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Heather drink
Long ago forgotten,
But it was sweeter than honey,
Stronger than wine.
In cauldrons it was brewed
And drunk by the whole family
Little honey-makers
In caves beneath the ground.
The Scottish king came,
Ruthless to his enemies.
He drove the poor Picts
To the rocky shores.
On the heather field
On the battlefield
The living lay on the dead
And the dead on the living.
Summer came to the land,
The heather bloomed again,
But there was no one to make
The heather honey.
In their narrow graves
In the mountains of their land
The little honey-makers
Found their refuge.
The king rides along the slope
Above the sea on his horse,
And seagulls soar beside him
Level with the road.
The king looks gloomily
And thinks: "All around
The honey heather blooms,
But we do not drink the honey."
But then his vassals
Noticed two -
The last honey-makers,
Remaining alive.
They came out from under the stone,
Squinting at the white light -
An old, hunchbacked dwarf
And a boy of fifteen.
To the steep seashore
They were brought for questioning,
But none of the prisoners
Said a word.
The Scottish king sat
Motionless in the saddle,
And the little people
Stood on the ground.
Angrily the king said:
"The whip awaits both of you,
If you don't tell me, devils,
How you make the honey!"
Father and son were silent,
Standing at the edge of the cliff.
The heather rustled above them,
The waves rolled in the sea.
And suddenly a voice sounded:
"Listen, Scottish king,
Let me talk to you
Face to face."
"Old age fears death,
I will buy life with betrayal,
I will reveal the secret,"
The dwarf said to the king.
His sparrow-like voice
Sounded sharp and clear.
"I would have revealed the secret long ago,
If my son had not interfered.
The boy does not care about life,
Death means nothing to him.
It would be a shame for me
To sell my conscience in front of him.
Let him be tightly bound
And thrown into the abyss of water
And I will teach the Scots
To make the ancient honey."
A strong Scottish warrior
Tightly bound the boy
And threw him into the open sea
From the steep coastal cliffs.
The waves closed over him,
The last cry faded.
And an echo answered him
From the cliff, the old man:
"I spoke the truth, Scots,
I expected trouble from my son,
I did not believe in the resilience of young people,
Who do not shave their beards.
But I am not afraid of the fire,
Let my sacred secret die with me,
My heather honey."