THE COLORFUL MANIKIN

BULGARIAN FOLK TALE

When the colorful man came to this world even the black cats were grey, what’s left for the grey cats – they imagined being something more than that. And the manikin stopped and wondered which way to go, everything was so grey that he could see nothing.

The grey road was just in front of the manikin in the middle of the grey meadows and the grey forest but he thought that what was in front of him could be a swamp.“Hey, colorful manikin,” a small voice squeaked.“Who’s squeaking?”“Me, the birdie.”“ Where are you?”“I’m here! Hey colorful manikin, please give me a bit of brown for my winglets! And a bit of red for my tail and just a wee bit of yellow for my beak.”

“All right! Take as much as you want.”The birdie took a bit from every color.

It lifted up high very high up. Suddenly, a loud bang was heard and the birdie fell down and squeaked again:“Oh colorful manikin, look at this bump on my head now! I banged in the sun. Please, give the sun a little bit of golden and a little bit of blue for the sky…“It’s easy to say ‘a bit of blue’ – two blue eyes can be made with so little, but a whole sky? And the colorful manikin gave all of its blue and all of its golden. The sky lifted up high very high. The sun started glistening.Then the fawn came.

“Colorful manikin, come on tell me – which is grass and which is stones? I’ll break my teeth, I’ll starve to death.” He looked at himself and said to himself:“I gave all my blue and I gave all my golden but I still have a lot of colors. I’ll give the green to the grass.So he no longer waited to be begged. He colored the flowers red, yellow and violet and some even started coloring themselves. A parrot had from all the colors and the other parrots did the same.“I want to be pure white,” said the zebra and took a bit from the white color. ” No, the black color will suit me better.” White, black, white, black – it got striped.

The manikin walked and walked around the world and the whole world became parti-colored and joyful. When the little girl met him the good manikin had only little left of his colors and a bit more of the pink.

“Colorful manikin, give me some colors!” said the little girl.“Take them all!” said the manikin.And all of a sudden he had no color left and disappeared.And the pink girl started dancing with joy. She was so grateful to the manikin that she felt like kissing him.“Colorful manikin! Hey, colorful manikin, where are you?”

She ran to the flowers:“Haven’t you seen a colorful manikin?”“Violet like me?” asked the violet.“Red like me?” asked the rose.“He was blue!” said the sky.“No, he was golden!” said the sun.

The little girl became sad. She got scared. What if the world turns grey again? ...Don’t be sad and don’t be afraid pink little girl. If the world turns grey again a colorful manikin will come again to give it all his colors.

Once upon a time there were three butterflies: a yellow one, a red one and a white one. They were happily playing on the sunny field, flying flower to flower, dancing, winging around in their good mood. But suddenly the sky clouded, the storm was getting closer.

-Let’s fly home – said the yellow butterfly and started to spinning her wings frightened.      - More faster – said the red one and the white one too, so they started with fast wings.They arrived home just in time, because the rain has just started and their wing became more and more wet.But they couldn’t open the door of the house, and the rain was falling heavier and heavier.-        Let’s go to the yellow tulip - said the yellow butterfly – it will let us in.

And they get through the heavy rain to the yellow tulip and they started to begging to it:-        Oh Little Tuli, please open cup, give us a shelter from the rain.

-        I open my cup for the yellow and the red one, but not for the white one. Hearing this, the yellow and the red butterfly took a look to each other and answered to the heartless tulip. -        If you won’t let our white sibling in, we will stay outside with her!But the tulip said no with it’s head, and didn’t open it’s cup. The rain was still falling more densely.

-        Let’s go t the lily – said the white butterfly.

The were foundering cold soaked to the lily, and they started begging it.

-        Oh Little Lily, please open your cup, give us a shelter from the rain.

But the lily answered:

-        I let the white one with pleasure, but not the red and white one.

Hearing this, the white butterfly answered like this:-        If you won’t let my little siblings in neither I go inside. We are soaking together nor like we leave each other.

