One of the best Latvian Fairy Tales – Latvian Winter time…
1. “Spriditis” („Tom Thumb”)
The main character “Tom Thumb” is kindhearted and polite. Being a small boy, he does great jobs. Tom Thumb travels the world and meets various challenges in his life, thus he develops an understanding about the values of one’s life. Returning home, the Tom Thumb is very happy because at this point he understands that the place of birth is everyone’s land of happiness.
2. A little gold fish.
An old man and woman have been living poorly for many years. They have a small hut, and every day the man goes out to fish. One day, he throws in his net and pulls out seaweed two times in succession, but on the third time he pulls out a golden fish. The fish pleads for its life, promising any wish in return. However, the old man is scared by the fact that a fish can speak; he says he does not want anything, and lets the fish go. When he returns and tells his wife about the golden fish, she gets angry and tells her husband to go ask the fish for a new trough, as theirs is broken, and the fish happily grants this small request. The next day, the wife asks for a new house, and the fish grants this also. Then, in succession, the wife asks for a palace, to become a noble lady, to become the ruler of her province, and finally to become the Ruler of the Sea and to subjugate the golden fish completely to her boundless will. As the man goes to ask for each item, the sea becomes more and more stormy, until the last request, where the man can hardly hear himself think. When he asks that his wife be made the Ruler of the Sea, the fish cures her greed by putting her back in the old hut and giving back the broken trough.
3. The War of The Birds and The Beasts
Once a bear with a wolf walked past titmouse nest. Wolf, pointing to the titmouse’s nest, said, “Look, the palace of the titmouse.” Bear replied: “It’s not a palace, but a hut.” Titmouse very offended and caused the animals to fight with the creatures that fly in the air. A bear with a wolf has agreed, as they had no doubt of victory. Bear went to the beasts, and said that in the morning they prepared for battle. Animals was appointed of the leader the fox and agreed as follows: when the fox tail will drop, then all need to escape. Negotiations animal owl overheard and told about all the birds. The next day, when the battle began, hornet bite the fox’s tail, and he went down. The beasts saw it and fled, as had been decided. So the birds won beasts. A bear had to apologize for all titmouse.
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