Do you suppose a lake has no felling? no sense of pride?No selfesteem? Do you think it can lie untended without suffering?It's weeds run riots,like unkempt hair ;it's fishes choke beneath the autum its banks crumbles under the feet of drinking cattle.
Lake rim in Estonia is a vast tract of water a hundred fathoms deep . In the begging tree which seeded themselves around it drank it's water and flourished dense and leafy.A forest grew .so did the darkness within it . And soon .within the darkness of trees lurked a darkness of men. Brigands and bandits made their lairs in the black entanglement of lakeside tree They fished the lake for their supper and they spent lonag hours sprawled in drifiting boats danging grappling hooks ionto the deeps .for it was rumoured the lake held great treasures from an earlier civilization .The men did not dredge the shallow or clear the weed or cut bak the nettles taht mustred at the waterside . That would have been hard work and they had forsworn hardwork.
so why did theirs pockets jingle with gold and their gambling last all nights ? beacuse each time a traveller passed through the wood two people a pilgrim or a merchant -tgey cut his throat and threw his body in the deep darkwaters . the blood stained lake win .The blood shamed lake rim .Red blood stained the bankside flowers and dripped from the the bending grasses on to the face of the lake . The blood soured and fouled the still waters of the lake .till it shivered even on the windless day.
In the horror and disgust the lake seethed and the bubbles of marsh gad rose from the rotting weed on its bed I will not be stained with the sin of these wicked men. I shall leave this place!
The robber cheif stirring in his sleep , heard the slap-slap of water on the lake shore .He heard a suck -suck as of mud parting company from a boot or an boat. Drops of water fell on the roof , and he thought ""RAIN"" and turned over to sleep again.
suddenly hands were pulling at the covers and voices shouting in his ear - "come quick ! come quick! The lake is .....well it's .....the lake it's....""
"The lake is what? " demanded the robber chief grabbing a bandit by the throat ."what is the lake doing .that you wake me in the middle of the night?""
"flying away .chief !""
""Like a carpet .chief"
up and away chief all silver and glittering ! The robber chief rolled out of bed and stumbled to the window overhead in the sky hung a billion gallons of water shining like a metal plate thick as cumulus clouds , spreading out to all points of the compass, a translucent ceiling .If it were to fall....
The bandits stood still , waiting for a billion steely gallons to fall on theirs heads like the end of the world . Minutes after minute they listened to the gentle hiss of moving water cascading through the sky. Then the moon bobbed into view again , like a fishing float,and danger was past
""Well? what are you waiting for?"bellowed the Robber chief .""get out there and make the most of it .there be fish by the barrel-load there for the picking up! and treasure ! don't forget the treasure !all there just for taking
As they pelted down to the lake ,dawn was just rising .
"The boats have gone , chief!""
"who needs em? we can talk !"
They plunged on up to their knees in mud .the lake bed was certainly alive with wriggling movement. And treasure chests lay about , smashed open at the hinges and steaming in the early sun.A banditthrust his arm into one of the chests then drew it out with a shriek the chests wall full of frogs ! Another was full of waters snakes , another lizard .Not a fish ,not a single bearded barbell or drappled trout lay stranded by the lake departure .But every lizard ,reptiles,, newts,salamandrs ,frogs and slings that had ever lived in the mud if tge lake was crawling towards the shore.
The brigands shrank back in revulsion -only to see the nasty livestock of the lake crawl past into theirs dens, into theirs beds, into theirs boots and bags and hats .
They Burnes everything-theirs lairs and all they had stolen .they razed the forests to its stumps then trudged away ,their wicked lives in ashes, leaving an empty crater encircled by fire.
Meanwhile ,lake rim carried itscareful burden of fish and treasure through the sky .It flew so high that people below looked up and said , what cloud is that hiding the sun?"" Hunters looked up and said ,"What flock of bird is that blacking out the sin ?"
Then the lake came to the land parched and carcked,brown and destitute for want of water . The poor peasants there held out their hands ,hoping the clouds might spare them a few dreops of meagre rain .then suddenly out of the sky it swooped -a sluicing wealth of water , which seemed to glitters with jewels .
"Make me a bed to lie in and I shall stay with you" offered lake rim in a voice like a thundering waterfalls .
The peasants snatched up theirs hoes and spades .The children dug with theirs hands.the women wheeled away the dry earth in barrows .within a week they made a bed for the the lake , and rim settled into it,with a sound listen ke sweaty groan .fish danced on theirs tails on the surface ,while each circular ripple that spread from the centre to the shore, washed up a trinket if gold or a few silver coins .several little boats bobbed about too, on the choppy waves .
First the peasants thanked God, with prayers in the church .Then they thanked the lake with flowers that they floated on its face .They planted willow trees and dug cattle troughts made osier, beds in the shallow and built jetties from the shore .They channelled water to their field , and the field flourished .They built a town and fed it on fish , and the town flourished .They built a town and fed it on fish ,and the town fed it on fish, and the town flourished . (All the fish fry, they returned, so that the fish stocks thrived .) In short, they cared for the lake and the lake cared for them .

Which is as it should be. If you don't want your bed full of newts.,,,,,,,,✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨✨