Tales of the constellations

Lyubov Talimonova

Tales of the Constellations

Translated from the Russian original by David Parfitt

Edited by Patricia Lauren

© Lyubov Talimonova, text, illustrations, design, 2012

Preface to the first edition

My young friend!

In the evenings a multitude of stars blaze in the sky above us. This is the Cosmos, and it reminds us of ourselves, of the fact that the Earth and all of us living on it are only a small part of the infinite Universe. And if you know how to dream, then you will see that the stars in the dark sky are joined together in constellations – fantastical figures of animals and birds. And these constellations are described in the stories and legends of Lyubov Talimonova.

Lyuba is a little older than you – just over twenty years old – but she has already written several books, and her paintings have been exhibited in many cities both in our country and abroad.

When I flew to the space station “Mir”, together with Sergei Avdeev and the French cosmonaut Michel Tonini, we took some of Lyuba’s pictures with us. The artist’s kind heart was evident from the symbols in these pictures, and this gave us warmth while we were so far from Earth.

You will also feel this warmth, my young friend, when you read these stories, in which good people, birds and animals understand each other, and only the bad ones cannot get on with the world around them.

Anatoly Solovivov

Russian pilot and cosmonaut

The Astrologer Lee

Once upon a time there lived a girl by the name of Lee, who was an astrologer. She liked to travel, to observe the stars, the Sun and the Moon and to predict people’s fortunes using the stars.

On her wanderings across the Earth, Lee met artists and scientists who threw their instruments up into the sky, as well as good and wicked kings and queens, whom wizards turned into constellations.

The astrologer saw many times how princesses became goldfish and wonderful birds flew up into the heavens to become bright stars for eternity. Lee found these stories very meaningful, sometimes sad, sometimes happy, so she carefully noted them down on separate pages.

Then one day, sitting on the seashore and looking through her telescope at the brightest, most distant stars in the night sky, Lee remembered the basket in which she had kept fallen stars and pages with the stories written on them. There were so many pages that they almost did not fit into the basket. Lee took her magic wand, waved it over the basket and the separate pages of serious and humorous stories turned into a book. The stars that had fallen from the sky became wonderful pictures. In this way the “Tales of the Constellations” was created.

While travelling across the whole Earth, Lee the astrologer gave the book to adults and children alike. All of these people are still amazed by the mysterious glow of distant stars, enjoy the beauty of the world and love to read stories. Since the book is magical, whenever Lee gives a copy to someone, another appears in her basket.

If one of these books has found its way into your hands, if the stories of Lee the astrologer make the delicate strings of your spirit sing, then please raise your eyes and look again at the starry sky, remember that the world is mysterious and beautiful, and smile.

The Legend of the Milky Way

Long ago, at the edge of the world, on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, lived the Selurts. They were a fine people, tall and handsome. The Selurts studied the night sky, calculated eclipses of the Sun and Moon, followed the phases of the Moon, compiled a calendar and built megaliths.[1]

The Selurts never fought; they did not even know the meaning of war. Their life flowed peacefully and quietly. Then one day, a proud eagle brought bad news that a hostile tribe was advancing on the Selurts. The Selurts understood the language of birds and the eagle told them that the tribe was heavily armed.

There was nothing left for the Selurts to do but gather their things and leave for the mountains, or scatter to the islands. They abandoned their native lands, leaving behind megaliths and a great deal of knowledge encoded in symbols and drawings.

After the Selurts had left, the hostile tribe settled on their lands. The population of the tribe grew rapidly and the land soon became too small for them. The warriors assembled and decided to drive the kind Selurts from the mountains and islands.

The warriors encircled the mountains and then climbed right up to the Selurts’ highest village. But imagine their surprise when they found it deserted. Where could the people have gone? Down the mountains? Impossible, because they would have been noticed. Perhaps the Selurts had climbed higher still?

