The Mountain Giants

 The Mountain Giants

Many of us have heard of the name ‘Yatsh’.

Long ago, people told stories about huge giants called Yatsh. Each giant had just one eye, right in the middle of its forehead.

People said the giants lived in the mountains and came out only at night. Sometimes, they stopped people from growing food in the fields.

One night, five giants found some grain. A farmer had worked hard to clean it and put it into baskets and sacks.

The giants took the grain and put it into their own huge bags.

Then they found a big, flat stone.

“Let’s use this to make bread!” they said.

But just then, the sun began to rise!

The giants had to hurry away. They turned their bags of grain into five big hills.

People said those hills looked like giant baskets.

The Giants’ Wedding

One day, a hunter went into the mountains. He took enough food for five days.

On the sixth day, his food was all gone.

He was tired, hungry, and thirsty. He looked for water and berries, but he could not find any. He tried to sleep, but he could not get comfortable.

Then he saw a bright fire in the darkness.

“Perhaps someone there can give me food,” he thought.

He walked closer. But around the fire sat a group of giants! They were eating, drinking, and singing.

The hunter was frightened. He turned to leave.

Just then, a giant who was going to fetch water spotted him.

“Are you a human?” the giant asked.

“Yes,” whispered the hunter.

“Come and join us. We are having a wedding!”

“I’m afraid you will hurt me,” said the hunter.

“I promise by the sun and the moon that I will not hurt you,” said the giant.

He hid the hunter safely under a bush. Then he took the water back to the others.

Soon, one of the giants pulled a plant out of the ground. Under it was a little hole.

The giants put all their things into the hole. Then they made themselves thinner and thinner until they could slip through it too!

The friendly giant returned and took the hunter’s hand. Together, they slipped through the little hole.

Below the ground was a huge room filled with light.

The giant gave the hunter a quiet place to sit and some food to eat. The hunter watched the wedding in wonder.

Then he noticed the bride and her mother.

The mother held her daughter close and cried. She was sad because her daughter would soon leave to live in a new home.

Then the bride’s mother began to sing.

Based on a traditional story told by the Dard people and written down by Dr G. W. Leitner in 1866.