Читать книгу Кельтские сумерки. Уровень 1 / The Celtic Twilight - Уильям Батлер Йейтс - Страница 5

Some people in the western villages have doubts. Last Christmas, a woman told me that she didn’t believe in hell or ghosts. She thought that hell was made up by the priest[16] to make people behave, and she didn’t think ghosts could freely walk the earth. But she believed in fairies, leprechauns[17], kelpies[18], and fallen angels. I also met a man with a tattoo of a Mohawk Indian on his arm who had similar beliefs and doubts. He said that people never doubt that fairies are real.

A young girl who worked in the village of Grange, near the slopes of Ben Bulben[19],disappeared one night around three years ago. People said that the fairies had stolen her.

A village resident tried to stop them from taking her. But he ended up with nothing in his hands except a broomstick[20]. The villagers asked the constable[21] for help, and he immediately started searching every house. He also advised the villagers to burn all the ragweed[22] on the field where the girl disappeared because ragweed is sacred[23] to the fairies. They spent the whole night burning the ragweed while the constable said special words. In the morning, they found the little girl walking in the field. She said that the fairies had taken her very far away, riding on a magical horse. Eventually, she saw a big river, and the man who tried to save her was floating down the river in a small boat.