The Bulgarian Traders
A long, long time ago, back when Bulgaria was flat land, young traders traveled the country in pursuit of buying and selling goods they had made or bought themselves. Many were surly because they felt no fair offers were given to match the value of their own exquisite goods.
One day, two such men met in a flat plain south of the capital of Sofia. They had experienced a long hard week with few offers.
“Zdraveite”. Their muffled hellos came out in low grunts. Without bothering to ask “kak ste?” the merchants went directly to their trades.
“I’ve got homemade baklava and 3 pounds of lamb. You?” The first man asked, the one named Andrei.
The other man, named Grigor, replied a bit irritably. “Me? Nadenitsa,Shopska Salata and a pound of pork. If you want to make this a good trade, I recommend you hand more goods over to me.”
Andrei was enraged. “Well, Ciao then, because I will not add anything to my offer, just because you are greedy. May your head grow so small and your body so big you cannot think or move!” And Grigor grew and shrunk until he formed a small peak. The cold snow from up above covered his head until he was caught in a flurry. He angrily cursed back down to Grigor.
“How dare you! May your body grow so wide it is twice as long as a plain!” And with that, Andrei grew into a long plateau.
As the two traders bickered, people started to join in the argument. Curses were yelled and insults were shouted. This kept going on until everyone was in some way magically distorted. Arms were elongated, feet were enlarged, people grew tall, while others grew wide. They had formed a large heap of misshapen bodies, what we now call the Rila Mountain of Bulgaria. But they never stop arguing even to this day. They bicker and bicker, through the harsh rains, and through the constant snow.They argue day and night, every waking moment. That is why the Rila Mountain still grows taller and sharper year by year, but gradually, since many people of the mountain lost their ability to speak due to the horrific curses. But others still speak, and everyone can spit and grunt. The word Rila translates to “well watered mountain” in the Thracian language. The mountain was named accordingly because of the streams, lakes, and rivers created by the spit of the many men.
One day, two such men met in a flat plain south of the capital of Sofia. They had experienced a long hard week with few offers.
“Zdraveite”. Their muffled hellos came out in low grunts. Without bothering to ask “kak ste?” the merchants went directly to their trades.
“I’ve got homemade baklava and 3 pounds of lamb. You?” The first man asked, the one named Andrei.
The other man, named Grigor, replied a bit irritably. “Me? Nadenitsa,Shopska Salata and a pound of pork. If you want to make this a good trade, I recommend you hand more goods over to me.”
Andrei was enraged. “Well, Ciao then, because I will not add anything to my offer, just because you are greedy. May your head grow so small and your body so big you cannot think or move!” And Grigor grew and shrunk until he formed a small peak. The cold snow from up above covered his head until he was caught in a flurry. He angrily cursed back down to Grigor.
“How dare you! May your body grow so wide it is twice as long as a plain!” And with that, Andrei grew into a long plateau.
As the two traders bickered, people started to join in the argument. Curses were yelled and insults were shouted. This kept going on until everyone was in some way magically distorted. Arms were elongated, feet were enlarged, people grew tall, while others grew wide. They had formed a large heap of misshapen bodies, what we now call the Rila Mountain of Bulgaria. But they never stop arguing even to this day. They bicker and bicker, through the harsh rains, and through the constant snow.They argue day and night, every waking moment. That is why the Rila Mountain still grows taller and sharper year by year, but gradually, since many people of the mountain lost their ability to speak due to the horrific curses. But others still speak, and everyone can spit and grunt. The word Rila translates to “well watered mountain” in the Thracian language. The mountain was named accordingly because of the streams, lakes, and rivers created by the spit of the many men.