Аннотация: Английская версия "Сказки о маленьком тролле" из цикла "Сказки о любви"
LITTLE TROLL.
Far, far away, in the severely cold Northern mountains, in a thick forest by a swiftly running river, in a cave down below the trees there lived a Little Troll. Wood trolls are known not to be tall anyway, but this one was still smaller than most. Like his father he had a thick, bushy crown of ginger hair, but his bright clear blue eyes he took from his mother. The rumours went that there had been river elves" blood in mother"s family.
Wood trolls were famous even beyond their own country as being herbal healers and brewers of herbal remedies. They knew better than anyone else where and when a mysterious fern flower was going to be in bloom, and during what period it would be at its most potent. They kept their secrets (and there were loads of these).
Little Troll was a favourite in the wood, and everyone treated him with respect. He was only a young chap, but very diligent, and was soon going to be a real master of the herbalist"s art. The remedies and syrups that he prepared were so unique and so highly appreciated that even the king"s family ordered them - a great honour.
One day the Principal Troll had two visitors from far distant lands. They were lake elves: a beautiful elf girl, whose blue eyes could compare only with the most beautiful azure of the deep highland lakes, and an elvish elder as wise as the Earth itself. Lake elves had been collecting herbs on their marshes and making medicines for centuries; they knew a lot of old recipes but they could not create an elixir effective against all diseases. They flew for help and knowledge to the wood folk.
"Trolls and elves have never been too close friends, but neither have our tribes been at war" the principal troll (with a certain feeling of importance) started his speech. He was proud that elves were asking the wood folk for help, which, of course, meant that their work was highly reputed. New contacts are always important, especially when things are not going so well, and the trolls were living through exactly such unfavourable times.
"We are happy to help you, aren"t we, Junior Royal Chemist?" said he, looking at Little Troll (who, among others, had been invited to the general council meeting).
The young expert looked up with his clear bright blue eyes, nodded in agreement and smiled - he already had an idea how to help the exotic visitors and his smile was in response to the smile he saw in the eyes of the beautiful elf girl.
Three days and three nights were spent by Little Troll working inside his cell in the cave. He had never worked as hard or felt as uplifted before - every time he thought about the lake girl, his heart was filled with joy and enthusiasm. It didn"t really matter that his eyes got red-rimmed with reading old manuscripts and the effects of dust from dried grass powders.
On the fourth day the elixir everyone had been waiting for was ready. Very proud, and bursting with joy at the achievement, the principal troll handed it to the visiting elves. The whole ceremony of presenting the gift was grand and dignified, and could have taken place nowhere else but here in the royal throne-cave, in the magic northern mountains tucked among the thick forests...
It was time to say good-bye.
"I fell in love with your austerely-beautiful land. I fell in love with your kind people who were so willing to help," said the elf girl, and her voice sounded like a clear cool spring on a hot summer day. "I wish I could come here again, and I wish I could have a friend like you".
"And I wish I could visit the land where girls have eyes that are brighter than the turquoise blue of the skies and deeper than the deep blue lakes", said Little Troll to her.
To thank Little Troll for his skill the beautiful elf girl gave him her magic smile and also a little golden bell - it was a custom with elves to do so if they wanted to be remembered by someone. The present of such a bell was then kept by an elf in his or her heart as a token of love.
It was so unexpected and unusual for Little Troll to be given such a present - they had hardly talked to each other, but it was one of those occasions when the souls of two people feel the same, and their hearts beat in unison from the first moment they see each other. Little Troll was able to appreciate and understand what the girl had done -after all, he was the son of a mother who herself had elf blood. In his turn Little Troll gave his own golden bell to the beautiful blue-eyed elf girl.
One year passed. Little Troll had grown into a big specialist. He still remembered the blue-eyed visitor from a far-away lake land but did not think about her as often as he used to and eventually he met a pretty girl from his own gnome tribe and they married.
A great celebration of The Day and Night Sunshine Magic was approaching. It happened once a year that the sun stayed up in the sky without setting, and the wood dwellers were thoroughly preparing for the festivities of the day: children were picking strawberries and lots of flowers, garlands were being woven and houses were decorated. The village was filled with the mouth-watering smell of berry-cakes baked by mothers.
Among all the happy and cheering crowd Little Troll felt uncomfortable and looked sad. "Ding-dong" - it was the bell of his forgotten love and it was saying something that made Little Troll wonder - spiritually, he and his blue-eyed friend were linked together. The tiny soft voice of the bell had a special reason to alert Troll: the beautiful blue-eyed elf girl arrived in the wood for the main celebrations of the year. The Little Troll did not go to see her - did not dare.
The little bell was singing to him all day and all night, telling him how the blue-eyes of the girl were scanning the crowed of cheering people while she was dancing in a circle with other girls, how she was waiting for him... And at the dawn of the next day she flew away and became a small light cloud over the sea...
It was painful for Troll to listen to this song and although the little bell had a tiny voice it sounded like the toll of doom. Through his thoughts he was trying to deliver the message to the girl asking her to return the bell that he had given to her - he needed it back to be able to give to his true love from the gnome tribe. But it was impossible. The blue-eyed beauty also could not open her heart to any suitors: neither to the wise elder who proposed to her, nor to a number of handsome elves whom she met through now being a herbal healer in the lake land, and who all loved her. The two exchanged bells had become an inseparable part of both the troll and the elf-girl: so it happens when two souls feel the same and two hearts beat in unison.
Little Troll was crying. He was crying so hard that had he been big, the heavens would have shifted and shattered, but ... he was only a small troll so his crying was hardly heard.