The warriors climbed to the very peak of the mountain but did not find anyone there either. Where could the Selurts have gone to from the summit of the mountain? Only up into the sky! The warriors looked up and across the sky they saw a shining path made from sand, pearls and tears.

The Selurts had been inhabitants of the coast and when they left for the mountains, they had taken sand and pearls with them. Leaving for the cosmos, they had dropped the sand and pearls… and tears.

No-one knows where the Selurts went, but behind them on Earth they left megaliths and, across the sky – the Milky Way … a path of sand, pearls and tears.

The Great Dog and the Little Dog

Canis Major and Canis Minor

In a village there lived a family and on the whole it was a good family. However, there were two brothers who were wicked. They were always arguing and squabbling.

At breakfast they would argue over a spoon, at dinner over a piece of bread and at supper over an apple. They argued all the time, wherever they went. They could not even walk along the same road together.

When the brothers wanted to get married they both chose the same girl; this caused them to fight again. The girl knew that the brothers hated one another so she said: “Whichever one of you can run between these two stones the fastest will be my fiance”.

She knew that the brothers would never run to the same stone. And that is exactly what happened; instead of running from one stone to the other, the brothers ran off in different directions to get away from one another.

They ran and ran, all the way to the sky itself, and there they stayed.

Even now, after turning into the constellations of the Great Dog and Little Dog, the brothers are still running across the heavens.

Perseus and Andromeda. The Lion and the Little Lion

Perseus, Andromeda, Leo and Leo Minor

Once upon a time there lived two Kings who were neighbours. One King was very good but the other was very bad.

The bad King ruled over a large kingdom and had a son called Bert. Unlike his father, Bert was good; he would spend nearly all day reading books and knew many languages.

The good King had a daughter called Aris, who also grew up to be very good, intelligent and beautiful.

Bert and Aris became friends and Bert wanted to marry Princess Aris. When the bad King found out about this he became very angry and went to war against the neighbouring kingdom. The good King had a smaller kingdom and a smaller army, so what could he do?

The bad King defeated the good King and captured him, together with daughter Aris. He sent the girl into the fields to do backbreaking work. When Bert tried to stand up for Aris, the bad King sent him to work in the mines. Aris and Bert could no longer see one another.

The bad King thought long and hard about what to do with the good King. He found an evil wizard and ordered him to turn the good King into a foul creature such as a toad or a snake.

The evil wizard tried, but only managed to turn the good King into a lion. The lion turned out to be large and handsome with a huge mane.

When Aris found out that her father had been turned into a lion she burst into tears. She reached out her arms and rose up into the sky. And there she stayed. One day Bert was walking home after work. It was already dark. Suddenly he heard the voice of his fiancee coming from somewhere. Bert raised his eyes to the sky and saw Aris; she was calling to him with outstretched arms. Without a moment’s hesitation Bert stepped up into the sky, where he was reunited with Aris. He took her by the hand and they were never parted again.

Meanwhile, the bad King became even more angry because the good King had been turned into a handsome lion rather than a horrible toad.

The bad King then ordered the wizard to turn him into an even bigger and more handsome lion than the good King. But however hard the wizard tried he could only manage to turn the bad King into a small, ugly lion with a short, tangled mane. The little lion was furious and started to chase the big handsome lion.

The big lion ran all over the Earth, then he jumped into the sky to be near his daughter Aris and her fiance Bert. The little lion jumped after the big lion, but fell short and found himself on the other side of the Heavens.

Now we can always see Aris and Bert in the sky, happy and holding hands. Not far away strolls the Great Lion, and somewhere in another part of the sky the Little Lion rushes about in fury.

Pegasus

Pegasus

Once upon a time in a village there lived a man by the name of Prat. He was an artist and every day he went to the rocky seashore to paint. Prat saw the world in his own way and not everyone could understand his pictures. He painted music, the Universe and the Earth seen from above. He was never short of ideas.

