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Ep 292: Georgia- Conkiajgharuna (Wardrop) · Sandman Stories Presents

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  Welcome back listeners to Sandman's Stories Presents, a
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  folklore podcast where I read you to sleep or until the next
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  story. I'm your host, Dustin.
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  If you want more Sandman, I have extra stories that are too spicy
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  for the main feed available on my Patreon.
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  You can even join at the free tier and get everything.
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  And thank you to Nikki for being the newest member.
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  Today we are back in the book of Georgian folk tales written down
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  by Marjorie Wardrobe. In this story we hear the
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  Georgian take on a classic fairy tale.
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  OK, let's begin. Conquia Garuna.
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  Georgian Cinderella. There was and there was not.
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  There was a miserable peasant. He had a wife and a little
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  daughter. So poor was this peasant that
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  his daughter was called Conquia Garuna, the little girl in rags.
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  Some time passed, and his wife died.
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  He was unhappy before, but now a greater misfortune had befallen
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  him. He grieved and grieved, and at
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  last he said to himself, I will go and take another wife.
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  She will mind the house and tend to my orphan child.
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  So he arose and took a second wife.
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  But this wife brought with her a daughter of her own.
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  When this woman came into her husband's house and saw his
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  child, she felt anger in her heart.
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  She treated Konkia badly. She praised her own daughter,
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  but scolded her stepdaughter and tried to get rid of her.
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  Every day she gave her a burnt piece of bread and sent her out
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  to watch the cow saying, Here is a loaf, eat it, give it to every
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  wayfarer and bring the loaf home whole.
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  The girl went out and felt very miserable.
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  One time she was sitting in the field sad and began to weep
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  bitterly. The cow listened and then opened
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  its mouth and said, Why are you weeping?
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  What troubles you? The girl told her sad tale.
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  The cow said, In one of my horns is honey, and in the other is
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  butter, which you can take if you want, so why be unhappy?
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  The girl took the butter and the honey, and in a short time she
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  grew plump. When the stepmother noticed
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  this, she did not know what to do, for she was in such a rage.
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  She got up, and every day after she gave her a basket of wool.
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  This wool was to be spun and finished and brought home in the
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  evening. The stepmother wished to tire
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  the girl out with the toil so that she would grow thin and
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  ugly. Once when Conchia was tending
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  the cow, it ran away onto the roof.
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  The girl pursued it and wished to drive it back onto the road,
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  but she dropped her spindle on the roof.
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  Looking inside, she saw an old woman seated and said to her.
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  Good mother, will you give me my spindle?
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  The old Dame replied, Ah, I am not able my child, come and take
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  it yourself. This old woman was a Devi.
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  The girl went in and was lifting up her spindle when the old Dame
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  called out. Daughter, daughter, come and
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  look at my head for a moment, I am almost eaten up.
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  The girl came and looked at her head.
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  She was filled with horror. All the worms on earth seem to
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  be crawling there. The little girl stroked her head
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  and removed some, and said, You have a clean head, why should I
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  look at it? This conduct pleased the old
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  woman very much, and she said, When you go out, go along such
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  and such a road, and in a certain place you will see three
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  springs, one white, one black, and 1 yellow.
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  Pass by the white and black, and put your head in the yellow and
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  wash it with your hands. The girl did this.
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  She went on her way and came to the three springs.
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  She passed by the white and black ones and bathed her head
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  with her hands in the yellow fountain.
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  When she looked up, she saw that her hair was quite golden too,
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  and her hands too. They shone like gold.
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  In the evening, when she went home, her stepmother was filled
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  with fury. After this she sent her own
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  daughter with the cow. Perhaps some good fortune would
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  visit her. So Conchia stayed at home while
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  her step sister drove out the cow.
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  Once more the cow ran onto the roof.
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  The girl pursued it and her spindle fell down.
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  She looked in and seeing the Debbie woman called out, Hey,
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  dog of an old woman here, come and give me my spindle.
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  The old woman replied, I am not able child, come and take it
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  yourself. When the girl came near, the old
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  woman said, come child and look at my head.
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  The girl came and looked at her head and cried out.
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  Uh, what a horrid head you have. You're a disgusting old woman.
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  The old woman said. I thank you my child.
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  When you are on your way, you will see a yellow, a white, and
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  a black spring. Pass by the yellow and white
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  springs and wash your head with your hands in the black one.
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  The girl did this. She passed by the yellow and
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  white springs and bathed her head in the black one.
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  When she looked at herself she was as black as midnight, and on
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  her head there was a horn. She cut it off again and again,
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  but it grew larger and larger. She went home and complained to
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  her mother who was almost frenzied, but there was no help
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  for it. Her mother said to herself, This
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  is all the cows fault, so it shall be killed.
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  This cow knew the future. When it learned that it was to
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  be killed, it went to Conquia and said, When I am dead, gather
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  my bones together and bury them in the earth.
