thought who would feed the children, but the nurse looked for a goat-wolf who supplied the women servants with milk, and now fed the children, the children grew up, and the boy began to feed the children deer bones. Sometimes three girls, old witches, who taught the young people, went down to the girls, and that, as was customary, they would not be bored, they would spin the yarn from flax, or even nettle. Then all the islanders knitted shirts and dresses from yarn, decorating them with elaborate embroidery. Every six months a boat came from the mainland with grain, but the rowers did not dare to be on the sacred island for a long time, just left the cargo, and swam back without asking about the hermits. The twins were very nimble, and Mare, as the eldest, had a hard time with them, three years passed, and the two senior witches who had served their obedience served with a boat sailing from the mainland. Lody brought two pupils for the shift, and a stock of grain for the witches.
– Good-bye, Krasa, good-bye Lisa, do not hold on us evil, help people in your clans and families, everything I taught you. -sayed Mara, bowing goodbye to the girls, and from behind the elder’s back gazing at the light blue eyes of the children, and the girl, with excitement, put her finger in her mouth and carefully looked at the departing ones, and then smiled with her big mouth, the boy stood with a wooden horse arm. The girl began to frown at her white brows, looked at the boy, then at Mara, the boy nodded his head, and smiled at something.The children, as being outside the tribe, did not begin to shave their heads, as usual leaving only a few strands on the temples and the back of the head. Beauty bent down and kissed both the boy and the girl, and the Fox, too, patting their white hair on the head.
– And you, too, do not hold on us evil, – the girls bowed in response. They had already gone to the boat, preparing to sail, and were approaching according to custom, new novices from the mainland, the girl screamed shrilly, so even dogs barked at her, and the little naughty woman grabbed the hem of Fox’s dress with her hands, and then clutched at her legs without letting the witch go. The fox bent over, trying to tear the girl off, but then the boy ran up, holding a horse in his left hand, and took Krasa by the right hand, and began dragging her back to the cave, and began chipping to repeat:
“Don’t wait, wait tomorrow,” and looked attentively at Beauty, “let’s go, I’ll give you a horse,” and smiled trustingly at her, so the girl could not resist, took him in her arms, stroked his shoulder in a gray knitted shirt, he grabbed her neck, but he held the toy tenaciously and did not drop it. Then Mara came up, first to the girl, stroked her head, kissed her, and the girl whispered something in her ear, the Elder attentively looked at the girls remaining and leaving, thought a little and approved:
– You will go tomorrow, and the oarsmen in the hut will spend the night there, they can be there. Let them get out on the beach with a trap, – and a boy rolled over and over, and the girl ran after the girl, and the fox, which had already faded away, was trying to get involved, for the baby forever any living creature ran.
Two young girls came up to Mare, looked at all eyes at the children, but did not dare to say a word.
“I am Lika,” said one girl,
“And I am Tala,” said another,
“Come in the warmth,” without letting the twins out of their hands, Mara answered them, “take your things and follow me to the monastery, I will feed you hot.”
All together they came through the oak door and the fur-sill of the corridor into the upper room, and they came into the hall with a hearth. Lika and Tala stared at the sooty ceiling, on the ocher walls, on the hearth, and the stove for food in the floor of the corner of the cave, closed with a flap of boards, on oil lamps with mirrors that reflect light.
“Come here, girls,” Mara called them and showed them by hand to the free beds. -Stand, put clothes in the chest, and wet, hang on hangers, – and showed on the wooden strut for clothes. The girls changed their clothes, and went to the room to all the witches, and next to the hearth was a frowning boy, and the girl sat on a carpet of deer skins, and on her one dog rested its knees, and another warmed its back. Everyone sat down on folding chairs, there were tables for food, Colors distributed to everyone bowls with fish soup and spoons, they all began to eat, and the children were put on smaller folding chairs, and Mara shushed on the dogs that they wouldn’t stick their noses on the girl’s plate. It was cooked well, the cod chowder was a success. All ate, then drank herbal infusion and lay down to sleep.
Outside, Mara saw that the shore was littered with tree branches, and many old trees entangled in algae were washed ashore, and there was a lot of fish carried in waves. Dogs, Druzhok and Slega, jumped out after her and rushed off to their fishing, quickly eating two fish, and one more they dragged the twins to the room, but in vain, Ull and Ela had already left, but rather ran out, dressed in usual jackets, wiping eyes from sleep, and ran to look at the shore, and the dogs were left to guard the prey.
“Mara, Mara,” the boy shouted in a ringing voice, “look how many trees are nailed!” We have enough for a long time!
The witch frowned her brows, shifting her gaze from boy to girl, and from girl to boy. Two new witches came out, who stayed overnight in a secret place. Krasa and Lisa, Mara glanced at them and Fox, already crouched in fear, and covered her mouth with her hand, started crying, and Krasa turned white as the snow, waking up, ran to Ale, bent, and quickly began to kiss her ruddy cheeks, saying:
– Thank you, clever-prudent, and looked at the girl’s eyes that became serious at once, stroked her hair, and when the boy ran up, she kissed him too, and the boy stroked her hand in response.
Mara came up to them and already fled from the hut, having forgotten about the prohibitions of the rowers from the lodja.
– Swear to Krasa, and you are the Fox, that you will not open anyone for the time being about it. The fact that the Twins stopped you from unhappy swimming. Children may be in danger of big, Vedunya told them, and grabbed both of them with her tenacious fingers, squeezing their elbows to pain, so Krasa gasped.
“We swear,” the girls nodded in agreement, stretching their hands in front of them with their palms toward Mara, “and repeated the words of the vow, turning to the sacred mountain.
After Mara met four oarsmen, and did not let them come closer, and led them to the guest house, and took from them there a terrible oath over the smooth surface of the blue sea, that they would not reveal secrets to anyone about the twins. After breakfast, the boat finally sailed away, and the departing waved to the others, until they disappeared from the horizon, and Mara caught herself sneaking at El and Ulla, but they were cheerful and calm, only stray fox pawns at El, but he soon mum called him barking, and he reluctantly ran off to her. New novices looked cautiously at the children, but they did not notice anything, and Mara called Lika and Tala to her.
– You will make an oath that you will not tell anyone about it, but during the training and dedication you will still swear to Lada to keep quiet about the secret, so get used immediately. And do not be afraid of children, they do not harm anyone.
“Yes, of course, Mara,” both said, “we all understand, and we will not reveal to anyone any secrets.” We wish to comprehend the whole teaching, and we worshiped it.
So time passed, Mara instructed the witch, and literacy, and medicine, and to them Pryha went down to them in the winter, three old women, and taught the stellar laws, and the herbs to be in charge, and people to heal. But the main thing is that he was instructed in the laws of Manu, which cannot be broken by anyone. Once, they brought the Star Map on a bronze sheet, and everyone watched and memorized, even Ela and Ull came running.It was the spring equinox, and after waiting for time, all the inhabitants went to a distant cave illuminated by the sun on that day, and Mara, praying, opened a secret place, but her hands were in fur gloves, she threw away the fur canopy of the skin, curtain, took the box in the form of a duck of linden carved from wood, even the duck’s eyes were made of agate, the carving was gorgeous, the witch looked at the fine work, but finally took out an ice crystal, hand-ironed lens, and went to the center of the Holy Hall with a lens in her