Bogomil story

Bosnian story about Did Adža is actually an old Bogomil story about life and death and Did Adža is nothing more than a Bogomil priest. He appears at the very beginning of the story about three brothers (three life stages) whose food he steals (soul, life) with which he tests and tries them. While the two brothers fail the exam the third brother beats him with his wisdom. But, the story doesn't end there but turns into and odyssey which leads our hero into the world of the dead. According to Bosnian belief one reaches that world through a well. In the underworld the hero is freed from his sins by doing a good deed and in such a way he gets an opportunity to return to the land of the living. On that journey he offers as kurban (sacrifice) 40 lambs and at the end of the sacrifice a part of his body which is a classic example of the Bogomil philosophy that the human body was created by Lucifer and that it is full of sin from which one can be freed only if it is sacrificed. The story has a happy ending and in the spirit of the Bosnian Bogomil tradition it acquaints that a man can win against evil inside and around us with his will and belief.

 

 According to the story from Velika Kladuša about Did Adže it is said that in the old days there was a father with three sons. Since they didn't have a mother the father always left one son at home to make food so the others have something to eat when they come back from the field. The first morning the eldest of the three stayed home. When his father and brothers returned home for lunch they found an empty table. To the father's question: "Where is our lunch?" the son replied: "Did Adže came by with his white beard riding a rooster and he stole the food". The next day the father left his other son at home, the middle one, with the task of cooking food and they went to the field. However, the same thing happened as yesterday. On the third day the third son stayed at home. Knowing that Did adze will arrive he started thinking what to do and he came up with an idea. Finishing lunch he went outside and bent a sapling and he split it in half. Sometime later Did Adže appeared on his rooster. As soon as the boy saw him he asked him for help to hold the sapling, which he did not suspecting anything. As soon as Did Adže grabbed the tree the boy grabbed his beard and placed it into the split and tied it and then released the sapling and Did Adže hung from it by his beard wallowing in pain. Did Adže begged for a long time for the boy to release him which he refused until he told the boy that he knew of a place where people brought and sacrificed a virgin each month to a dragon so that he would release the water and save them from a drought. Did Adže revealed that the dragon has a weak spot and if he is struck there he will immediately die. The one who killed the dragon could then marry the beautiful girl. The youngest son liked the story and he released Did Adže who told him where that place is located.   

When the father returned home with his sons he was happy that there was food on the table. After the meal the youngest brother revealed his plan to his brothers which decided to help him by lowering him in a basket made out of brushwood (sepet) into a deep well (čatrnja). In the darkness of the underworld he saw a girl but also a dragon who was preparing to eat her. Since he knew what the dragon's weak spot was the youngest brother stood up to him and killed him. Since both of them couldn't fit in the basket the young man decided that the girl should be hoisted up first. When the girl game up and after the two brothers saw her beauty in the light of the day they quickly decided that they are not going to hoist up their younger brother, but that the two of them shall compete for the girl's love. They covered the well with branches and stones so that their youngest brother can't come to the surface. In such a manner he stayed in the underworld doomed. After he figured out that his brother's abandoned him he decided that he isn't going to give up but to search for a way out of the land of the dead. Since it was cold he decided to collect some wood to make a fire so he searched for some branches. His search lead him to a giant tree his gaze lifted upward and he saw a nest with baby birds inside it. He also noticed a large snake crawling up the tree with the intent of eating the birds. That saddened him so he decided to help the birds and kill the snake, after that he continued with his search. However, not long after that a large eagle comes flying by whose wings were a few feet wide. While descending the eagle made a huge gust of wind so the boy covered his face with his hands. All of a sudden the eagle spoke up with a human voice thanking him for saving his children and offered a favour in return. The young man told him that he was searching for a way out of the underworld. The eagle thought about it and said - I will fulfil your wish but you will have to find 40 lambs which you will throw in my beak every time I gawk since the path to the human world is long and difficult I will need a lot of strength.

The young man asked the eagle to give him a few days time to find the lambs and then they can be off. The eagle agreed. A few days later since he met the conditions that the bird asked for, he sat on the bird's back and they flew away. They flew through a deep darkness through which they heard screams of unhappy people, various silhouettes appeared as well as various scenes of torture and suffering. The eagle answered all of the questions that the boy had. Seeing a naked woman with bloody feet running after a small bird he asked the eagle what is her punishment and the  eagle replied that while she was alive she killed her baby while it was still in her stomach. Then he saw another naked woman sitting atop a young pine tree licking blood off of a blade. That also seemed strange to him so he asked the eagle who replied that she was unfaithful to her husband.

The journey was really long and the eagle gawked for the first time, the second and third... they crossed large distances and the boy noticed that the scenes from the underworld slowly disappeared and that somewhere in the distance there was a dim light. His heart started beating faster. Just a bit more and I shall be out, I will see my old man and my brothers, he thought. But, he was startled by the fact that he gave the last lamb to the eagle and that they are not out yet. The possibility of the eagle failing started to worry him. Seeing that the eagle is slowing down and loosing strength he decided to do a desperate deed, he cut off his leg and in horrible agony he threw it into the eagles mouth after he gawked. When he woke up he was lying on a green meadow, the sun was shining and he heard the song of nightingale. After he came to his senses he saw the eagle standing beside him.

