Pananghia

Panaghia it seems it hasn’t always been a cold stone rock, without a heart and soul.

Panaghia was a beautiful girl. It is said that fate (godmothers), when they gave her at birth, one took dark form the most impenetrable dark of a night without a moon, deep from the bottomless deep sea, fire and light from light and the fire of the most brighten stars, tenderness and gentleness from the eyes of the angels who sit on the right side of God and put them in her eyes; another one broke the freshness and white of lilies, and the blush of roses and put them on her face; and the third spin the bundle of slim fibers of righteous shadow and put it as a crown on her black and full hair. But God broke also a piece of his heart and soul and gave it to Pananghia.

And, for not to be seen by mortal souls, the godmothers took her on the heights of mountain Ceahlaul, beyond the clouds kingdom and put her in the cave of Saint Ghedeon.   The bees form the Hermitages fed her with their honey, and the clear nights showered her with the dew of fragrant flowers. And Pananghia grew big and she became a beautiful maiden, so beautiful that only in stories you can meet a girl like her.

And from the heights of sky, the Sun saw her, and from the highest peaks of Earth, Pananghia saw the Sun. And both fell in love. The sun stopped for hours on his way in the sky to watch her, surrounding her with his shines.

And that is how the day got longer and the nights shorter, almost that the sunset met the sunrise. God got mad and punished the Sun to never shine again only surrounded by fog, so he may never waste his time as he wished and change the things they were set from the beginning of times.

And God’s will come true, and Pananghia never saw the Sun again as young and beautiful as he was. Her heart was broken, she cried for days and nights, without sleep, her tears never dried on her cheeks. After a while God felt mercy for her, and gave orders to Sunrise and Sunset to send their sweetest and easy winds to the peaks of Ceahlaul Mountain and towards the forests, that fill its cliffs.

All of a sudden, heavenly voices rose up at the peak where Pananghia was and filled her ears and dried her tears.  The whisper of wind with leaves, the breeze of Sunrise and Sunset, came loaded with the fragrance of bloomed plains.

But Pananghia couldn’t live without the sun and asked God to turn her into a rock and let the Sun come shine again on the sky.

God made her will come true. When she wanted to go back to the cave of Saint Ghedeon, she felt like her legs got roots in the deep earth and she couldn’t move.

Pananghia

She wanted to go, but her body was cold and hard as a rock. She wanted to lift her hands, but her hands stayed closed to her body, also cold as a rock. She tried to yell, but it was useless. And when she wanted to turn her eyes towards the sky, but her eyelids fell on her eyes light and the dark came on her. And Pananghia turned into a mountain rock. It is said that her heart never turned into a rock, and now she is joyfully showering into the Sun light, the shine of flowers, the touch of the white clouds, sweet winds and the warm sunrise and sunset. 

The tale of Baba Dochia

The stones from the Ceahlaul Mountain

Dochia had a son named Dragobete, who got married against his mother’s will with a beautiful girl.

Being a mean mother in law, Baba Dochia gave her daughter in law, on a cold winter day, a ball of black wool telling her to go to the river to wash it and don’t come back until the wool gets white.

Poor girl washed the wool until her hands started to bleed, but the wool was still black. Touched by the girl’s suffering, Jesus showed and gave her a red flower, telling her to wash the wool with it. The girl was surprised when she saw that the wool washed with the water where the flower was put in, got white.

Happy that she managed to pass over this ordeal, which her mother in law gave to her, the girl came back home.
Home the girl wasn’t received well, contrary, her mother in law hearing the story, accused her of having another man, called Trinket (Martisor). That was the name that the girl gave to that man, not knowing it was Jesus.

From this story, Dochia started with her herd of sheep towards the mountain, convinced that spring already came, because she saw the red flower, sign that the snow melted and it was spring. Climbing the mountain, Baba Dochia got warmed up and she threw all her 12 coats one at a time, until she had none left. But the moody weather changed. As beautiful it was at the beginning of the day, as ugly it got now. It started to snow and to freeze everything around.
Dochia froze with her sheep, turning them, according to legend, into stones. The stones can be viewed today on the Ceahlaul Mountain and they are a living proof of this Romanian myth. 