But the heartless lily said no with it’s head, and didn’t open it’s cup.So they were floundering further dripping wet and it is still pouring with rain. Their pollen got soaked, their tentacles drooped, their wings cohered together again and again, their soul got soaked so far. They were tripping and bumping from blade to balde of grass and they foud shelter under one-one plantain leaf, but the wind was whooshing and the rain was falling sometimes under them.Come out Sun, come out Sun,please make my wings dried,and open the flower cups! – started begging the three butterflies.             The Sun has heard behind the thick clouds the butterflies’ suppliant speech, and Sun became to be so much moved. It banished the clouds, emitted warm light to the field and dried the wings of the butterflies immediately.         So the three butterflies starts to dancing and flying happily again until the Sun went down. Than they were flying home, they opened their little house, they lied down and fallen asleep.

Once upon a time there was a dear little girl who was loved by every one who looked at her, but most of all by her grandmother, and there was nothing that she would not have given to the child. Once she gave her a little cap of red velvet, which suited her so well that she would never wear anything else. So she was always called Little Red One day hermother said to her, "Come, Little Red Riding Hood, here is a piece of cake and a bottle of wine. Take them to your grandmother, she is ill and weak, and they will do her good. Set out before it gets hot, and when you are going, walk nicely and quietly and do not run off the path, or you may fall and break the bottle, and then your grandmother will get nothing. And when you go into her room, don’t the wood, a wolf met The grandmother lived out in the wood, half a league from the village, and just as Little Red Riding Hood entered her. Little Red Riding Hood did not know what a wicked creature he was, and was not at all afraid of him. "Good-day, Little Red Riding Hood," said he. "Thank you kindly, wolf." "Whither away so early, Little Red Riding Hood?" "To my grandmother's." "What have you got in your apron?" "Cake and wine. Yesterday was baking-day, so poor sick grandmother is to have something good, to make her stronger

Where does your grandmother live, Little Red Riding Hood?" " farther A good quarter of a league on in the wood. Her house stands under the three large oak-trees, the nut-trees are just below. You surelyThe wolf thought to himself, "What a tender young creature. What a nice plump mouthful, she will be better to eat than the old woman.

I must act craftily, so as to catch both." So he walked for a short time by the side of Little Red Riding Hood, and then he said, "see Little Red Riding Hood, how pretty the flowers are about here. Why do you not look round. I believe, too, that you do not hear how sweetly the little birds are singing. You walk gravely along as if you were going to school, while everything else out here in the wood is merry."

Little Red Riding Hood raised her eyes, and when she saw the sunbeams dancing here and there through the trees, and pretty flowers growing everywhere, she thought, suppose I take grandmother a fresh nosegay. That would please her too. It is so early in the day that I shall still get there in good time. And so she ran from the path into the wood to look for flowers. And whenever she had picked one, she fancied that she saw a still prettier one farther on, and ran after it, and so got deeper and deeper into the wood.Meanwhile the wolf ran straight to the grandmother's house and knocked at the door. "Who is there?" "Little Red Riding Hood," replied the wolf. "She is bringing cake and wine. Open the door." "Lift the latch," called out the grandmother, "I am too weak, and cannot get up." The wolf lifted the latch, the door sprang open, and without saying a word he went straight to the grandmother's bed, and devoured her. Then he put on her clothes, dressed himself in her cap, laid himself in bed and drew the curtains. She was surprised to find the cottage-door standing open, and when she went into the room, she had such a strange feeling that she said to herself, oh dear, how uneasy I feel to-day, and at other times I like being with grandmother so much

She called out, "Good morning," but received no answer. So she went to the bed and drew back the curtains. There lay her grandmother with her cap pulled far over her face, and looking very strange.

"Oh, grandmother," she said, "what big ears you have." "The better to hear you with, my child," was the reply. "But, grandmother, what big eyes you have," she said. "The better to see you with, my dear." "But, grandmother, what large hands you have." "The better to hug you with." "Oh, but, grandmother, what a terrible big mouth you have." "The better to eat you with." And scarcely had the wolf said this, than with one bound he was out of bed and swallowed up Little Red Riding Hood. When the wolf had appeased his appetite, he lay down again in the bed, fell asleep and began to snore very loud. The huntsman was just passing the house, and thought to himself, how the old woman is snoring. I must just see if she wants anything. So he went into the room, and when he came to the bed, he saw that the wolf was lying in it. "Do I find you here, you old sinner," said he. "I have long sought you." Then just as he was going to fire at him, it occurred to him that the wolf might have devoured the grandmother, and that she might still be saved, so he did not fire, but took a pair of scissors, and began to cut open the stomach of the sleeping wolf. When he had made two snips, he saw the Little Red Riding Hood shining, and then he made two snips more, and the little girl sprang out, crying, "Ah, how frightened I have been. How dark it was inside the wolf."