Prat lived on a farm with only his white horse for company. He really loved the horse; she did not do any heavy work about the farm. Every day she would follow the artist to the seashore and watch him paint.

But one day a tragedy occurred, the greatest tragedy for an artist; Prat ran out of new ideas and did not know what he should paint. This went on for several days.

Then, while Prat was sitting on the seashore and feeling sad, he suddenly noticed that his white horse was galloping straight towards a sheer cliff.

Prat closed his eyes so that he did not see his friend fall to his death. Then, when he finally opened his eyes, he saw that the horse had not fallen and been dashed on the rocks below. The white horse had grown wings and now she was flying.

Prat could not believe his eyes – his horse had gone right up into the sky and turned into the constellation Pegasus, which was now shining brightly.

The artist suddenly had the idea of painting the white horse with wings flying into the sky, so he reached for his paintbrush.

Since that time Prat has never been short of new ideas; he has painted many new and wonderful paintings. His horse, now the constellation Pegasus, continues to gallop across the heavens and provide inspiration to all the artists in the world.

The Archer, the Arrow and the Serpent

Sagittarius, Sagitta and Serpens

Near one of the villages stood a large stone – a megalith. The local inhabitants called it the Spirit-Stone. There was a legend that the ancient people who built the megalith placed their souls inside it. So the stone became a Spirit and everyone thought of it as a living thing.

What is more, the Spirit-Stone had healing powers. The blind were led to it and their sight was returned; the lame were able to walk again.

But the stone did not like bad people and did not allow them to come near it. It also did not like evil words. If anyone spoke such words in the presence of the Spirit-Stone they were struck dumb.

All the villagers loved the stone and often brought flowers to it.

In the village lived a man called Gaire and a woman called Vella, who were neighbours. Vella was beautiful and everyone thought she was good, but she was in fact a wicked, cunning person.

Gaire fell in love with her and asked her to marry him. Vella said that she would only marry Gaire if he would test his strength against the Spirit-Stone and overcome it.

At first Gaire would not agree; the stone was good and kind so why should he fight it? But finally Vella persuaded him. So one morning, Gaire took a bow and arrows and went to the Spirit-Stone with Vella.

While Vella hid in some bushes, Gaire lifted the bow, drew the string back and sent an arrow right at the heart of the stone. But when the arrow neared the stone it suddenly changed direction and flew up into the sky, where it turned into the constellation of the Arrow.

Then, from the bushes, Gaire heard a hiss and a rustle of grass. He glanced round and saw a serpent that was hissing and trying to slip away as fast as possible.

No-one ever saw Vella again. Gaire pined for her and felt ashamed that he had offended the Spirit-Stone. So one day he gathered his things and left the village, never to return, but in the sky there appeared the constellations of the Archer, the Arrow and the Serpent.

The Sea Monster and the Water-Carrier

Hydra and Aquarius

There once lived a King and his family in a faraway kingdom. All was well in the kingdom until one day, the Queen died and the King was left alone with his son. The boy’s name was Gilt and he loved to read books and knew a great deal.

The King and Gilt were extremely upset at the death of the Queen. As time passed the pain and sorrow eased and the King married for a second time.

The new Queen was beautiful but wicked; she had a son who was lazy and just as wicked as his mother. The Queen soon began to hate Gilt for his intelligence and kindness.

The Queen thought that Gilt would stop her son from taking the throne, so she demanded that the King drive Gilt from the palace.

At first the King would not agree to this, but eventually he gave in and sent his son away.

Gilt needed to somehow make a living, but because he was the King’s son he had not learned a trade. Gilt became a water-carrier and carried water around the town. His water was always pure and cold with the freshest taste.

Soon Gilt became the best and most well-known water-carrier in the town.

Rumours about him reached the Queen. She flew into a rage and summoned her most wicked sorcerers, who turned Gilt to stone.

Even though Gilt had turned to stone, pure fresh water continued to flow from his jug. When people came to the stone-man for water they could hear how a heart was still beating inside the stone.