The tale of the craftsman Manole

The Arges Monastery

This tale is said that it happened on the time when Neagoe Basarab was the ruler.
It is said that he took 10 bricklayers to build up a monastery. The most skilled one of the bricklayers was Manole. The place the monastery was about to be build, was near an old wall. After they got there, the bricklayers started to work on building the monastery. But as the time passed, all the work they did on it, by next day was falling apart. Nobody knew why this was happening.

All the bricklayers were working hard, fearful. If the monastery wasn’t done quickly, death will come above their heads, as the ruler said. Only Manole stopped working. He saw it was useless and decided to sleep. In his sleep, he had a weird dream. When he got up, he ran to the other bricklayers and told them about his dream.

He dreamed that a voice came to him and told him that no matter what they’ll do, the wall won’t last and it will fall again by night. There was one way only. The next day, whose wife or sister of one of the bricklayers will come to bring them food, the one shall be built into the walls of the monastery. And then it shall not fall and it will be done.
They made a pact in which they won’t announce their wives and sisters. And the one who will show up tomorrow with food, she’ll be sacrificed.
The other nine bricklayers broke their promises and told their wives about it. Only Manole keep his promise and said nothing to his wife.
The next day, Manole climbed the scaffolding and tried to look who’s wife was about to come. His heart stopped when he saw that the was who was coming was his wife, Ana. Then he got up on his knees and prayed to God to bring the most awful rain on Earth to turn his wife back home. God listened to his wish and the most awful storm started. But no matter how awful it was, his wife didn’t give up and tried to come and give her husband’s lunch, thinking of him. Then Manole started to pray again and asked God for the most awful wind to blow the trees down and to move the mountains. God listened to his pray again and did what Manole asked. But his wife Ana never had the thought of going back home.
The other bricklayers started to be happy, only Manole was the only one who felt he was going crazy when he saw his wife was getting close to him.
When Ana got there, Manole took her in her arms and kissed her. He told her that he wants to make a joke and built her up into the walls. He climbed her up on the scaffoldings and started to build her in. She was laughing believing her husband was joking. But Manole became sadder. The wall was climbing up and he started to build it up. Then she realized it that the wall was tightening and the joke was getting serious. She started pray to her husband to finish this joke and let her go. But he couldn’t do that, because he had a promise to fulfill. Ana was caring his baby and this hurt him even more. The wall was up until he couldn’t see her anymore, just heard her voice praying he let her out of the walls.

When the monastery was build and ready, Neagoe Basarab came to see it. It was so beautiful! Then he asked the bricklayers if they could do another one more beautiful than this one. They started to praise they can do another one more beautiful than this. The ruler though a little and gave order to destroy all the scaffoldings and latters around it and leave the bricklayers up on the roof to die there. He didn’t want them to build another monastery more beautiful than this one.
As they were left there, the bricklayers started to build wings from light wood to fly down the roof. But it wasn’t good and they all died trying to fly down.
When Manole’s turn came, he heard for the last time his wife’s voice from inside the walls. She was dyeing slowly. His eyes were filled with tears of pain hearing her and he felt down and died. In the place where he died, a small spring came out with salty water, just like his tears. That spring is now known as Manole’s Fountain.
Today this monastery is known as The Arges Monastery. 

The charmed horse

In a stormy night, an old lady came to the Prince’s castle and asked for shelter. The Prince, as he saw her, he pushed her away and told her:

- How dare you cross the verge of my castle? Work if you want shelter here.

Than the old lady turned into a beautiful princess and said to him:

- Because you don’t feel pity for people and you don’t have a soul, I shall turn you into a horse, and the spell will be broken only when a girl will offer you “something” from her heart.

Many years have passed and the Prince was unhappy. He felt sorry for the way he behaved with the old lady. In all these years many princesses have come and brought gifts, believing they will break the spell and inherit his money. But there was no result.

One day a shepherded named Giralda, who was in love with the Prince, has picked up a calla lily which she has prepared with care. On the back of a paper in which the precious pure and glowing flower was put in, was written in red “trinket”.

