Myth and folktales

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vanishing and in their place appeared beautiful green cedars and feathery 
palm trees. Enraptured by this indescribable beauty the monk stopped and 
asked himself if this was reality or a dream. Suddenly, he heard the most 
melodious bird song coming from the top of a palm tree. High up in the tree 
he spied a small bird with shining golden feathers which sang in an exquisite, 
delicate voice. The monk listened to the sweet song as it gently played into his 
heart. Tears of joy glistened on his cheeks. “A few hours have passed while I’ve 
been here listening to this delightful singing,” thought the monk. “Now I have 
to go home again. It is hard to part from a beloved spot but I think the bird of 
paradise will sing again tomorrow and I will come and listen to it.” 
He returned to the monastery, full of joy. The forest became more familiar 
again, cedars and palm trees disappeared and were replaced by solid oaks and 
tall, slender spruce trees. When he came to the edge of this extraordinary forest, 
he saw that the hills were as they had been, the spring at the edge of the forest 
rippled as it had done before; nor was there any change in a nearby stream. But 
the monastery! The monastery was completely different. It had a tall steeple 
that had not been there in the morning.
When the monk entered the monastery there were strange, unknown faces 
everywhere. He went quickly to his room. But what a surprise awaited him! 
Where once his chamber had been, there were now only walls with no door. 
Frightened, he asked the other monks who were following him curiously as 
though he were a stranger, “Where is Abbot John?” 
“Our abbot’s name is not John,” replied the monks, “Our abbot s name is 
Paul Chrysostom. But tell us, stranger, who are you that you act as though 
this were your home?” 
“Who am I?” replied the monk, “Don’t you know me? I am Peter, your brother, 
who went to the forest this morning.”
“Peter,” said one old monk, “What? You are Peter? I read in our monastery’s 
ancient records that a thousand years ago a Brother Peter lived here. One day 
he went into the nearby woods never to return. Is that really you?”
Peter lifted his arms towards heaven and said, “Imagine! I spent a thousand 
years in eternity; I wish I could return immediately and hear again the won-
derful singing of the bird of paradise.”
That very moment he disintegrated into dust. The monks grew fearful. 
Somewhere in the distance the words “Eternity, eternity” could be heard. 
(Kropej, Šmitek, Dapit 2010: 44–46).
While the bird of paradise sings so beautifully that thousand years pass as quickly 
as a day, the golden bird has magical golden feathers that bring riches and prosperity. 

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Sometimes it also has the healing power to cure all the diseases.
82
 The tale of “The 
Golden Bird” is classified in the international narrative type ATU 550 and is one of 
the most popular tales also in Slovenia. 
aniMals in star Constellations – the Bear
Some of the animals in folktales have been elevated to the sky in the form of 
different constellations. Among them is the bear, which has to replace the traveller’s 
horse it had eaten and thus has to pull St. Martin’s wagon instead of the horse. Because 
the bear or the wolf eats the horse, St. Martin or some other saint or hero has to hook 
it up to the wagon, and it finally lifts it up among the stars. The tale describes how 
the Great Bear or Plough (Ursa Major) was created.
The Great Bear or Plough can be seen clearly in the summer night sky as the 
constellation in the shape of a wagon. But because it constantly changes its position 
in the time until winter, people soon started to make up stories about the hunt for 
the celestial bear. The stories about the celestial wagon were also created very early. 
In China, it was, for example called ti-che, which means the ruler’s coach. The Roman 
people called it plaustrum, while the name voz (cart, wagon) is known to Germanic 
people as well as to Slavic people.
The constellation the Ursa Minor was called in Slovenia Mala medvednica or Mali 
medved (Little Bear) in the west of Slovenia, but when it comes to naming the Great 
Bear the folk tradition does not mention a name derived from the word used for bear. 
Dalmatin mentions a plough in the sky (Kulla na nebi), Slomšek calls it a celestial wagon 
(Nebeški voz), Stritar writes about the wagon in the sky (Voz na nebu), Valjavec spotted 
the name the wheels of Elijah (Ilijina kola). In Bohinj, they name this constellation the 
Wagon of St. Elijah. Thus, a riddle was made: “Which saint has not yet died?” – “Elijah, 
because he continues to ride in the sky.” The term “St. Martin’s wagon” was spread 
mostly in Primorska, e.g. St. Martin’s wagon in Pivka. In Žiri, it was called the ox’s 
wagon, but commonly used name for it is the “Big Wagon” (Veliki voz).
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The memory of the yoked animals of the great celestial wagon has been preserved 
in folktales. Thus, according to the folk tradition from Ilirska Bistrica, the wagon was 
pulled by an ox and a wolf, while according to a tradition from Motnik, a couple of 
horses were yoked together to pull the wagon, while a story has also been told about 
the driver giving the horses the water from the River Mur.
82 
Published in: Dapit, Kropej 2004: 50–51.
83 
More about this see: Matičetov 1973.

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In 1872, Janez Potepan from Zemono near Ilirska Bistrica recorded a tale in 
which he explains why the constellation Ursa Major (Great Bear) has the shafts of 
its wheels askew.
The Wolf and the ox Pulling the Wagon
It is said about the Wagon that St. Martin was carrying wood through the 
forest with an ox yoke. A wolf came out of the forest and ran into one of the 
oxen. He slaughtered the ox and broke the shaft, and that is why the shafts are 
now askew in the constellation. But St. Martin made the best of it and yoked 
the wolf together with the other ox to help him pull the wagon. The wolf was 
pulling in the direction towards the forest the entire time, while the ox was 
pulling outside of the forest (Potepan 1872: 259–260).
Tales such as these can be classified in the international narrative type ATU 
1910 “The Bear (Wolf) Harnessed”. They are spread from Brittany to Mesopotamia, 
but they are not always related to the constellation. Other saints also appear instead 
of St. Martin, St. Jacob; in Macedonia, St. Naum yoked a bear, which has eaten an 
ox from a poor farmer. In a fresco from Križna Gora near Škofja Loka is an image 
of the Bavarian St. Korbinian, together with a bear which tore his horse apart and 
then carried his a heavy load 
A wolf and a bear can be also yoked together, while the devil serves as the wheels 
of the wagon, as can be seen, for example in the narrative from 
Oseacco
 in Resia:
Giddy-up, Wolf! Giddy-up, Bear! Carry your load, devil!
My father told me that there was once a man who was exiled to the forest. The 
person who sent him thought he would never return for no one who went into that 
forest ever came back. The great lord of the castle, who was sending the man into 
the forest, gave him a carriage and two horses and told him to bring back wood. 
The man dutifully loaded the cart with logs and was getting ready to go home 
when a great starving wolf appeared. He wanted to eat the man but the man 
said: “Rather than having you eat me, I’ll give you one horse. However, you will 
have to return the favour and replace the horse so we can pull these logs home!”
So the starving wolf ate the horse and took his place in the harness. When they 
were ready to go a big bear appeared. He was also hungry. The man reached 
a similar agreement with the bear. After the bear had eaten the other horse, 
he also took his place in the harness next to the wolf.
When both were ready to draw the cart, the devil arrived. When the man 
saw the devil he thought fearfully, “I fed the wolf and I fed the bear but now 
the devil will eat me!”

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