High up in the Black Mountains was a lake near which was a rich pasture to which the shepherd of Myddvai took his sheep. One day, as he lay there watching his sheep graze, three beautiful maidens emerged from the lake. One of them came near him and he offered her some bread. But the maidens found it unbaked and drifted back into the lake. This happened again, the next day. On the third day, the maiden liked his bread. He asked her to marry him and she agreed if he would be able to recognise her the next day. He succeeded in recognising her by her sandal straps and she married him, bringing with her three cows, two oxen and a bull. “But you must never strike me,” she said, “If you strike me thrice, I’ll leave you!” The shepherd agreed and took his beautiful bride home.
The Three Blows
The shepherd and his wife lived very happily and they had three beautiful sons. One day, as they were going for a christening to the church, the shepherd’s wife asked him to fetch her gloves. “Call for the horses, while I fetch them,” said the shepherd. But as she had not done that when he returned, he struck her on the shoulder and asked if she had forgotten. “That’s the first one,” she said, reminding him not to strike her! Then one day, she began crying at a wedding. Puzzled, the shepherd struck her on the shoulder to stop her. Finally, when she burst out laughing at a funeral, he shook her by the shoulder to tell her to stop, for people watched her in amazement. The lake-maiden left him, for he had struck her thrice! She returned to the mountain lake and only appeared once to bless her sons. They later became famous healers!
