Join us at the campfire for tales from around the world, told by storytellers of all backgrounds and creeds. From the heros and heroines of old, let us relearn and rediscover the wisdom of our ancestors. Shhh..the story begins..

There was once an old man and an old woman. Together, they had twelve sons and three daughters, the youngest of whom they named Egle, which meant Fir Tree. One hot summer night, the three sisters went bathing in the nearby lake. After splashing around for a while and washing themselves clean, they returned to the bank to get dressed.

Egle noticed that a snake had wound himself in the sleeve of her cotton shirt. Her oldest sister grabbed a stick and made ready to shoo the snake away but, at that moment, the snake turned to the youngest girl and spoke in a human voice: "Give me your word, Eglute...little Egle...that you will marry me and then I will willingly slither out."

Egle began to cry. How could she promise to marry a snake? Then, she told the creature firmly, "Give me back my shirt and return to where you came from!"

"I want your word that you will marry me," he repeated, "and then, willingly, I will slither out." What could poor Egle do? The word had to be given. So, Egle promised to marry the serpent, who went by the name of Zaltys.

Three days later, Egle's parents noticed that a teeming group of snakes had slithered into their yard. Everyone was very afraid and nobody knew quite what to do. Meanwhile, the snakes squirmed about the yard, hissing, winding and writhing. Two matchmaker snakes slunk into the house to speak to Egle and her parents. At first, the old couple were wary. They didn't want to comply, but they had no other choice. Reluctantly, they gave up their youngest daughter and the snakes, having obtained the bride they had come for, slithered out of the yard. Egle's family cried bitter tears and grieved at her loss.

The delegation of snakes led Egle toward the ocean. There, she was confronted by a handsome prince who was waiting for her. He informed Egle that he was the same serpent she had found in her shirt-sleeve. Soon, he carried her to a nearby island and, from there, they descended beneath the waves to the Serpent Prince's magnificent castle under the sea.

The marriage of Egle and Zaltys was a grand celebration...three days of feasting, dancing and revelry. The realm of the Serpent Prince was idyllic. Nobody had to work and there was complete freedom. The palace itself was beautiful and filled with everything the heart desired. Soon, Egle stopped fretting about her fate and, in time, all but forget about her former home.

Nine years trickled by. Egle and Zaltys rejoiced in the children born to them. They had three sons...Oak, Ash and Birch...and one daughter, Aspen, who was the youngest. One day, Egle's oldest son asked, "I would love to see my human grandparents, Mother. Would it be possible to visit them?"

The words stirred Egle's memory of her mother, father, brothers and sisters. She wondered how they were all doing...whether they were healthy, alive or, perhaps, already dead. She was overcome by a deep desire to return home. "I have been gone so long," she complained to Zaltys, "and I miss my family so very much." Zaltys was skeptical.

"I will allow you to visit," he said, "but first you must spin this silk tow." Egle was dismayed as she stared at the hank of coarse, broken fibers. Zaltys showed her the spinning wheel.

Day and night Egle spun, but the pile of silk tow never shrank. She saw that she had been tricked...the tow was bewitched. Spin as she might, she would never be done. So, Egle went to see an old woman who lived nearby. The woman was a sorceress.

"For goodness sake," begged Egle, "please teach me how to spin that tow." Immediately, the ancient enchantress explained to Egle what needed to be done and how. "When you are preparing your cooking fire," she said, "throw in the tow. If you don't, you will never finish spinning."

Egle went home and did as she had been told. The tow burned away and Egle saw a toad, as big as a clothes-washing paddle, squirming around in the flames. The magical toad, having consumed the tow, was spitting fine silk from its mouth. Having dispatched both the toad and the spinning, Egle again pleaded with Zaltys to allow her to go home, if only for a few days. This time, her husband pulled a pair of iron shoes from under a bench saying, "When you wear these out, I will allow you to go home."

Wearing the shoes, Egle walked, stomped, marched, and dragged them against rocks and bricks, but the shoes were thick and hard and refused to wear out. It seemed they would last forever, no matter what she did, so she went again to the sorceress for assistance. The old woman advised her to take the shoes to a blacksmith and ask him to burn them with a hot poker. Egle did just that. The shoes burned sufficiently and, within a week, Egle was able to tear them apart. Having done so, she again asked her husband for permission to visit her parents. Still, Zaltys was doubtful.

"Before you may leave," he told Egle, "you must bake a cake. You cannot go home without a treat to give the nieces and nephews you surely have by now." The Serpent Prince ordered Egle to remove all her cooking utensils so it would be more difficult to bake. Egle couldn't imagine how she would be able to carry water without a bucket, or mix dough without any crockery...so, once again she visited the sorceress.

"Take the leftover dough which you use to start each new loaf," instructed the wise woman, "and spread it inside a sieve. With that sieve, you will be able to carry water and mix a new batch of dough."

That is exactly what Egle did. She spread a sieve with dough to carry water and was able to bake a cake. When it was done, she bid farewell to her husband and neighbors, called to her sons and daughter, and left for home. Zaltys accompanied his family to the seashore and told Egle that she could visit for no longer than three times three days and then had to return immediately.

"On the way back" said her husband, "walk alone with our children and, upon reaching the shoreline, call me in this manner:

Zaltys, my darling Zaltys!
If you are alive, foam milk before me,
And if you are dead, foam blood before me!"

At the home of her parents, Egle was greeted with much joy and happiness. All the neighbors and her entire family gathered to meet her. Each person asked what it was like to live with the snakes and Egle was delighted to tell story after story. Everyone brought her gifts and surrounded her with love. She hardly noticed how quickly time was slipping by. Her brothers, sisters, mother and father tried to think of a way to keep Egle from returning to her husband. Most importantly, they all agreed, was to find out his name and how he would be called at the seashore.

"We will unearth this information," they said, "go to the shore, call him and then kill him!" Having decided upon this course of action, they first took Egle's oldest son into the forest and questioned him, but he insisted that he knew nothing.

"I don't know," he stated simply, and that was all he would say.

They whipped him with a switch, but could get nothing out of him. They cautioned him not to tell his mother about the incident and let him go. Next, they questioned Ash...and then, Birch...but both followed their older brother's example and said nothing. Finally, they took Egle's daughter, Aspen, into the forest. At first, she declared she had no idea what they were talking about...but then, she noticed the switch and, frightened, told everything she knew.

Egle's twelve brothers, each carrying a sharp scythe, went down to the ocean. They stood on the beach and called:

"Zaltys, my darling Zaltys!
If you are alive, foam milk before me,
And if you are dead, foam blood before me!"

All too soon, the nine days had passed. Egle told everyone farewell, went with her children to the seashore, and called to her husband:

"Zaltys, my darling Zaltys!
If you are alive, foam milk before me,
And if you are dead, foam blood before me!"

Tears streamed from Egle's eyes. Facing her children, she said:

"Turn into an aspen tree
So that you will tremble day and night
So that rain will wash out your mouth
And wind will comb your hair!
Stand, my sons, as strong trees;
I, your mother, will remain a fir tree."