Date: Wed, 29 May 1996 12:03:47 +0300 (LDT) From: Tatjana Balvociene To: jj68@NYU.EDU Subject: Re: Tree Project Hello! We are Lithuanian and we live in the town called Silute. We are the students of the high school No.4, grade 5 (11 - 12 years old). With great eagerness we join in the project concerning large trees. Outside our town there is a large oak. It is the tallest oak in our area and it is called Pagryniu oak. The name is derived from the village called Pagryniai. Its length is 0.5 meter and its height is 24 meters. In 1960's the oak was registered into the list of to be protected in our area. In 1980's, the oak was registered as nature monument of the republic of Lithuania. The other information and decription of the oak will follow later. Sincerely, your Lithuanian friends.
Participants in the project,
pupils of form 5 (11-12 years old) and their teacher, Regina Jasudiene
The Legend about the oak The old inhabitants of Silute's town tell that before the town was founded, a little village was there. In that village, there was a little cabin with its two masters: a father and his daughter. The father planted an oak when his daughter was born. Once a band of robbers besieged the village. Everyone was killed. The robbers came to the cabin also. They killed the father and were about to kill the daughter. She, though, grabbed a rock and pierced herself. So she lay dead at the roots of the oak. The time passed, and the oak grew into a huge tree. The cabin however, was destroyed by time. In the evenings, people hear a cry that comes from the oak. They say it is the girl wailing for her dead father. Antanas, 6 a cl.,12 years old The Oak of the Devil Long ago in a deep ooze there lived the Devil. He enjoyed food, and that is why others called him ` Fatty`! Once, the Fatty ran out of food and stepped into the god Perkunas garden. He picked up some vegetables and started eating. The god Perkunas (Thunder) saw the Fatty and was enraged: ` How dare you to eat things from my garden!!` The Thunder turned vegetables into a sack of acorns. The Fatty grabbed the sack and ran away. The Thunder went after him, but in vain. As The Devil ran, he last all his acorns. That is why Silute is full of oaks. Gabriele, 6a cl., 12 y.old.
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