When she appeared in front of the prince, he said to himself: “From where I know these clear and honest eyes?”

The girl gave him the gift saying:

- This is a symbol of my love for you prince!

When the prince touched the trinket, he turned back into his human form.

Later they made a big wedding with lots of joy. The prince decided that every year on the 1Th of March, to remember that day and also on that day boys to offer this trinket to girls as a sign of gratitude and love.

The tale of Mures and Olt

Once upon a time, when charming tales were devised, on a mountain peak from Eastern Carpathians there was a citadel with two towers. The king and queen had two twin sons, who resembled each other like two drops of water. The sons may look alike, but they had different characters. From nothing they were starting to argue and fight until blood dropped. That is how God let them on this Earth.
When they grew up, the king went to war with his warriors, and never came back. The queen sent men to look after her husband on all sights, but they couldn’t find him. The king died far away in a bloody battle. But the queen didn’t know that. “What am I going to do now with my two sons?” the queen was wondering, “They fight all day. I build them two separate towers. In the North tower lives Mures, and in the South tower lives Olt. Look, they are good princes ready to get married, and they still don’t get along.”
- Brother Olt, said Mures, who was more abstinent. Mom cries every day after our father, the king. What shall we do?

- I say, brother Mures, to leave our childish fights aside and go look after our father. Maybe he’s somewhere in a dungeon and he needs our help to set him free.

Olt and Mures went to their mother, the queen, to let her know what they have decided. Hearing what they had to say, their mother shed tears of pain, but also of happiness. Of happiness because her sons were worthy and determined, and tears of pain because she had to let them go and she was too afraid to lose them.

- Well, my sons! She said in the end. Leave in search of your king. Mures and you, Olt! I advise you to stay always together, like horses on a carriage, never apart from each other.

And they left. But once they got out of the citadel, they started to argue on which way to go. As I said, they were different on characters and thinking.
-Let’s go towards North, said Mures!

- No! Let’s go towards South, shouted Olt!

And like in their childhood, they started to fight with their fists. After a while, they decided to do as their mother told them and said:

- I grew up in the North tower and I’m heading that way, said Mures.

- And I grew up in the South tower, and I’ll follow that way, said Olt.

They split. The dark in nature Mures went North, and the hot-wire Olt went towards South. After a while, Mures felt like he missed his brother:

- We fight, but we love each other, said Mures. Mother asked us to stay together. What if I go back and go look for my brother Olt?

In a valley, Mures turned towards South, but he couldn’t find Olt anymore. He lost his way and went towards sunset, trough such beautiful plains, that he forgot about his twin brother.

In the citadel, the queen, got news from her messengers:

-  From the citadel’s gate, great queen, Olt and Mures started to fight and split their ways, disobeying your orders.

Upset the queen ran to turn her sons from their way, but she couldn’t reach them anymore, because they were running fast in different parts. And the queen started to cry so hard, that springs were coming out of her eyes:

- God, please take care of my sons. I lost my king. God, anything, but don’t let my wild sons ever perish.
God listened to her prayer and right away, decided to turn her sons in two undying rivers. And they stayed rivers until today, keeping their names: Mures and Olt.
Mures flows very slow towards plain, good and hoping after many turnings, he will find his twin brother.

While the hot tempered Olt, strikes on the mountain rocks, stirs them, foaming at the Red Tower.

The bee and the spider

There was once a poor woman who had two children: a boy and a girl. They left out in the world to earn their living. The boy became an apprentice at a weaver of cloth, and the girl was carrying stones for bricklayers. On her death bed, their mom called them near her. The girl came right away, but the boy didn’t want to come. His mom forgave him, but after her death, the girl turned into a bee, and the boy into a spider.
Since then, the spider lives always alone, with no brothers or sisters and no parents. He runs from daylight and waves his spider web in dark places, he’s gloomy and upset, people hate him, and anywhere he is, they ruin his web, chase him or kill him. The bee is always cheerful and all day long flies from flower to flower, lives with her parents, brothers and sisters in one place. People love her and cherish her, because she shares what she gathers and offers us her honey.