Slovenian legends of water Lets see some legends

Slovenian legends of water

Let’s see some legends of water: Ø The dwarf Čatež in the tale Čatež Ø Legend of the water and the dog

The dwarf Čatež in the tale Čatež is half goat, half man – the devil from hell himself. He has horns, long ears, a beard, middle height and an oldish face.

In these days people saw him sitting on the cliffs sunbathing. He used to pick berries and brought them to shepherds in the mountains, and brought cold, clear water to foresters when they were thirsty.

The only thing he wouldn’t stand was if someone mocking of him. If someone would do that, he would get angry and throw rocks, that buried everything in the way underneath of those who dared to mock him.

He sometimes scared travelers, impresionating their voices luring them to the wrong path.

He showed himself at top of cliffs or swamp grounds, where he searched for springs of water. Where Čatež was seen, people frequently found springs of good water.

Obviously the same happened here, where the healing water springs, in the place called the same as him – Čatež.

The second tale is: Legend of the water and the dog It’s about the dog that discovered effects of thermal water in Dolenjske Toplice

They say that once upon a time in Dolenjske Toplice lived a farmer, who loved his dog very much. One day the dog was freely running over Toplice. When a cart came through the place, he started to leap upon the team.

It continued doing this until it fell under the wheels and the last wheel drove over it. It squeaked with fear and pain and dragged itself from the road.

The farmer noticed that his beloved dog was missing. He started to look for it – he searched the whole village but could not find the dog.

But in the evening when he was crossing the brook Sušica that flows through Toplice, he heard a quiet squeaking from the shrubs on the bank.

He stepped closer to the spot he heard the squeaking from and found his dog lying in a pool and tried to relieve the pain caused by the accident with the cart.

He bowed to stroke his favourite and unintentionally touched the water too. He moved his arms with surprise. The pool his dog was lying in was warm – its temperature was equal to the one of the human body.

The first to become aware of the pleasant effects of thermal water in Dolenjske Toplice was, according to the legend, the farmer’s dog.