- When you threw your leg I felt in my beak that it wasn't lamb meat so I couldn't eat it out of great respect that I have for you. That's why I gathered all my strength and decided that I shall bring you out to the land of the living no mater what. And, as you see I made it. Your leg is where it always was. I'm going back to my little birds, I don't need a lot of strength to go back since it is easy to enter the underworld but difficult to come out.

Velika nebeska ptica

In the past in Bosnia the custom to throw peelings from fruit into the fire in order to feed the celestial bird were honoured. It was considered to be a good deed. According to a legend, Allah punished her to fly around the skies until the end of time without an opportunity to descend to earth and rest. The large celestial bird was punished by god because she wanted to defy gods will and at one opportunity she made a bet with god that she will change the fate of a girl and a boy that god had predetermined as husband and wife. The large celestial bird took the girl and carried her off to the tallest mountain among humans, far away from everyone. At the highest peak of the mountain, the bird spread the skin of an ox across the branches of the gigantic tree and placed the girl there. She took care of her for years until she grew into a fine young woman. In the mean time on the other side of the world the boy also matured into a handsome and strong young man who one day headed into the world to find himself a wife. He wondered around the world until his fate led him to the tall mountain. Weary from his journey he decided to rest under the exact giant tree that the girl lived on. She saw him and immediately fell in love with him. She asked him what was he doing under the tree and he replied that he was looking for a wife. The girl called him up, but the tree was so tall that he couldn't climb up nor could she climb down. Suddenly the girl came up with a solution and asked the young man to hide inside a sheep skin and remain there until she tells him otherwise. He did exactly what she told him. Not long after that the large bird came, the girl told her that she had seen a dead sheep underneath the tree and asked the bird to fetch it for her so she can make some clothes for herself out of its wool. The bird did as the girl told and flew off in search for some food.



The young man remained with the girl for a whole year, hiding from the large bird, and during that period she became pregnant and gave birth to a child. Allah who was observing what was going on the whole time called the bird to him and asked - Do you still believe that my will can be changed? - Yes, replied the bird. Then god replied that she was the one who brought the young man to the girl and helped them in consummating their love.

Illyrians legend from Velika Kladuša

Based upon the Greek legend Illyrius, progenitor of the Illyrians was a son of Polyphemus and Galatea and the brother of Celtus and Galas. Illyrius children, Auterius, Enchelus, Perrhaebus, Taulus, Daortho, Dissaro and Partho are the heroes of the epic poetry of Illyrian tribes. In this legend Illyrius is closely associated with a snake; she wrapped around him after being born and thus gave him all its magical powers. Modern philology aims to prove that etymologically names of Illyrians and the mentioned animal, plying the important role in the Illyrian religion, are connected.

As Japods occupied the entire territory of present-day Northwestern Bosnia, and elsewhere, it is logical to assume that they preserved and passed, on each generational shift, some of the old Illyrian legends. Such is a legend form Velika Kladusa about a father with seven sons which reassemble the Greek one. That legend describes the giant snake that guards the Gods treasure. She was living in a deep den near Velika Kladusa, in a suburb called a Rudnik. At a time when Romans achieve military superiority over the Bosnian land, there was an Illyrian family – father of seven sons and one daughter. Life was modest but nice until the day when children, out of sheer wantonness and youthful exuberance placed the flatbread on the stone and hit it with a spear. Horrified with this sacrilege of wheat, a gift of the Gods that feeds people, the father tried to reason the children and prevent them of throwing the spear to the flatbread, but in vain.
Suddenly something strange happened and forced the young man to stop their game – the flatbread started to bleed?! Seeing this strange omen, the father grabbed his head with his hands and wept because at that moment he realized that the Gods will punish them for blasphemy.
Shortly after this event, all seven sons lost their sanity and scattered to all four corners of the World and any track of them got lost. The father died from deep sorrow for his sons. The only one that remained in the deserted house was the daughter, drowned in grief for her late father and lost brothers, but even she was spared of Gods’ punishment, because she was the one who baked the flatbread. They turned her into a huge snake and decided that she would guard their gold and gems until the moment when young man comes, enough brave to let the snake kiss his forehead.

Many centuries passed since then, the story about the snake-girl slowly became a legend, which is told in the long winter nights. Each spring, on the Hidrelez holiday, the girl would come out from the hole in her new shape repeating the same plea: “Help me! Is there any man, of any faith to let me kiss his forehead, so I would become his wife or sister?” Many knew about her said words but there was no one brave enough to liberate her from the curse and become rich.
But, one spring before the arrival of Hidrelez, a poor young man decided, persuaded by an old woman from the village, to go and let the snake kiss him. – Anyway, as poor as I am, I have nothing to loose, he was encouraging himself. He arrived at down to the hole in the ground, where the snake lived for centuries and waited on her. Soon, from the darkness of the large hole appeared the snake’s huge head followed by her long body. Seeing huge snake before him, the young man got paralyzed with fear. He could not move. But the moment the snake approached him to give him a kiss the young man pushed her and run away. The young man was running thinking that snake would go after him, but something quite different happened. She just looked after him sadly and said: - Let God gives you my sadness and loneliness, and makes you die since I can not!” After that she returned back into her hole. Shortly after this event, the unfortunate young man turned seriously ill and after great pain and suffering he died.