The Wonderful Hair - a Slavonic Folk Tale

“THE WONDERFUL HAIR”

(A Slavonic Folk Tale)

There once was a very poor man. He and his wife had many children. They were so poor they had no food to eat and were starving.

One night he had a dream. In the dream a child said to him: 

“In the morning you will find under your pillow a mirror, a red kerchief, and an embroidered handkerchief. Tell no-one, but take all three and go to the hill behind the town. By it you will find a stream. Walk along the stream until you come to its fountain-head. There you will find a witch who will appear as a beautiful woman, with hair bright as the sun hanging down over her back. Be on your guard, that she does not coil her hair around you. Do not converse with her if she speaks; for if you converse with her, she will poison you, and turn you into a fish or something else, and will then eat you. But if she asks you to examine her hair, do it quickly. As you turn over her hair, look; and you will find one hair as red as blood. Quickly pull it out and run away home. If she runs after you, throw her first the embroidered pocket-handkerchief, then the kerchief, and, lastly, the mirror. Sell the hair to a rich man. Be careful you are not cheated for, that hair is worth a great deal; and with the money you get for it, you will be able to support your family.”

When the poor man awoke, he found everything under his pillow, just as the child had told

him in his sleep. He then went to the hill. When there, he followed the stream until he came to the fountain-head. He looked around and saw a woman sitting beside the water. She was threading a needle with hair and was using the hair to embroider stories into cloth. Initially, she had been hard to see because she blended into the countryside - but when she saw him, her hair transformed into gold like the sun. 

As soon as he saw her, he greeted her respectfully. She questioned him: “Where do you come from, young man?” But he held his tongue. She questioned him again: “Who are you? Why have you come?” and she asked him many other questions. But he acted mute as a stone, making signs with his hands, as if he were deaf and wanted help.

Then she told him to sit down on her skirt; and she bent down her head to him, that he might examine her beautiful hair. Turning over the hair of her head, as if to examine it, he was not long in finding the blood red hair. He separated it from the other hair, pulled it out, jumped off her skirt and ran away with her in pursuit.

He looked back, and seeing that she was about to overtake him, threw the embroidered pocket-handkerchief on the ground as he had been told. When she saw the pocket-handkerchief she stopped to pick it up and began to inspect the embroidery - so he got a good way off. But she then ran after him again.

When he saw that she was about to overtake him, he threw the red kerchief, and she again stopped to look at it and try it on her hair. But before long she was after him again.

This time when he saw that she was about to overtake him, he threw the mirror. When the

witch came to the mirror, the like of which she had never seen before, she lifted it up to look at it. When she saw herself in the mirror, she fell in love with her reflection and became quite preoccupied with it. This time the man got so far off that she was no longer able to overtake him and he reached his home safe and sound.

After arriving at his home, he showed his wife the hair, and told her about what had happened to him. She laughed at him being excited about a hair. But that did not worry him because he was sure that there was something very special about this hair. He went to the town to tell his story and to sell the hair. 

A crowd of all sorts of people and merchants collected round him. They became increasingly excited, and like the poor man - were convinced that there was something wonderful about the hair. One rich man offered a gold coin for the hair, another two, and so on; higher and higher, till they came to a hundred gold coins. 

Owing to the crowds and excitement the emperor came to hear of the auction of the wonderful hair. He summoned the man into his presence, and said to him that he would give him a thousand gold coins for it, and so the man sold it to the emperor - and was a poor man no more.

The emperor had been intrigued by the story. He had heard of the witch and was sure there was something magical about the hair. He held the hair thoughtfully, and became filled with the urge to split it in two and twist the strands together. When he did this, he became filled with the wisdom of the ages.

This story is based on a traditional Slavonic folk tale of Serbian origin.