Everyone in the town talked of nothing except the stone-man that gave wonderful water. Again the rumours reached the Queen. The Queen was beside herself with anger, so one night she went to the stone-man and smashed it into tiny pieces.

The Queen thought that now she would be free of Gilt and the memory of him for good. The people of the town were angry and upset when they saw that the stone-man was now just a heap of rubble. Some began to cry bitterly.

Then suddenly, a fountain of pure, cold water began to spurt from the earth where the fragments lay and the jet of water magically lifted the fragments of the stone-man into the sky. There the stone fragments joined once more and Gilt came to life again as the constellation of the Water-Carrier.

Some time later, on the spot where the fountain had appeared beneath the fragments of the stone-man, a whole lake formed around a pure spring. All the people came to fetch water as it was the best for miles around. Everyone talked about nothing but Gilt the water-carrier and his spring, and once more he became famous.

One night the wicked Queen glanced up at the sky and saw Gilt the water-carrier. She was so angry that she turned into a sea monster.

The constellations of the Water-Carrier and the Sea Monster can still be seen in the sky.

The Fishes and the Southern Fish

Pisces and Piscis Austrinus

In the land of the megaliths there lived two sisters, Uta and Nuta. They knew a great deal about the sciences. Using the megaliths, Uta could calculate the phases of the Moon and its eclipses. Nuta knew everything about the motion of the Sun and could predict its eclipses.

In the sea, not far from the shore, was an island. This island was a good place to observe the Sun, but a megalith needed to be built there that was bigger than all the others.

Many young men courted Uta and Nuta, but the sisters decided that they would only marry someone if they could build the new megalith on the island. No-one had so far managed to do this.

One day, a man called Ort arrived from a nearby village and he set about building the megalith. Ort worked for almost a year; he found a suitable stone, polished it and transported it to the island.

One morning Uta, Nuta and all the villagers saw a huge megalith on the island. Ort had done what Uta and Nuta had asked, but the sisters were both happy and sad at the same time. They were sad because now they would have to part as one of them would marry Ort and go with him to his village.

Uta and Nuta thought for a long time about what they should do as they did not want to be parted. Then one day the sisters disappeared from the village and however hard the people searched, Uta and Nuta were nowhere to be found. All at once the constellation known as the Fishes appeared in the sky. Ort looked up at the two silvery fishes and suddenly understood that it was Uta and Nuta.

Ort was very kind and certainly did not want to part the sisters. He wanted to tell Uta and Nuta this, so he turned into a large golden fish and rose up into the heavens. There he told Uta and Nuta that he would not separate them and they could always stay together.

So the sisters stayed together for ever and now we can see them in the constellation known as the Fishes. Ort went to another part of the sky and turned into the constellation of the Southern Fish.

The Scales

Libra

In the hills there was a village. It was called the village with the Green Stone for the reason that in the centre of the village stood a big green stone. People considered the stone to be magic as it helped good people but would not let bad people near it.

If a person came to the stone for advice or with dreams of good things, then all their dreams would come true. People often gathered around the green stone. They believed that the presence of the stone made it impossible to deceive or tell lies. If there was a festival in the village then it would take place around the magic stone.

In the village lived two brothers, Unas and Rud. Their parents had died and left the brothers a large pot of gold and precious stones, as well as many wise books. Both Unas and Rud wanted the pot of gold; they thought it was better than having a large library.

A year passed, then two, and the brothers still could not divide up the inheritance. Then the villagers decided to gather around the green stone and ask its advice on how to settle the brothers’ dispute.

So one morning all the villagers assembled around the stone to ask it for help. Suddenly the big stone began to shake and a door appeared from somewhere. The door burst open and out of the stone came a girl carrying a pair of scales. She went up to the people, took the pot of gold and placed it in one cup of the scales.

Then she took a single page from one of the wise books and placed it in the other cup.

