Snakes
Once, a man went on a hunt. Wandering through a great forest, he reached an area of thick pines and came to a hill that was as round as a sugarloaf. The man climbed up the steep hillside until he reached its sharp peak. Here, he saw that bored into the sharp hilltop was a fist-sized hole, from which shone the burning eyes of a snake. The man took a club and killed the snake, which fell bouncing back into the depths. Then, there was a great, strange slithering and hissing that sounded from the bowels of the hill, making the surface of the earth quake.
The man peered down into the pit and saw a horde of snakes surging up. As soon as the snakes came close to the lip, the man bashed the club down upon the snakes’ heads, and clumps of snakes fell back down into the depths of the hill under the strong rain of the man’s blows. Although the man. kept on sending the snakes to their death at the edge of the pit with his heroic strength, new ones kept on surfacing endlessly.
Thus continued the battle for a couple more hours, and the man’s strength was starting to run out. He didn’t dare run away, either, because he feared the snakes would start pursuing him. Therefore, there was no better option than to resist them at the edge of the pit so they couldn’t slither out. The soil of the hill appeared to be chock full of snakes. Suddenly, when the man was about to raise his club to land another blow, a big black snake grandly stuck its head out of the pit, and the man saw that resting upon its head was a fire-red crown that shone with remarkable brilliance. Seeing this, the man dropped his club and, gathering all his strength, he shot like an arrow down the hill and into the thick forest. But as soon as the man reached the forest, the snakes surged after him in countless numbers like the rain. Seeing this, the man threw his rifle at the snakes, which they swarmed around in fury and laid waste to in a few mere moments before starting to chase after the man again.
Then, the man threw down his hat, which the snakes destroyed in turn and then continued chasing after the man. Now, the man threw down his big, new wool coat, which the snakes swarmed again and destroyed as well.
Somewhat by chance, the man came to a field at the edge of the forest where there were stalks of rye. The man started running over them. But here, it wasn’t possible for the snakes to chase the man anymore, because throwing themselves pell-mell forward, the snakes were lanced by the sharp stalks, and many were even killed. Seeing this, the others turned back towards the forest and sank into the woods like a roiling current. The man thus fortunately escaped the kingdom of the snakes. He never dared to go hunting there again, or to otherwise walk there. He warned others about that sugarloaf-like hill as well.
Kord käinud üks mees jahil. Mööda suurt metsa uidates jõudnud ta ühe paksu laane sisse ning jäi mäe juurde, mis olnud ümmargune kui suhkrupea. Mees ronis mööda liusakat mäekülge kuni mäe terava tipuni üles. Siin nägi ta, et teravast mäetipust läks rusikasuurune auk mäe sisse, kust ühe ussi põlevad silmad välja kiirgasid. Mees võttis vembla ja lõi ussi surnuks, see kukkus patsatades alla sügavusesse. Selle peale oli all mäepõues imelikku suurt kihinat ja kohinat kuulda, nõnda et mäepind aina värisenud. Mees vaatas august alla ja nägi hulka usse ülespoole tulevat. Niipea kui ussid pea augu äärele saanud, langes mehe vemmal plaksatades usside pähe ja nagu rahet langenud ussipuntraid mehe tugevate hoopide all mäe sügavusesse tagasi. Ehk mees küll kangelase jõuga usse augu äärel muudkui surma saatnud, tulnud ikka ühtelugu uusi alt üles.
Nii kestis võitlus paar tundi edasi ja mehel oli jõud juba lõppemas. Ära ei ole julgenud ka joosta, sest ta kartis, et ussid teda taga hakkavad ajama. Sellepärast ei ole enam muud paremat nõu olnud, kui augu ääre peal vastu panna, et nad välja ei saaks tulla. Mäepind paistis puha usse täis olevat. Järsku, kui mees tahtis jälle oma vemmalt löömiseks üles tõsta, pistis üks suur must uss pea uhkelt august välja ja mees nägi, et ussi pea peal on tulipunane kroon, mille ümber kumas iseäralik hiilgus. Mees lasi seda nähes vembla maha langeda ja pistis kogu jõudu kokku võttes nagu nool mäest alla ja paksu metsa sisse. Aga niipea kui mees metsa sai, visanud ussisid määratumas summas nagu vihm mehele metsa järele. Seda nähes paiskas mees usside poole oma püssi, mille ümber ussid kanges vihas hunnikusse kargasid ja selle mõne silmapilguga pihuks ning puruks tegid ning uuesti mehele järgi ajama pistsid. Siis viskas mees mütsi maha, mille ussid jällegi puruks tegid ja mehele järgi ajama pistsid. Nüüd viskas mees oma suure uue villase kuue maha, mille kallale ussid jällegi kargasid ja sellegi puruks tegid.
Poolkogemata jõudis mees metsa äärde väljale, kus rukkikõrred olid. Mees hakkas neist üle jooksma. Aga siin ei olnud ussidel enam võimalik meest taga ajada, sest rataskuuti pildudes viskasid ussid end teravate rukkikõrte otsas katki ja selle läbi said paljud surmagi. Teised pöörasid seda nähes ära metsa poole tagasi, ja nagu kihav veevoog vajus metsa sisse. Mees pääses nõnda siis õnnelikult usside kuningriigist välja. Enam ealeski ei julgenud ta sinna jahile ega ka muidu minna. Teisigi hoiatanud ta selle suhkrupeasarnase mäe eest.