And after that the aged grandmother came out alive also, but scarcely able to breathe.

Little Red Riding Hood, however, quickly fetched great stones with which they filled the wolf's belly, and when he awoke, he wanted to run away, but the stones were so heavy that he collapsed at once, and fell dead. Then all three er, I am Little Red Riding Hood, and am bringing you sowere delighted. The huntsman drew off the wolf's skin and went home with it. The grandmother ate the cake and drank the wine which Little Red Riding Hood had brought, and revived, but Little Red Riding Hood thought to herself, as long as I live, I will never by myself leave the path, to run into the wood, when my mother has forbidden me to do so.It is also related that once when Little Red Riding Hood was again taking cakes to the old grandmother, another wolf spoke to her, and tried to entice her from the path. Little Red Riding Hood, however, was on her guard, and went straight forward on her way, and told her grandmother that she had met the wolf, and that he had said good-morning to her, but with such a wicked look in his eyes, that if they had not been on the public road she was certain he would have eaten her up.

Well," said the grandmother, "we will shut the door, that he may not come in." Soon afterwards the wolf knocked, and cried, "open the door, grandmotme cakes." But they did not speak, or open the door, so the grey-beard stole twice or thrice round the house, and at last jumped on the roof, intending to wait until Little Red Riding Hood went home in the evening, and then to steal after her and devour her in the darkness. But the grandmother saw what was in his thoughts. In front of the house was a great stone trough, so she said to the child, take the pail, Little Red Riding Hood. I made some sausages yesterday, so carry the water in which I boiled them to the trough. Little Red Riding Hood carried until the great trough was quite full. Then the smell of the sausages reached the wolf, and he sniffed and peeped down, and at last stretched out his neck so far that he could no longer keep his footing and began to slip, and slipped down from the roof straight into the great trough, and was drowned. But Little Red Riding Hood went joyously home, and no one ever did anything to harm her again.

In the middle of the woods there was an old oak. And there was a great stone under that old oak. A Good Witch, who was living in the woods, liked sitting and resting under the oak.

Once a Good Witch was sitting on the stone under the old oak and saw a girl, picking herbs, nearby.

-Can you come nearer me, girl,- a Good old Witch said.The girl came up to the unknown old woman. She was poorly dressed and had

various herbs in her basket.-Why are you picking them up? - asked she.

know the medicine which can cure your mother.-Oh, granny, be so kind and tell me the name of the medicine. Where can I get them?-Well, I‘ll tell you, but for that you will have to do three good jobs.-I will do all you ask, I will give all you want to make my mother feel better.

-From those herbs I‘m going to make medicine for my sick mother. With this herb- tea I am treating my Mum. My mother has been sick for a long time and she keeps to her bed.

What ails her? - asked the Good Witch.

-I don‘t know and my Mum doesn‘t know either. She is very weak. I am treating her with that herb-tea but she is not feeling better.

-So listen! At home you have a nice white dove which you love very much. Give it to me. Then bring me your goat which gives you milk every day. And when your mother is well, you will have to come to my home and live there for a year. It would be hard because you will have to work much...Do you agree with that, will you be able to bear everything?

The girl thought for a while and said:-Of course, I will do everything to cure my mother. I could work for two years and even more if my Mummy gets well. Please, cure my mother...

-I see how much you love your mother,- said the Good Witch and patted the girl‘s head.

-I was just joking when I asked you to give me your dove, goat and work for a year‘s time at my home. There are three red grains which you have to give one by one to your mother every morning. Soon she will feel better. Now, hurry home and treat your mother.Some days passed and

the girl‘s mother recovered. The girl was so happy that she wanted to thank the good old woman.

She went back to the great stone under the old oak but she couldn‘t thank her. There was nobody. The old Good Witch was gone...