Everyone froze with amazement as one page of the book, yellow with age, outweighed the pot of gold and precious stones.

Without a word, the girl went through the stone door and disappeared.

The scales that she had left on the ground suddenly began to rise up into the sky and, shining in the heavens, became the constellation known as the Scales.

Now, whenever people look up to the sky they see the Scales, where a page of an ancient book outweighs a pot of gold to remind the people of true value.

And the brothers, Unas and Rud, settled their differences. They divided all the gold and precious stones among the villagers, but kept all the books, and looked after them as the most valuable thing in the world.

The Lynx, the Eagle and the Scorpion

Lynx, Aquila and Scorpius

On an island there lived a princess called Princess Belta. She was very beautiful, kind and intelligent. The princess lived with her father, who was King of the island, and her stepmother. Belta’s stepmother did not like her and was always thinking of new ways to hurt her.

Such an opportunity soon arose. A prince from a neighbouring island had asked for Belta’s hand in marriage. The day of the wedding was already fixed.

But how could the wicked Queen agree to something that would make Belta happy? She shut herself in her room and summoned all the evil in the world to come to her assistance. And the evil came.

A stranger arrived on the island. He was very tall and dressed all in black. His hat was pulled right down over his eyes and he never took it off. He introduced himself as a Prince from a distant island, who had come to ask for Belta’s hand in marriage. The Princess was horrified as she was scared of the man in black; the King did not like the new suitor either.

But the Queen was happy and insisted on Belta marrying the man in black. She spent a long time trying to persuade the King. The wicked Queen said that the Black Prince was much richer than the Good Prince, and that he would make Belta wealthy and happy.

The King finally agreed to give his daughter to the prince from the distant island.

But the Good Prince was very unhappy. With the help of a wizard he turned into a large eagle and began to circle above the man in black. The eagle then flew down and tore the hat from the Black Prince’s head. Everyone was paralysed with fear.

The man had only one eye in his forehead, and this eye shone with evil.

The man in black tried to snatch the Princess and run away. But the great eagle threw sand into the monster’s eye, which forced him to let the Princess go.

Meanwhile, Belta had floated unnoticed into the sky. She had turned into a lynx so that she could leave quietly, as nothing moves more silently than a lynx. Together with the lynx, a great eagle rose up in to the sky – the Good Prince.

The one-eyed man in black, having rubbed the sand from his eye, ran after the Prince and Princess, but he could not catch them.

But in the heavens, together with the constellations of the Lynx and the Eagle, appeared the constellation of the Scorpion. You see, the evil one-eyed man, when he reached the sky, had turned into a big black scorpion with one eye.

The Lyre and the Whale

Lyra and Cetus

On a small island there was a village where lived a girl called Lin-Lan. She lived alone and had to work hard to keep her little house in order.

When the daily work was finished, Lin-Lan would go to the seashore, sit on a big stone right beside the sea and sing.

Eor, the mermaid, loved her singing more than anything. Every evening she swam up to the seashore and listened to Lin-Lan’s songs. Eor had a friend who was a big blue whale; he also liked music and would swim to shore to listen to Lin-Lan.

One day the kind mermaid decided to show Lin-Lan how grateful she was for her wonderful singing and gave her a magical lyre. The lyre would play any melody that Lin-Lan wished.

At sunrise and sunset, Lin-Lan could be found on the seashore with the lyre in her hands. Her wonderful singing was accompanied by beautiful music.

The mermaid was happy and the blue whale swam deep and then rose to the surface, releasing a great fountain of water to show how pleased he was.

With each day, Lin-Lan’s singing became better and better; the lyre played melodies each one more wonderful than the one before.

Lin-Lan’s singing and playing soon became well known throughout the island and people even travelled from other islands just to hear her music.

Then one evening, when Lin-Lan was sitting on the seashore and singing, Eor swam up to her and asked her a question. Would Lin-Lan like her music to be heard by all the inhabitants of the Earth and the sky?