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  When you are in trouble, come to my grave and cry aloud.
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  Bring my steed and my royal robes.
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  Conquia Garuna did exactly as the cow had told her.
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  When it was dead, she took its bones and buried them in the
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  earth. After this some time passed 1
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  holiday the stepmother took her daughter and they went to
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  church. She placed a through in front of
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  Conchia and spread a Cody about 80 lbs of Millet in the
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  courtyard and said before we come home from church fill this
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  through with tears and gather up this Millet so that not one
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  grain is left. Then they went to church.
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  Conchia sat down and began to weep.
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  While she was crying a neighbor came in and said why are you in
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  tears? What is the matter?
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  The little girl told her tale. The woman brought all the hens
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  and chickens, and they picked up every grain of Millet.
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  Then she put a lump of salt in the through and poured water
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  over it. There, child, she said, these
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  are your tears, now go and enjoy yourself.
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  Conquia then thought of the cow. She went to its grave and called
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  out. Bring me my steed and my royal
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  robes. There at once appeared a horse
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  and beautiful clothes. Conchia put on the garments,
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  mounted the horse and went into the church.
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  There all the folk began to stare at her.
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  They were amazed at her grandeur.
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  Her step sister whispered to her mother when they saw her.
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  This girl is very much like our Conchia.
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  Her mother smiled scornfully and said, Who would give that sun
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  darkener such robes? Conchia left the church before
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  anyone else. She changed her clothes in time
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  to appear before her stepmother in rags on the way home.
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  As she was leaping over a stream.
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  In her haste she let her slipper fall in.
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  A long time passed. Once when the King's horses were
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  drinking water in this stream, they saw the shining slipper,
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  and they were so afraid that they would not drink any more
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  water. The king was told that there was
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  something shining in the stream, and that the horses were afraid.
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  The king commanded his divers to find out what it was.
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  They found the golden slipper, and presented it to the king.
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  When he saw it, he commanded his viziers, saying, Go and seek the
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  owner of this slipper, for I will wed none but her.
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  His viziers sought the maiden, but they could not find anyone
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  who would fit the slipper. Conky's stepmother heard this,
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  adorned her daughter and placed her on the throne.
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  Then she went and told the king that she had a daughter whose
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  foot he might want to look at, as it was exactly the model for
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  the shoe. She put Conquioruna in a corner
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  with a big basket over her. When the king came into the
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  house, he sat down on the basket in order to try on the slipper.
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  Conquia Garuna took the needle and pricked the king from under
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  the basket. He jumped up, stinging with
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  pain, and asked the stepmother what she had under the basket.
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  The stepmother replied, Tis only a Turkey I have there.
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  The king sat down on the basket again, and Conquia again stuck
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  the needle into him. The king jumped up and cried
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  out, Lift the basket, I will see what's underneath.
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  The stepmother entreated him, saying, Do not blame me, your
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  majesty, it's only a Turkey and it will run away.
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  But the king would not listen to her entreaties.
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  He lifted up the basket and Conquia came forth and said,
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  This slipper is mine, and it fits me well.
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  She sat down and the king found that it was indeed a perfect
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  fit. Conquia Garuna became the King's
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  wife, and her shameless stepmother was left with a dry
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  throat. The end.
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  Well, I like this version. I especially like that the
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  stepmother wasn't left with any, you know, pain or wasn't killed
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  or hurt or anything, just left with a dry throat.
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  It's like, oh, that's good revenge.
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  And of course it has some similarities with the more
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  famous Grimmes Brothers tale, but it also had some stuff
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  that's usually seen in Turkish or Middle Eastern cultures like
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  the Devi. I'm really enjoying this book
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  and I hope that you are too. And the podcast shout out today
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  is to the Derazzled podcast. Jack and Joe climb that hill of
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  bad movies to fetch a pail of something redeemable.
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  They try their best to take a movie that won a Razzie and find
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  something good about it, or at least how they can fix it.
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  So wouldn't win a Razzie. And if you like their show as
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  much as I do, go and give them a like a rating and a review.
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  And the listener shout out is to Morogoro, a city located in the
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  eastern part of Tanzania, approximately 196 kilometers
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  West of Dar es Salaam. It serves as the capital of the
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  Morogoro region. Informally, it is referred to as
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  Mikasoro Bahari, which translates to the city short of
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  an ocean slash port. It is the homeland of the Lugoru
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  people and they are matrilineal group of Bantu speakers.
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  I could not find translations of my sign off in their language.
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  So I will do it in Swahili. And of course I would love to go
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  there and visit there, if for nothing else than to find their
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  rat training program to find minds in tuberculosis.
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  So to my listener who might be training the next mind finding
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  rat, I say in Swahili Asante and Musiko Muema, thank you and
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  goodnight.