Angelina Fairy tales of Miloliza
Much time has passed or not, but the quiet times came over the woods after Driandafil and the Chunk had disappeared from the forest. Once again villagers began to fearlessly go into the woods to pick mushrooms and berries. The Miloliza’s family had a joyful event: their dog Bunya bore them puppies. Wonderfully she gave birth to seven sound puppies!
Though Bunya knew and loved Miloyar and Miloliza, the first few days she didn’t allow them anywhere near her puppies. When they had grown up a bit, the children decided to give one of them as a present to Angelina. They knew that she had long wondered when Bunya was going to have puppies. She did not hide the joy with which she took home that furry lump. She called her puppy Tosya. From that time and on, everywhere Angelina went Tosya always followed her.
One day her father asked Angelina to travel to the Poppy Valley and pick up the healing herbs there. The Poppy Valley was situated down near the Valley of Ancestors, but the path to it led past the house of the witch Saina. At dawn Angelina took Tosya and together they made their way to the Poppy Valley. They walked slowly, admiring the beauty of the morning forest. Finally Angelina decided to bypass the house of the witch. While doing it, she thought that she heard a bell ring. «Thus she’s gaining her force» - Angelina thought. «Now we just take the path to the left and we’re in the Poppy Valley! » - said Angelina to Tosya as if she understood human speech.
They turned left. Hmm, there seemed to be yet another twist. It took them one more turn, and then another and another… But the Poppy Valley still did not appear! The girl was very much surprised at that, and her heart pounded heavily. She knew this place from childhood, she knew every path, every bush! What had become of the poppies? Where was the valley? But Angelina continued to walk. «I knew this part of the forest so well that I could never get lost here even at night! » - she told to herself. Suddenly she found herself at an unfamiliar glade. The girl bent over a strange plant and started to examine it with horror. She had never seen it before, but she immediately knew what it was – a Criss-cross! She could not be mistaken. The Druids had talked about it so many times. The road to this place was once open to everybody. This was the Valley of Ancestors. «Saina! »- was the first thought of Angelina.
The night which she spent in the Valley seemed a nightmare to her. One time she even thought that she saw eyes of Driandafil the spider among the bushes! The girl was trembling with fear and Tosya turned her tail between her legs. In the morning Angelina understood that she would never find the way back by herself and set Tosya free. Tosya, though still young, realized that they were in trouble and ran away very fast.
That day Miloliza and her little brother were walking home from a Crybaby River, where they went to bathe. Suddenly something rushed at them from the forest. It was Tosya. The dog was pretty much excited and barked heavily at the forest. Miloyar stroked Tosya and saw that a small pouch was tied around her neck. It was tied up with a beautiful lace. You could not confuse it with another one. This lace was given to little Angelina by her father, and was knitted by her grandmother. In the bag they found the petals of an unknown flower. Children ran to the granny Martha and showed their find to her. This is what granny Martha said: «It seems we have trouble! The petals in the bag are the ones of Criss-cross! This means that Angelina is in the Valley of Ancestors now. She will not find the trail back alone. Time is short, we must hurry! Take this magical petal of the old ash-tree, and put it into the pouch. Set Tosya free in the same place at the river, she will find Angelina. Now go and do as I told you! Day comes from the darkness, breeze comes from the grass!». Granny stroked the kids on the head and gave them an ash leaf. Miloliza with the brother and Tosya returned to Crybaby River. She put the leaf into the pouch and tied itto the dog. Tosya wagged her tail, as if she understood the situation. «Well, Tosya… hurry, honey, Angelina needs you! » - said Miloliza, and released the dog. Tosya disappeared in the forest.
Angelina, when left alone in the Valley, not once tried to get out of it. But wherever she went, which ever way she turned, she was still returning to the same place. That was a vicious circle! Tired, she sat down to rest. She remembered her village and her parents. Need be saying that in her village everyone already knew about her disappearance, and all the people were looking for her, but in vain. Angelona remembered everyone: both Miloliza and her brother, and of course Tosya! All of a sudden there came a rustle from the bushes. «Tosya…Tosya!» - happily called Angelina. The bushes moved apart, and there appeared…the huge limbs of Driandafil the spider! She momentarily became frozen with fear. «Saina!» - for some reason the witch’s name flashed in her head again. She rushed to escape, but not knowing where to hide. Then she stumbled over a stone. She fell down and collapsed intoa crevice. Angelina was unconscious for some time. She woke up when something touched her hand. «This is the ugly spider!» - thought the girl and opened her eyes slightly. But it was Tosya who licked her hand! Above them the rustle and hissing of the spider was heard. Driandafil covered the narrow entrance to the cleft with the web. Angelina opened the pouch hanging on the dog’s neck, and took out a leaf of the ash-tree. To her surprise it didn’t fly away but rather stick to the wall and remained there. Meanwhile, Tosya vehemently started digging the ground with her paws. Shortly some dry twigs and a hole between them appeared, and then it blew from the hole with warm moist air and the scent of moss. There was a silence above, which showed that the spider had finished its work. The girl, meanwhile, pulled away the dry twigs, and there was no doubt left: that hole was an underground tunnel! Tosya wagged her tail, and the ash leaf flew into the darkness of the tunnel. Angelina grabbed it and hid it in the bag. So it was that legendary underground passage to the Valley of Ancestors, which no one had ever seen! Carefully, they entered into it. It turned out to be not as dark as it had seemed before. Some shining was coming from the walls. Soon Angelina and Tosya got outside from the other side of the passage. They appeared to be not far from Saina’s house. So they ran home by a familiar path. Some villagers came out to meet them; among them was Angelina’s father.
The next day all the surrounding villages knew about the girl’s return. Angelina with her father came to visit granny Martha. Grandfather Piyun and Miloliza with her brother were already there. This is what granny Martha told them: «Now we know why Saina has chosen that place for her home! She was using the passage of which everybody had forgotten, and did not know where it was. We also know now that Saina can turn into Driandafil! And while she owns that magic bell, we cannot deprive her from her magic powers».
© Copyright: Konstantin Dmitriev, 2008
Translated into English: Maria Lyukish, 2012