Amarinda

Once upon a time, a young peasant woman called Amarinda fell in love with a boy, a field worker, called Nevitt, who lived in a neighbouring house and they were married in a beautiful moonlit wedding.

But then, one day, Amarinda’s husband was working in the fields with the other men when the wicked enchantress Marizza came walking by.

Seeing her approaching, all of the men round about Amarinda’s husband said.

“Marizza is coming, do not look at her or you will be bewitched by her beauty”.

And, as she passed, they covered their eyes so as not to see her.

But Amarinda’s husband was curious to know what she looked like and thought to himself, “I will only glance at her for a second. I’m sure a second’s glance will not hurt”.

But the moment that he looked upon her face, Amarinda’s husband was spellbound and he completely forgot all about his lovely wife.

Then, picking a wild rose that was growing nearby, he ran after the enchantress begging her to marry him.

“But aren’t you already married, to the one called Amarinda?”, asked the enchantress.

“I do not love her anymore”, said the man, “How can one love a common clod when one has gazed upon a sparkling, flawless gem?”.

The enchantress laughed, seeing the power that she held over the man and thinking that he might provide her with some amusement and then, though the other farm labourers called to him to come back and not to forget his beloved wife Amarinda, he followed her up the road towards her house in the woods.

And as he was walking off down the road, one of the farm labourers, a man called Harl, ran to tell Amarinda what had happened.

“Why did nobody stop him?”, she asked, distressed.

“We would have”, said Harl, “But we were afraid to look at her in case we too became bewitched”.

And so Amarinda ran out of her little house and up the road that led to the house of the enchantress and she banged frantically upon Marizza’s door.

And when the Enchantress came to the door, Amarinda demanded that she give her back her husband.

“And what will you give me in exchange?”, asked the wicked enchantress.

Amarinda said that she was poor and had nothing to give Marizza.

“Give me your left hand”, asked the Enchantress, smiling, “And I will let you have him back for a year”.

Amarinda was horrified by this idea and yet she loved her husband so much and was certain that, if not for the witch’s spell, he would still be in love with her.

And so she agreed to Marizza’s terms and, reaching out with her finger, the evil enchantress merely touched Amarinda’s left hand once and, to Amarinda’s horror, it shrivelled up.

But then the enchantress released her husband from the spell and, with her one good hand, she led the bewildered man back home.

But, as she was walking back down the road, Marizza called out to her and said,

“Remember, he will only be yours for a year. One year from today, he will come back to me”.

Of course, when they got home and Amarinda told her husband what had happened and what she had had to give up in order to get him back, he was horrified and swore to her that he loved her more than anything in the world and would never, ever go back to the witch.

In fact he said that he would go and kill the enchantress but Amarinda stopped him.

“If you go to her house, you might never come back”, she said, pleading with him, “She would just cast her spell on you again or do something even worse”.

And so her husband suggested that they pack up everything and move away to some other village or town far away where the enchantress would never find them and, tearfully, they said goodbye to their parents and they went to live in the city and Amarinda’s husband got a job working in a cotton mill.

It was a very low paying job and they lived in very squalid conditions in a rat infested slum but they loved each other so much that nothing else mattered apart from their being together.

But then a year passed by and one day a strange woman came to the slum dressed in finely embroidered clothes and jewels and she knocked upon Amarinda’s door and her husband answered.

He took one look at the woman, who was the wicked enchantress Marizza, and fell deeply under her spell again and, though Amarinda threw her arms around his waist and screamed and begged for him not to go with her; her husband couldn’t even hear her, so bewitched was he and, breaking free of her arms he took hold of the enchantress’s hand and she started to lead him away.

But then, desperate not to lose her husband, Amarinda threw herself on the ground at the enchantress’s feet and begged her not to take him.

“Please”, she said, “Have mercy”.

“And what will you give me in return for this act of mercy”, asked the enchantress, looking down and laughing at the grovelling Amarinda.

“Anything”, replied Amarinda, “Anything, but please don’t take him”.