Ulster is the most Northern of Ireland’s ancient kingdoms. Its landscape is fabulously beautiful – it has towering cliffs and rocky hills, winding rivers and scooped-out lakes that look like they could have been made by the hands of slightly crazy giants.There are many stone tombs here, five thousand years old, made of enormous boulders that could not possibly be lifted by one man, or even a whole family of ordinary men. For many years the local people have named them “Giant’s Graves”Stories are told of one great Irish Giant, Finn MacCool, whose most fearsome enemies were the Scottish giants. Finn was so angry, and determined to get at them, that he built a whole causeway from Ulster across the sea to Scotland. He built it of unusual six-sided cobblestones, so they would fit neatly together like a honeycomb, and they made a very pretty pavement indeed!One day he shouted a challenge to the Scottish giant Benandonner, The Red Man, to cross the causeway and fight him. But as soon as he saw the Scot getting closer and closer on the causeway, he realised Benandonner was much, much bigger than he had imagined! Finn skidaddled back home to the Fort-of-Allen in County Kildare, and told his wife he’d picked a fight but had thought better of it now.Finn heard the stamping feet of Benandonner from Kilcock, and when those feet got to Robertstown, Finn had to stuff five pounds of moss into each ear. Red Man’s spear was as tall and thick as a Round-Tower, and he used it to knock on the door of the Fort-of-Allen. Finn would not answer the door, so his wife shoved him in the great bath with a couple of sheets over him.

Finn’s wife, Oonagh, thought quickly. She opened the door to Benandonner saying,“Sure it’s a pity but Finn is away hunting deer in County Kerry. Would you like to come in anyway and wait? I’ll show you into the Great Hall to sit down after your journey.” Oonagh invited Red Man to look around the room, and showed him what she said were some of Finn’s possessions.“Would you like to put your spear down? Just there next to Finn’s” - It was a huge fir tree with a pointed stone at the top. “Over there is Finn’s shield.” - It was a block of building-oak as big as four chariot-wheels. “Finn’s late for his meal. Will you eat it if I cook his favourite?”Oonagh cooked a cake of griddle-bread – baked with the iron griddle pressed inside it. Red Man bit it hungrily, and broke three front teeth. The meat was a strip of hard fat nailed to a block of red timber; two back teeth cracked. He was given a five-gallon bucket of honey-beer to

drink. “Would you like to say hello to the baby? Wait! - I’ll have to feed her first!” Oonagh threw a loaf of bread to the huge baby in the bath-cradle and, peeping out from a huge sheet-like dress and bonnet was Finn MacCool himself, contentedly sucking his thumb. Benandonner said he wasn’t much good with babies. The honey-beer made him feel woozy, and he asked to go outside to clear his head.

Oonagh showed Red Man out, where the gardens were scattered about with boulders as tall as the giant. “Finn and his friends play catch with these rocks. Finn practises by throwing one over the Fort, then running round to catch it before it falls.”Of course Red Man tried, but it was so heavy he could only just lift it above his head before dropping it. The blow only ricked his neck - luckily the Scotsman’s head was very hard. But it was also full of good sense. He thanked Oonagh for her hospitality and said he would wait no longer, but return to Scotland before the tide came in.

Finn leapt from the cradle, thanked Oonagh for her shrewdness, and chased Benandonner out of Ireland. Passing Portadown, County Antrim, Finn scooped a huge clod of earth out of the ground to fling at the retreating Scot. The hole filled up with water and became the biggest Lough in Ireland – Lough Neagh! The clod he flung missed its target and landed in the middle of the Irish Sea – it became The Isle of Man!!And both giants tore up the Giant’s Causeway, just leaving the

ragged ends at the two shores! And if you go to the North coast of Ulster, or to Staffa, the nearest isle of Scotland, you may visit them today – the ends of the beautiful causeway that is, not the giants – those giants are long since in their graves!

Once upon a time there was a cunning and tricky fox. She was looking all night for something to eat, but she wasn’t lucky enough to find a single thing. When the light of the day came, being very tired of his unlucky search ,she got some rest in the  tall grass, trying to find a way to get some food.Laying on the ground, suddenly she felt some nice smell of food, something like fish .

Looking around,she saw a cart coming. What do you think she thought ? She thought that it would be better to lay in the middle of the road and see what will happen next! When the peasant who,slowly drove the cart approached and saw the fox, he stopped the bulls and congratulated himself on being so  lucky to find a dead fox in the middle of the road, because now he would be able to offer a nice coat to his wife!The man threw the fox in the cart over the fish and continued his way back home. Being hungry, the fox started throwing the fish down from the cart ,on the road. When the fox considered that it was enough fish to have a good provision, she jumped down from the cart to take all the fish. Then she took all the fish into her earth and had a delicious mealWhile she was eating the fish, a bear just passed near his earth and asked :"What are you eating there?! Wow! Fish!!! Yummy…and you have a lot! Please , give me some, please ,I am so hungry too!"The greedy fox answered then:

"Don’t you even think about it, bear!  I took a big risk to get this fish and I don't take risks for anybody but myself,  If you are so hungry ,go to the pond and try to catch with your tail as many fish as you want!’’The naïve bear listened to this piece of advice and asked the fox to teach him how to do it.That was all the fox was waiting for!"You go in the evening to the pond , in the woods ,and you put your tail into the water and  wait until the day comes. Then you give a pull on it and see how many fish you got!"

