Legends Exchange Project

  TORUŃ GINGERBREAD BISCUITS   Once upon a time, in a beautiful town of Toruń, there lived a famous baker, Bartłomiej, known in the whole neighborhood for his delicious cakes and biscuits. The truth, however, was that it was his apprentice, young and good-looking Bogumił, who made the tasty delicacies. Bogumił was in love with Bartłomiej’s beautiful daughter – Róża. Róża’s parents did not want him as a son-in-law because he was poor. They preferred an ugly, old but rich widower, Pankracy.   One day Bogumił was walking along a narrow path. He wanted to pick flowers for Róża. Suddenly, as he was passing a puddle, he saw a big bee in the water. Its wings were wet and it was about to drown. Bogumił passed a leaf towards the bee and helped it out of the water. The sun soon dried its wings and the bee flew away.   Suddenly, Bogumił heard some strange noise. He looked around and saw the queen of the dwarfs who was sitting in the grass . She spoke in human voice...

  THE BARON OF ESCRICHE Once upon a time, a shepherdess called Malena. She left her home with the first rays of sunshine with her small flock of sheep. Recently, some neighbours had seen a terrible feast prowling around the nearby mountains.   One day, Malena was walking when she saw a monstrous being coming towards her. In two strides, it had secretly reached her flock. She could not save even one of her sheep from the beast´s jaws. The girl´s eyes were flooded with tears of bitterness and desperation. Pascual, a fugitive soldier who was hiding in the mountains, found Malena, he picked her up in his arms and accompanied her to Escriche. The neighbours gathered around Malena and the smart soldier in the square. Other shepherds arrived in the village and were terrified. The beast had also attacked their flocks. The youngest and most daring men took their sticks and went out in search of the beast. They did not even get a glimpse of it. The days went by and now n...

TULPAR LEGENDS In Turkish epics, horses have as extraordinary features as their owners. Horses that understand human language and can speak like humans often protect their owners from dangers and save them from death. These horses, which have the ability to fly, are known as Tulpar in old Turkish epics. According to the Bashkir beliefs, no one can see the wings of a winged horse called Tulpar. Tulpar opens its wings alone in the dark while overcoming large obstacles and distances. It is believed by the person that if Tulpar has wings, Tulpar will disappear. As told in the Manas Epic, they run faster than the wind.   Tulpar is only the horse of batirs (heroes) and was already created by Kuday (god) to help batirs. Sometimes it seems that physical properties belonging to different worlds merge. The winged "Tulpar", which has an important place in Turkish Mythology, is one of them. "Tulpar" means "Pegasus" in Greek Mythology.   It is claimed that...