Lin-Lan replied that of course she would like to make everyone happy with her music.

Then Eor told the girl to take her magical lyre, run her hand across its strings and place the instrument on the whale’s back. Lin-Lan was a little surprised but she did what the mermaid had told her. She plucked the strings and the magical lyre itself began to play all the wonderful melodies and songs that Lin-Lan liked to play and sing most of all.

Then Lin-Lan placed the lyre on the whale’s back, and the whale and lyre began to rise together higher and higher into the sky.

The lyre suddenly began to play louder; all the people on the Earth and in the sky could hear the wonderful music. And so the constellation of the Lyre appeared in the sky.

The big whale also remains in the heavens as the constellation of the Whale. He plunges deep into the waters of the heavenly ocean, rises to the surface and releases a huge fountain of water. He is happy listening to the beautiful music of the magical lyre, while Lin-Lan joins in with her singing from the Earth below.

The Charioteer and the Little Horse

Auriga and Equuleus

Once there lived two Kings, Gati and Dati. They were neighbours but did not get on with one another – they were forever arguing and could never share anything.

Dati had a son and Gati had a daughter. When the two planned to marry, Dati said that his neighbour’s daughter was not intelligent or beautiful enough to marry his son. And Gati declared that his neighbour’s son was not worthy of his daughter.

But most often Dati and Gati argued about who owned which piece of land. The argument had been going on for years, sometimes dying down and then flaring up again.

One day, Dati went off hunting and Gati was travelling over his estate in his chariot. The two Kings met at the boundary between the kingdoms, and Gati declared that Dati’s horse had strayed onto his land. Dati replied that it was Gati in his chariot who had trespassed onto his land.

This was the start of another argument that went on for many years. Whenever the two Kings met they would say nothing other than: “Horse!”

“Chariot!”

“Horse!”

In the meantime, the kingdoms fell into decline and people began to abandon their villages. Finally the peasants could stand it no longer and turned to the heavens to settle this terrible argument between Dati and Gati.

One morning a wanderer arrived in the village – a grey-haired old man with a long white beard who claimed to have been a judge. All the peasants began to beg him to help them by settling the dispute between the Kings.

The old man agreed and asked them to call Dati and Gati to him. The Kings rushed to see the judge as fast as they could; each tried to tell their side of the story at the same time. But other than the words “horse” and “chariot” it was impossible to understand anything.

The old man looked at them for a long time, and then said:

“I see that there is no way to settle your dispute. The only solution is to send you into the sky. There will be enough space and time for your arguments and you will not disturb anyone.

But in the sky you will take it in turns to be a charioteer and a horse. Dati will draw the chariot across the heavens for a year, and for the next year Gati will lead Dati. And so on, until you make up!”

He struck the ground with his staff and Gati turned into a charioteer and Dati into a horse. When the old man struck the ground for a second time the horse and charioteer rose up into the sky.

So first Dati led Gati, and then Gati led Dati across the heavens. Since we can still see the constellations of the Charioteer and the Little Horse in the sky, it means that the Kings have still not made their peace, but continue to argue.

The Bull

Taurus

Long ago there lived a wild bull. He was big and strong with curved horns and was the leader of his herd. No wild animal dared to attack the herd while he watched over it. Even wolves and tigers were afraid of the big bull’s horns and hooves. The herd grew and flourished.

In a nearby village lived a tame bull. He worked in the fields, pulling a plough; he was fed and looked after.

One day the tame bull complained to the wild bull that his life was hard; he pulled the plough from morning till evening, day after day; it was so boring.

“It must be nice for you to be free, brother. You can go where you like and do what you want,” said the tame bull.

The wild bull thought it over and then said “You know what, brother, why don’t we change places for a while? I will plough the field and you can taste freedom.”

Of course the tame bull happily agreed. The wild bull harnessed himself to the plough and toiled from morning till evening in the field. He worked well as he was very strong and sturdy and people were pleased with him.