Ibronka

Once upon a time in a tiny village far away there was a beautiful girl called Pretty Maid Ibronka. She was the most beautiful girl and yet she had no sweetheart. Every time her sisters came to sew together, young men gathered around them, but she sat alone. 'If only I had a lover!' she cried out one night. I don’t care if he was the devil himself.’ That night after midnight, the door swung open and there stood a handsome young man. He smiled at everyone then came and sat by Pretty Maid Ibronka. He was a charming man and once when he smiled, she forgot what she was doing and dropped her bobbin. Reaching for the bobbin, she found something hard and cleft between her fingers. Startled, she drew back her fingers. The young man bent down, scooped up the bobbin and handed it to her. She smiled thinking that she was mistaken about what she had felt. When evening came, the young man embraced Ibronka's and said goodnight. The next day feeling somewhat confused, Ibronka went to ask advice from the local wise woman.

'Here is how you will find out what you need to know,' the wise woman said, 'Next time when you embrace him, thread a spool into the back of his cloak. As he leaves, follow the thread. The very next night, Ibronka did as the woman said. When she followed the young man, it led her through the town and into a church. Pretty Maid Ibronka found the doors locked, so she stared through the iron keyhole. On the altar was the body of a dead man. Behind the altar stood her lover. He bent over the dead man and split the head into halves. He then lifted each one to his lips sucking it dry. As he finished, he lifted his head and fixed his eyes on the keyhole. His gaze met Pretty Maid Ibronka. She jumped back, broke the thread and ran back home. When she entered her bedroom, she heard a voice from the front door. 'Pretty Maid Ibronka, what did you see when you spied through the keyhole that has no key?' Nothing did I see!' She shouted, 'Nothing!' 'Pretty Maid Ibronka, if you lie, your mother, father, and your sister will die!' Ibronka said nothing.

The voice faded away that night and when morning came, she went to wake her mother and father and sister, but they would not wake. She went to see the wise woman for advice. 'Bury them in the cellar for they are dead,’ said the wise woman. And do not put them in the churchyard. Now listen to me well. Before you die, for die you surely will, you must leave instructions for what is to be done. When they take out your coffin, they must not take it out through the door or the window but through a hole in the wall. Nor must they take it by the poor road or the rich road, but through the gardens and fields. Nor must they take you to the churchyard. They must bury you in the ditch outside the churchyard.

That very night, while she trying to sleep, she heard his voice again. 'Pretty Maid Ibronka, what did you see? Once again, she screamed that she had seen nothing, but he did not believe her. 'Pretty Maid Ibronka, if you tell a lie, you will surely die!' Pretty Maid Ibronka said nothing for she was too afraid. And in the morning, she was dead. Fortunately, Ibronka had followed the wise woman’s instructions. When the demon came that night, he looked at the doors and windows of the house. 'Doors and windows, did they take Pretty Maid Ibronka through you?' 'No,' whispered the doors and windows, 'She did not go away through us.” He also spoke to the roads, but the roads replied, we do not know where Pretty Maid Ibronka went.' The churchyard answered the same, 'She is nowhere to be found among our people.'

In time, a rose grew out of the ditch. It was so exquisite that a boyar stopped by the churchyard and plucked the rose. He took it to his palace and placed it in water. While gazing at it while he ate, he could not finish his meal. Thoughts of the rose had taken his appetite away, so he left his food on the plate. When he came downstairs in the morning, all the food was gone. But his servants told him that they had not cleared the dining room. Two more nights of this occurred, and the boyar did not go to his bed, rather he pretended to hide. When midnight came, the rose straightened up and shimmered into a beautiful woman. She tiptoed over the plate and ate. So stunned by her beauty, that he stepped out and proposed to her. Pretty Maid Ibronka smiled and said yes, on one condition. He was never to ask her to go to church with him. He agreed.

Years passed. Ibronka and her boyar had two sons and two daughters. But the people murmured about his wife never going to church. 'Do not give them matter for gossip,' he said to Pretty Maid Ibronka, 'but come to church on Sunday with me.' She sighed and reminded him of his promise, but in the end agreed. That Sunday, she came to church, and when the host was held high above the altar, the wind rattled the timbers and stones. The doors burst open and in strode a man with an iron staff and iron shoes on his feet. He began to shout. 'Pretty Maid Ibronka, what did you see when you spied through the keyhole that has no key?'

'Pretty Maid Ibronka said, 'I saw the altar and you behind it with the body of a dead man. You bent over the head and split it like a melon. Then you sucked on them as though you drank wine. You also chewed on the brain. But what use are these words for it is to a dead man that I speak those words!’ And with that, the wind picked up and the demon began to shriek. It whirled round him and blew many holes into his hollow heart. He crumbled like old leaves, leaving only his staff and his iron shoes on the flagstones of the church.

After that incident, Pretty Maid Ibronka, her husband, with their sons and daughters went home and lived happily ever after.