and suddenly he recalled what the owl told him. He gathered stones and twigs and placed them under his body. However, an invisible girl continued to sing her beautiful songs, each one sweeter than the last. The bells continued to tinkle, and the cymbals continued ringing. Ula’s head fell heavily into the grass, but the stones and twigs were uncomfortable. He opened his eyes and exclaimed, “Who does the singing there? Who prevents me from my peaceful sleep with these songs?”

“This is me,” responded a voice of an invisible girl.

“Who are you? Show up.”

“Now I cannot show up. You can find me only at sunrise.”

“Tell me, how can I find you?” Ula asked.

“Do you see the yellow strip? Come close by at sunrise and you will see me,” answered the girl.

270 ^ Mama’s Home Remedies

Then Ula heard the outcry of the owl, and he

understood that the time had come to catch the sorceress.

He jumped back on his feet and ran to the yellow strip.

The bells and cymbals were clanking with difficulty. Ula approached the yellow strip and saw a beautiful shining woman’s sash. He grabbed it with both hands, and a girl of unspeakable beauty appeared in front of him. She wore a yellow dress. The youth looked at her and forgot why he had come here. The owl gave him again a loud outcry.

“Why didn’t you wait until sunrise had come? Why didn’t you listen to me?” the girl asked Ula frowning.

“Because now you are powerless,” Ula replied. “You will not bewitch me and I am not afraid of you. Tell me where my father is and what you did to him.”

The girl stood silent in front of him. The owl’s outcry resounded again.

“Tell me immediately where my father is or I’ll tear down your sash and you’ll lose your power!” Ula demanded in anger, ripping her sash from her dress.

“Your father is here, but he is blind. He looked at me at sunrise. Anyone who looks at me at the daybreak becomes blind from my beauty and my bright dress,” the girl replied. “Give me back my sash and I’ll bring you to your father.”

“No, first you bring me to my father, and then I’ll see if I will give you back your sash,” Ula continued.

The bells began tinkling and cymbals ringing again. One red flower opened up. It rocked and then it threw all its petals to the ground. In a blink of an eye, a hunter appeared in front of Ula. This hunter looked like him, Ula.

“I don’t see you, the sorceress,” he said. “Let me touch your sash; it will give me my life back.”

“Your son came after you,” replied the girl. “I give you your freedom because of him, but you will still be blind.”

The hunter was happy anyway. His cheeks became wet from his tears. But the next minute the owl gave her outcry again. Ula looked at the valley and saw myriad flowers there. He guessed that all those flowers were the misfortunate hunters who had been charmed by the sorceress the same as his father had.

As Isis, So Is Mama… @ 271

“Well, what you want to give me is not enough, smart girl. Liberate all the hunters you charmed,” Ula said. “I don’t want even one flower to be left on your meadow.”

The sorceress became very angry, but she couldn’t do anything. She gave a sign, and all flowers opened up at once. They rocked and threw their petals on the ground. The stems began to grow and in several minutes 77 hunters stood in front of Ula. All of them were blind. The owl gave an outcry again, and Ula crumpled the yellow sash with one fast clenching of his fist. Then he burned the sash and put the ashes in a wooden cup. The owl gave an outcry again, and the young man came up to his father and rubbed his eyes with the ash. His father began to see again. Ula did the same with all 77 hunters and all of them gained their sight back. They were very happy to be free. They thanked Ula for saving their lives and giving them back their healthy eyes.

But the next minute the owl-friend cried again. Ula understood that something was not finished yet. He looked at the girl. She was sitting on the grass, an unspeakable beauty in the