“Then give me your right foot”, said the enchantress, smiling evilly, “And you may have him for another year, no, two years… just to be merciful”.

This time, Amarinda didn’t even hesitate but threw off her right shoe and stuck out her bare foot and the wicked Marizza merely touched it with the toe of her own shoe and the foot withered up.

Then, satisfied, the witch released Amarinda’s husband from the spell and he got down on his knees and held his wife because she was unable to stand but then, as she got into a coach that would take her away, she said, laughing,

“Remember. In two years, I will be back again to take your husband”.

Amarinda just wept and her husband tried to console her, saying that they would go away somewhere else.

“Wherever we go”, Amarinda replied, “She will find us and take you away”.

So then her husband said to her, “If you will forgive me and pray for my soul, then I will hang myself so that she will never be able to take me away and I will wait for you in heaven”.

Amarinda said that she would hang beside him so that the angels could take them both up to heaven.

Amarinda’s husband could not bear the thought of her dying by the noose and so, instead, he said that he would go and get poison for her and he to take.

“Something so strong that your suffering will only be for an instant”.

And, going to a nearby apothecary, Amarinda’s husband told him their predicament and asked if he would sell him his strongest and most fast acting poison.

“Enough for two”, he said.

But then the apothecary, saddened by his tale, assured him that there was an alternative to suicide.

“I will give you the poison for free but please also take this”, he said, giving Amarinda’s husband a sparkling bracelet, “Ask your wife to wear it and I swear it will protect you against the witch and if it does not then you still have the poison”.

Amarinda’s husband thanked the Apothecary and took the bracelet and a bottle of poison home to his wife telling her everything that the apothecary had said.

“If the bracelet works”, he said, hopefully, “Then perhaps we will not need to die at all”.

Amarinda was doubtful but her husband begged her to give the bracelet a try.

“Please”, he said, “If I can, I want to spend the rest of my life with you”.

And so Amarinda agreed to try the bracelet and she wore it always, night and day, upon the wrist of her one good hand and, even though she only had one foot, she learned to walk with a wooden crutch and, for another two years, they tried to live together happily, never wasting a single opportunity to love each other or kiss each other or be close together.

But then two years passed by and the evil enchantress, Marizza knocked upon their door once more
and this time it was Amarinda who answered the door to her and, before the witch could even speak, Amarinda said,

“Please take any part of me you want; take my eyes; make me blind; take my ears so that I won’t be able to hear anymore but just leave us alone”.

However, to Amarinda’s surprise, the witch didn’t want any part of her.

You see, Marizza had seen the sparkling bracelet on Amarinda’s wrist and become enchanted by it.

“That bracelet”, she said, her eyes lighting up as she gazed upon it, almost like someone in love, “It’s beautiful. The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. That’s what I want. Give it to me”.

Amarinda was amazed but very relieved not to lose another part of her body to the witch.

“Alright”, she said, taking off the bracelet and handing it to the witch, “If you leave us alone for another four years”.

“Anything! Anything!”, said the witch, seizing hold of the bracelet with trembling hands, “Just give me that beautiful bracelet, I must have it”.

And so Amarinda let the witch have the bracelet; happy at least to have another four years with her husband.

But then the evil Marizza put on the bracelet and, to Amarinda’s astonishment a look of terror swept across the witch’s face and she let out a horrible, high pitched scream as every part of her began to wither, her legs and feet turning to dust underneath her and then the rest of her, falling to the ground, started to crumble to pieces until, eventually, there was nothing left of her but the bracelet.

And, at the same time as the witch was withering away to dust, Amarinda’s left hand and her right foot began to return to normal.

A rush of excitement and joy flooded through Amarinda and, throwing down her wooden crutch, she leapt in the air and shrieked with happiness; then she turned to run and tell her husband but he was already there behind her and had seen the whole thing and they hugged and they kissed.

And, giving the magical bracelet back to the apothecary and thanking him for his kindness, they went home together to their parents and big party was thrown by all the people of their village to welcome them home.

Then they lived a very long life together, having lots of children and were very, very happy.