Mihail, the Hunter and Leandra, the witch

Gather round, children and I'll tell you the story of Mihail, the hunter and Leandra, the Witch!

A long, long time ago, our country was filled with magic and mysticism, so fantastic creatures like the "Iele" roamed our forests. These creatures, the "iele" used to come out naked on summer nights to dance a hypnotizing hora by the incandescent light of a magic fire, lit deep in the heart of the forest, sometimes they would bathe in the icy crystal clear waters of the river, but nobody really knows where they came from or how they came to be. Some say they are daughters of the Moon goddess and come out on summer nights to dance in her honour, no one really knows. But I will tell you this, only men can see them, and very few men who have seen them lived to tell the tale. One such man was Mihail, the hunter, a man from this very village.

One summer, at dusk, Mihail was out deep in the woods hunting, he had got lost and was looking for a place to make camp and spend the night. While he was gathering firewood, it grew darker and darker, and there just through the dense folliage of some oleander bushes, he saw firelight and heard strange music. Now, I know and Mihail knew as well, from his dear old mother that such a beautiful, but deadly plant as the oleander cannot grow in the forests, but he thought nothing of it at the time, because he was very driven to find out what was happening below, in the firelight bathed meadow. He parted the oleander bushes, he saw a group of young women dancing naked by firelight... You can imagine that to a young hunter such a sight is bewitching, so he couldn't help himself, he couldn't look away, because these were the iele, magical creatures, who mesmerize you with their dance until you're turned to stone. Luckily this would only happen if the iele saw him as well, so he continued to watch their hypnotic dance, until he felt the touch of a soft, but cold hand touch his shoulder, when he turned to look he was almost blinded by this radiant being, one of the iele was staring him right in the face. Her skin was just as white and luminescent as a pearl, her long, fiery red hair stretched down to her ankles and covered her nakedness, her moss green eyes pierced him with a gaze that could make one burst into flame on the spot, and her beautiful rose petal lips were pressed in a frown.

Now the only way that one can escape with one's life from a iele encouter is to guess their name, for in our language "iele", merely means "them", so no one really knows their names and Mihail knew this, but he was so dumb-founded by the closeness of this being that he could barely speak, let alone think clearly.

The witch looked at him and spoke: "You have been found, hunter! Now your male curiosity will be punished, you shall be turned to stone for daring to set your mortal eyes on myself and my sisters!"

Panick stricken to the very bone, Mihail's sharp mind grasped for a solution to sway the witch's decision.

"Oh, magical being, forgive a poor mortal for such offense, I meant no harm, I was only captured by your sisters' otherworldly dance. I beg tour mercy, please do not turn me to stone, take my sight or make me go mad! I can try my wits at guessing your name if you'll permit it? "

"You may attempt it thrice, but you shall never succeed!"

Poor Mihail's mind danced through an endless list of names, then he remembered something his grandmother had once told him about witches... They usually bear weeds' names or deadly flower names, so he caught the first idea that passed through his head, and the one flower that his eyes first alighted upon, the oleander, that was so peculiarly growing out there in the woods. So he opened his mouth and uttered the name: "Leandra"

The witch was stupefied that such foolish human could guess her name at the first try. Mihail could see the expression of surprise on her face, then a darkness covered her green eyes and lines of anger began to crease her beautiful white forehead.

Mihail awaited his fate breathlessly, the next thing he knew, everything went pitch black. He thought the witch had tricked him and broke her word out of sheer spite and taken his sight, but then realized that his eyes were shut, so he opened them cautiously, still under terror because of the supernatural creature, and found himself bathed in the sunlight of the early morning. He felt dew droplets all around his skin and was amazed to see that he had fallen asleep naked in the meadow were the iele had been dancing the night before. He heard voices and saw a group of men come out of the oleander bushes from above. They were friends from the village, calling out his name.

"Mihail, you fool, what came over you, sleeping naked in the heart of the forest? I'm amazed you survived!"

"It was not by my choosing, friends. I saw the iele and was caught spying by one of them, I guessed her name and she set me free, naked, but free."

"You, stupid fool, you drank too much and fell asleep naked and dreamt it all. Everyone knows nobody can guess their names and no one survives a encounter."

"I'm telling it is so!"

"Then give us her name!"

Mihail was so sure he still remembered the witch's name, that he opened his mouth with certainty to speak it, but it was erased from his mind instantly.

"See, you cannot, you dreamt it!"

Frustrated at his forgetfulness he got up and started to dress. As they walked up towards the bushes above, he looked closely at them and could swear that last night he had seen some poisonous flower in them, but could not remember which.

Mihail told the tale of his encounter with the iele 'till the day he died, but no one believed him.

"But grandmother... How come you know the witch's name?"

Ah, very good, children! You have been paying attention! You see... Mihail was my grandfather, he told me the story and on his deathbed, his last words were: I remember her name, it was Leandra, like the poisonous flower!

"So you're the only one to know a witch's name, grandmother?"

Well, if you believe in such things, children, now, so do you, and you can tell the tale of Mihail, the hunter and Leandra, the witch to your grandchildren and so on and so on, but whatever you do, keep the magic alive!