When the world was created

Početek sveta
I. Dokler so bili Slovenci še ajdi, so mislili, da je Bog od konca spal in da je trajal ta spanec od vekov. Ko pa je prišel čas, da se je zbudil, se je začel ozirati krog sebe in njegov prvi pogled je ustvaril našo lepo zemljo, njegov drugi pogled naše preljubo sonce, njegov tretji pogled našo prijazno luno, vsak poznejši pogled bleščečo zvezdo. Bog se je začudil prelepim rečem, ki so jih ustvarile njegove oči, in jih je hotel razgledati, ali čim dalje je prišel, tem več je bilo zvezd, ker so se vsak trenutek za eno pomnoževale. Bog se je naveličal potovanja in se je vrnil nazaj na našo zemljo. Z obličja mu kane na zemljo kaplja potu in iz te kaplje se je rodil prvi človek. Ustvarjen je bil iz božjega potu v večni opomin, da si mora v potu svojega obličja služiti svoj kruh.

II. Ajdi so si tudi pripovedovali, da je bila zemlja od konca pusta, vse sama skala. Rodila ni nič, saj tudi ni trebalo, da bi rodila kaj za živež. Med ljudmi je stanoval Bog sam z duhom in truplom in jih hranil z nebeško mano. Ali ljudje so bili nesrečni, ker so se bali božje mogočnosti in bleščobe. Od vednega trepeta niso mogli v slast ne jesti ne piti, niti se po svoji volji kratkočasiti. Bogu so se ljudje zasmilili. Ločil se je od svojega trupla in se preselil v nebesa. Truplo pa mu je na zemlji zginilo in se spremenilo v rodovitno prst. V božji prsti so si iskali ljudje sami svojega živeža in niso več potrebovali božje mane. Zdaj šele so se začeli veseliti svojega življenja in so bili srečni.


In the beginning
I. Long ago when Slovenes were still ajdi, they believed that God had slept from the beginning and this sleep had lasted for ever and ever. When the time came for him to wake up, he began to look around and his first glance created our beautiful earth, his second glance our dearest sun, his third glance our friendly moon, each following glance a glittering star. God was amazed at the beautiful things that he had created and was looking them over, but the further he went, more stars there were, since they kept growing in number from moment to moment. God grew tired of  travelling and returned to our earth. From his brow a drop of sweat fell to the ground and from this drop the first man was created. He was created from God's sweat as a lasting reminder, that he must earn his bread from the sweat of his brow.

II. Ajdi used to say, that the earth was from the beginning barren and nothing but rock. It bore nothing, and it did not need to produce food to live. Among men lived God himself in spirit and body, and fed them with heavenly manna. Yet people were unhappy, since they feared godly magnificence and radiance. From ceaseless trembling they did not enjoy eating or drinking, or have a good time. God felt pity for mankind. He split from his body and moved to the heaven. The body left on the earth disappeared and changed  into fertile soil. In godly soil men sought their own food and no longer had any need of godly manna. Only now they began to enjoy life and were happy.



Kurent reši človeka iz vesoljnega potopa
Stari Slovenci so mislili, da je bil v začetku sveta presrečni vek, da je rasel kruh na drevju in da je bilo klasje pšenično pol sežnja dolgo. Srečni ljudje so bili sprva dobri, pa kmalu so se pokvarili in postali hudobni. Tedaj so sklenili bogovi svet pokončati. Silno je začelo deževati in zemljo je visoko zalila voda. Vsi ljudje so poginili, samo štirje so se rešili, da niso bili pokončani v strašni povodnji.

O treh povest molči; kako se je pa četrti rešil strašni povodnji, se ve. Bila je namreč na visokem hribu vinska trta, ki se je z vršičem dotikala neba. Prijel se je četrti te trte in začel plezati v višino. Kurent, pri starih Slovanih jako spoštovani bog, to vidi in se močno razveseli, da mož išče ponoči na drevesu, njemu posvečenemu, in se usmili ubogega človeka. Brzo je jela voda odtekati, zemlja pa se je vse bolj sušila. Rešeni človek je moral Kurentu, svojemu rešitelju, obljubiti zase in svoje potomce, da bo vedno ljubil dve njemu sveti zelišči in rad užival njun sad. To sta bili vinska trta in pa ajda. Rešeni človek vzame v eno roko trto, v drugo pa ajdino steblo in se poda po širokem svetu iskat stanovanja. Na bregovih Jadranskega morja se ustavi. Od vinske trte, ki jo je nosil v roki, odseče šibo in jo vtakne z vso močjo v zemljo. In res je še dandanašnji v Proseku zelo dobro vino. Tudi ajdo je vsejal. Njegovi sinovi so se razširili po Kranjskem in še zdaj živijo Kranjci večidel od ajde in čislajo vino in se s hvaležnostjo spominjajo Kurenta, starega dobrotnika. Štirje, povodnji oteti ljudje, so se razdelili v štiri dele sveta in zopet napolnili zemljo.

Kurent je bil v veliki časti pri starih Slovenih; sedanji pust je spomniski dan starega Kurenta. Posvečen mu je bil torek.


Kurent saves man from the great flood
Ancient Slovenes believed, that in the beginning there was the happiest age, when bread grew on trees and the wheat ears were half a fathom long. In the beginning the happy people were good, but soon they became corrupt and evil. So the gods decided to make an end of the world. It started to rain heavily and the water rose high covering the earth. All the people drowned, only four were saved, so that they did not perish in the dreadful flood.

The tale is silent on the fate of the three; how the fourth was saved from the dreadful flood, is known. There was on a high hill a vine, which reached the sky. The fourth man grasped the vine and began to climb. Kurent, a god, highly revered by the ancient Slavs, saw him and was most pleased, that the man is seeking help by the tree sacred to himself, and so took pity on the poor fellow. The water began to recede quickly and the earth became drier by the minute. The rescued man had to make a promise to Kurent, his rescuer, for himself and his descendants, that he will always value the two plants, sacred to himself and pleased to eat their produce. These were the vine and the buckwheat. The rescued man took in one hand the vine, in the other the buckwheat stalk and goes on the way to looking for a place to settle. On the banks of the Adriatic Sea he stops. From the vine that he carries, he cuts a switch and puts it into the ground with all his strength. And in truth, to this day they have very good wine in Prosek. He also sowed the buckwheat. His sons spread throughout Kranjska and to this day Kranjci for the greater part live on buckwheat and value wine, and with gratitutude remember Kurent, their old benefactor. The four people rescued from the flood went into the four parts of the world, and again filled the earth.

Kurent was greatly revered by ancient Slavs; today's carnival/pust is a remembrance day of the ancient Kurent. Shrove Tuesday was dedicated to him.

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