Worth Your Weight In Gold

#inktober2021 #inktoberday3

GOLD 🌞🌻🌟⚱️🔱

Summing up the plot of a bizarre Russian Bashkir folktale I happened across called ‘The Golden Hair’

Predictably, a young and beautiful girl sits by a river waiting to be whisked away by a strong and powerful hunter. But her family issues are literally weighing her down.... When finally approached by a guy trying to kill her gran, (who has shape-shifted into a red fox......not even the strangest part), surprisingly unaffected by the unfortunate intro, she spills the beans and explains to him that whilst she is unashamedly gorgeous, her long golden braid (best asset) is made of actual gold and is so heavy she is her own ball and chain. Undeterred, the hunter asks if she will marry him, in fact he asks how much bride money he should pay... (I’m guessing normal dating etiquette flies out of the window when you’re wandering about dangerous woods and the attitude of now or never is adopted). The girl cannot be sold (great moment of female empowerment). But not because she is a feminist....no. Because her father is Poloz the snake who is consequently the owner of the world’s gold. At this point, I would personally have taken this to be a creative but blatant brush off. But the hunter doubles down. He boasts that he will free her and they shall ride off into the sunset forever. The gran, being the older and wiser of the three, transforms back into a woman and intervenes. ‘You couldn’t even manage to shoot me with an arrow, you reckon you can get the better of a weird giant king of the gold snake dad? You are having a laugh. And do you weight lift? Because that braid is a hernia waiting to happen.’ I’m paraphrasing...Persistent, the hunter winds her braid around his arm and the kidnapping is attempted. Snake dad has the magical ability to attract gold and after a night of hanky panky, the girl feels herself being pulled back to the glades. She snips off her hair to release the hunter and disappears. The hunter tries dating girls with regular hair but it’s just not the same. He eventually returns, succeeds in his quest and they live happily ever after in the middle of a snake resistant lake. Yup.