The Snake King’s Party and Virgins Whisking in Moonlight

The Snake King’s Feast and Maidens Bathing in the Moonlight

Once upon a time, a young man tirelessly sought to learn all the secrets of the world, although he had been warned that some knowledge could bring disaster.

He heard that the Snake King’s feast was approaching, and under the cover of night he crept toward the great swamp to witness it. Oh, what a sight he saw! Thousands of hissing snakes slithered together into a great mass, at the centre of which rose a serpent as thick as a tree trunk, wearing a magnificent golden crown upon its head. Before the Snake King stood a golden platter filled with milk from the heavenly goat.

The brave young man dipped a piece of bread into the milk, swallowed it quickly, and fled with all his might. Thousands of snakes slithered after him, hissing furiously at the thief. At last, utterly exhausted, the young man collapsed onto the grass and fell asleep.

The following night, he wished to discover whether tasting the heavenly goat’s milk had granted him the power to see hidden things. To his amazement, he saw gilded sauna benches between the trees, with silver buckets and birch whisks waiting for the bathers. From every direction came the daughters of the forest spirits and the meadow fairy, bathing and whisking themselves in the moonlight upon the shimmering golden sauna benches throughout the night, until they vanished into the morning mist at dawn.

On the nights that followed, the young man returned again and again to the forest, hoping to see the beautiful maidens in the moonlight once more, but his visits were in vain. He found no more sauna benches and no more bathers in the forest. In the end, he died of unfulfilled longing, for nothing else in the world could bring him joy.

It is not always fortunate for a man to uncover all the secrets of the world...

The Snake King has not been seen since, but perhaps his trail still winds along the shores of Lake Tamula.

— Fr. R. Kreutzwald, Virgins Whisking in Moonlight, from the collection Folk Tales of the Estonian People