How it came to be

Kako je nastaloIn the rich Slovenian folk tale tradition there are many different types of tales. Very significant, attractive and often humourous are the tales of how things came to be. We are presenting the tale of how the rocky Kras region of Slovenia was created, and the tale of Vilenica cave, and how it got its name.

The Karst
God created the world. On the top of Mt. Nanos he had plenty of rocks left. He pondered where to put them. He looked around and it suddenly dawned on him. He called the angel, his right hand, and ordered him to pick up the rocks and put them in a sack. Then he sent the angel over the Vipava Valley to the sea. There he was to throw the rocks into the water.
When the angel reached the top of Kobdilje, the devil appeared suddenly, probably from the Kobdilje Pekel. He made a hole in the sack. The angel did not notice anything for a long time, and the rocks were slowly dropping out of the sack right over our land.
That is how Karst came to be.

(pekel – hell, a place name)

Kras
Bog je naredil svet. Na vrhu Nanosa mu je ostalo še precej kamenja. Ni vedel, kam bi ga dal. Malo se je oziral okoli in se je domislil. Poklical je angela, svojo desno roko, ukazal mu je pobrati tisto kamenje v vrečo, potem pa ga je poslal čez Vipavsko dolino k morju. Tam da naj strese vse v vodo.
Ko je prišel na vrh Kobdilja, se je zašel nad njim hudič, menda je bil tisti is kobdiljskega Pekla, in mu naredil luknjo v vreči. Angel ni dolgo nič opazil in je je zgubljal kamenje ravno nad našimi kraji.
Tako je nastal Kras.

How the Vilenica Cave came to be
One day, a long time ago, a little girl was herding cattle.
She liked to sit in the shade, and from time to time she nodded off; no wonder since she spent whole nights with her little brother. Sometimes the cattle escaped from the pasture. One day she fell asleep again and when she woke up, the cattle were nowhere to be seen. She searched and searched for them in vain.
Suddenly she found herself at the entrance of a cave. It was a large entrance, so large that a grownup could step through without bending.  Something drew the girl on. She saw a light far, far away, and heard wondrous music, as if someone were playing the violin. She simply had to go on.
Soon she saw in front of her maidens, dressed in lace, dancing in a circle.
The girl stopped in amazement. The loveliest of the maidens approached her, saying:
"Wish for three things, and all three wished will be fulfilled."
The girl thought and thought, and at last said:
"Just tell me who you are, where are you from?"
The maidens told her they were vile rojenice (Fate Sisters) who foretold life to the newborn. The girls was to spread the word that the name of the cave was Vilenica, the dwelling place of vile(fairies, fates).

Kako je nastala jama Vilenica
Enkrat, dolgo, dolgo je že od tega, je ena punčka pasla živino.
Rada je posedela v senci in dostikrat jo je zmamil spanec; ni čudno, saj je cele noči prečula ob majhnem bratu. Včasih ji je živina ušla s pašnika. En dan je spet zaspala. Ko se je zbudila, ni bilo živine nikjer. Hodila je in hodila, pa je ni našla.
Naenkrat zagleda pred sabo jamo. Tako je bila velika, da bi odraščen človek lahko šel noter, ne da bi se sklanjal. Nekaj jo je kar samo vleklo naprej. Je videla daleč, daleč pred sabo eno luč, slišala je prečudno lepo muziko, kako da bi kdo igral na vijolino. Morala je stopiti naprej.
Kmalu je pred sabo zagledala mladenke, oblečene so bile v same čipke, ki so plesale v krogu.
Punčka je obstala kot vkopana. Najlepša od plesalk je stopila do nje in rekla: "Zaželi si tri reči in vse tri želje se ti bodo izpolnile." Punčka misli, misli, potem pa reče: "Samo to mi povejte, kdo ste, od kod ste?" Mladenke so jo obstopile in ji povedale, da so vile rojenice, ki napovejo novorojencem življenje. Naročile so ji, naj ljudem oznani, da se ta jama kliče Vilenica.

Vilenica Slovenica, Ljubljana, Društvo slovenskih pisateljev,1999

Comments

comments

Aleksandra Ceferin

Aleksandra Ceferin (M.A., B.A., Dip.Ed.) has introduced Slovenian language as a school subject in Australian school system and founded the Slovenian Teachers' Association of Victoria in 1976. She has extensive experience in language education: as teacher, lecturer, curriculum coordinator, course writer, language consultant and manager, VCE State Reviewer and Chief Examiner. Since 1998 she has been the President of ISSV and the manager and chief editor of its projects. Aleksandra visits Slovenian annually, establishing and maintaining contacts with Slovenia, and initiating exchanges and cooperation between organizations. In 2004 she was the recipient of the National Education Award of RS Slovenia.