Very happy and confident, the bear went in the woods to the pond and put his tail in the cold water. It was a very cold night and the wind was blowing even colder.The water froze over and caught the bear’s tail in ice.After a few hours of waiting, the poor bear was almost frozen and tried to pull his tail out from the cold water.Poor bear!, instead of fish, he lost his tail! Screaming in pain, the bear went to catch the fox to get his revenge but, the tricky fox was hiding in the hollow of a tree and started laughing at the naïve bear.‘Hey, bear! You wanted to catch all the fish from the pond and the fish ate your tail!!"

Angry, the bear found a branch and started searching the fox in the hole. The fox cried then:’Stop pushing so hard, ’cause you are breaking my legs, was pretending the tricky fox!"In vain the poor bear tried to pull out the fox from the hole, and, tired and angry, he abandoned the idea…

And so….the poor bear was tricked by the smart fox!

Once upon a time there was a woman and his bald son who were living in a town, they were so miserable because of poverty. Sometimes they would not have anything to eat at home; therefore, Bald Boy took a basket to his hand and went to the forest. He picked some mushrooms and brought them to her mother to cook. That day was another gloomy day and it was foggy and rainy. Bald Boy went to the forest again to collect some mushrooms and he ate some of them on his way.

Later on, he sat under a big and old tree to rest. When he looked up above the branches he saw a squirrel that was just staring at him. When she saw the Bald Boy she got off from the branch that she was standing and started to cry. Bald Boy held it and tried to calm her down, kissed her, hugged her.

Squirrel said, “Aaah, Ahh. You are treating me very friendly and nobody has loved me for a very long time”. And Bald Boy talked about his poverty to the squirrel. And the squirrel felt pity on him and she said:” I will do a favor to you.”They walked for hours and hours and eventually at the end of the forest they saw the rock cliff. The squirrel said that: “Go over the rock cliff and grouses are going to welcome you. They will ask you three questions and you can answer them you will find out what is going to be your reward.”Everything that the squirrel said became true and grouse welcomed the Bald Boy, The queen of the grouse said that: “We are going to ask you three questions and if you can answer them you are going to get two jars of gold as a reward.”The queen showed to Bald Boy a cherry tree and said that; “tell me how many cherries on that tree?” Bald boy said “it is as much as number of feather you’ve got. If you want to find out you can count them.”The answer was taken as a correct.

Second question was that “where is the middle of the earth?” Bald Boy said you are standing on it if you don’t believe you can measure it. This answer was also taken as a correct .For the last question the queen held to walnuts and asked “tell me which one is the heavier?”“The one that sinks into the water” said Bald BoyAs a result this answer was also taken correct and he had got two jars of gold. He ruan to his house and gave the jars of treasures to his mother and went back to the forest to look for the squirrel and when he found it the squirrel was still crying. “I” said the squirrel, “I am the daughter of a Sultan but I was enchanted and I became a squirrel”The Bald Boy wanted to help her but squirrel said “It is very difficult” You have to go to the Mountain of Kaf and you have to pass through a mountain that is guarded by a dragon and you will gather and fetch me the water of emerald. “Bald boy went to the town and bought a very sharp sword and went to mountain of Kaf. There were giant snakes guarding to front of the cave and Bald Boy was able to kill them by his sword. When the dragon heard the sounds of the snakes; he flied to around to see what was going on. Bald Boy took it as an advantage and got the emerald water put it in to a bottle. He run back to the forest and found the squirrel. The squirrel was so happy to see that bald boy was accomplished the mission and as soon as she drunk to the water of emerald she became the prettiest girl on the earth. They went to the Sultan’s palace and when Sultan heard to the story he rewarded bald boy with millions of gold and treasuries. At the end, Bald Boy and his mother lived happily ever after.