A TALE ABOUT LITTLE NETTLE
Slovenian fairy tale
It was a late summer in the
land of seven hills and seven
lakes. The day was like a
wonderful tale: the golden
sun,with fluffy clouds in the
sky,everything in rich
greenery. On the rock,which
was jutting out towards the
sky in the middle of the
meadow, there were sitting
little green creatures, and as
usual they were teasing each
other, arguing and showing
off.
»There is nothing as my
scented blossom,« Time
lady was shaking off her
green little coat and moving
her violet blossoms.
»Well,« Camomile said
while she was fixing her
cap, »my scent is sooo
special and I'm sooo healthy,
you know! There is nothing
better than a cup of
camomile tea!«
»Oh! What about my velvet
glow? And my taste, a little
bitter but sooo unique! And
as you know, I couldn't be
found easily,« Wormwood
sneaked behind the
Camomile and pinched off
one of her blossom leaves, so
that Camomile screamed
loudly.
All other little herbs, Mint, Anis, Yarrow, Fennel,
Garden balm, were also showing off and competing
among themselves. They all thought they were the best.
Little Nettle was humbly
sitting slightly to the side
and combing his hairs. He
didn't want to join the
others in their showing
off. He thought he was
rather unrespectable:
common green, skinny, he
could cause a burning
pain, so the other herbs
were avoiding him. Here
and there some of them
said: » Can you go away
,you know … your sharp
hairs.« So he became quiet
and a little sad.
Suddenly the herbs shut up and
stared to the direction from
where the human being slowly
was walking towards them.
When it came closer, they found
out, that there came a
tinny,pale little girl with
flaccid,thin hair and with a spot
on her leg.The herbs hid behind
the rock – they were afraid of
humans. The girl was
approaching to the rock. Only
Little Nettle, who was thinking
about his destiny, didn't notice
her. The girl stopped and
climbed on the rock to rest. She
wasn't careful enough and she
touched the Little Nettle's hairs
which burned her, so she cried
quietly.
»Auch!«
»Sorry!« Little Nettle shouted and stood up.
The little girl was rubbing her leg and
looked at him unpleasantly.
» Well, who are you?«
»Eeh … I'm only one common nettle,« he said
with a shame, »my name is Little Nettle. It's
a pleasure to meet you.« He wanted to shake
her hand but then he remembered just in
time that wasn't a good idea. So he rather
stepped backwards.
» I'm Mateja,« she whispered and looked at
her leg full of blisters. » Look, what you've
done. Now my leg is even uglier than
before.«
Little Nettle blushed as much as he could.
» Oh, … I feel so bad, I'm very weak, my legs
hurt and my teeth …«
»Maybe I can help you,« timidly said Little
Nettle and pinched some hairs from his
head, mashed them and offered them to
Mateja: » Eat this.«
»A nettle?« Mateja cried with
hesitation, so all the other herbs
sneaked further behind the rock.
» Yes, please try. Believe me. I
swear on my leaves, this will help
you. My leaves are full of health
and you'll be healthy too.«
Mateja shrugged her shoulders
and slowly put the nettle leaves
into her mouth.
» Are you sure it won't burn me?«
Little Nettle strongly denied »No
way. If you mash the hairs, they
can't burn you anymore. «
Mateja started to chew and she
was chewing and chewing … »It
tastes like spinach,« she mumbled.
Slowly, the healthy red colour
coloured her face, her hair became
shiny brown and it caught the
orange afternoon sun. When she
smiled, everyone was enchanted
with her white teeth. There was a
special glow in her eyes and she
jumped up. »I feel so incredible good.
As I was healthy again!« She looked
at her leg. There were no blisters
and no spots anymore. She shouted
happily and looked at Little Nettle.
He shrugged his leaves and said:
» Well, it hurts, but it helps, too.«
Mateja hugged him happily. She was
careful, so just her hands were a
little burnt, but she didn't care. It
was worth it. Little Nettle blushed
again, but he felt very good, in fact
he felt wonderful.
Suddenly he heard an
applause behind the rock.
These were the other herbs.
Little Nettle invited them to
come nearer and he told
Mateja: » These are my
friends, they're herbs, too.
Each of them is hiding a
miracle. There is a flower
for each disease.«
Mateja smiled to them, she
thanked to everyone and
danced away through the
meadow towards the
beautiful evening.
»We'll make later some food
for us,too,« Little Nettle
promised to his friends.
Because Mint, Anis, Yarrow,
Fennel, Camomile and
Garden balm looked at him
in surprise, he added:
»Let's soak my leaves in the
water and, TARAAM, we'll
get an excellent manure, so
we'll grow fast and we'll
have a big party, too!«
All the herbs agreed, they were
singing and dancing happily
together with Little Nettle.
Little Nettle was very happy,
he was jumping high into the
air. His leaves were flaring, his
hairs were glowing in the red
evening sun. Finally he could
prove that he was really
somebody, although he could
also burn you, but only a little!