simple legends. The creepiest urban legends that turned out to be true

Halloween is ahead of us all, and most recently Friday the 13th took place, so get ready for a new batch of creepy horror stories that have been scaring residents of very different cities of the world for many years.

Urban legends are passed down from generation to generation, just like good books or family traditions, so don't be surprised if your children tell each other scary stories about black people and a coffin on wheels. And if on the eve of Halloween you do not have enough inspiration for a new costume, read this collection of horror movies right now!

10. El Silbon (El Silbon) or Whistler

In Venezuela and Colombia, there is a terrible tale about a creature cursed to roam the Earth for all eternity with a bag of bones on its back.

The mystical creature was once a young boy who lived with his parents in Venezuela. El Silbon was the only child in the family, and his parents spoiled him very much. As a result, the boy became a spoiled, capricious and harmful young man.

One day the child requested that his parents cook him venison for dinner. The father could not get such meat, which made the demanding son very angry. El Silbon stabbed his own father with a knife, pulled out his insides and brought them to his mother to cook supper from the offal.

The unsuspecting woman used the meat for cooking, although it seemed suspicious to her. Finally realizing what had happened, the mother was horrified and was so overwhelmed with grief that she allowed her grandfather to punish the evil boy on his own.

The grandfather beat the child to a pulp, and he poured lemon juice into his wounds and rubbed chili peppers. Then he handed his grandson a sack full of his father's bones and set a pack of dogs on the little villain. Right before the beasts tore the boy apart, his grandfather cursed him to wander forever. Thus, a creature named El Silbon was born.

It is said that he still wanders through the forests, fields and villages, whistling a simple melody under his breath, and sneaking into other people's houses. There he throws a bag of bones on the floor and counts them right in the house. If no one notices the monster's presence, one member of that family will die. However, if the household catches the Whistler (the second nickname of the cursed creature), no one will suffer, and the inhabitants of the house, on the contrary, will be lucky.

9 Suicide Drawing From Japan


Photo: urbanlegendsonline.com

The most disturbing and scary urban legends often appear in Asian countries, and many of them even become the basis for famous horror films.

According to one such legend, a young Japanese woman painted a colored portrait of a young girl who seemed to look straight into the eyes of the viewer. A talented artist published a drawing on the Internet and, for an unknown reason, soon committed suicide.

After the incident, netizens began to write comments on this drawing, and many said that they see sadness and even anger in the eyes of the drawn girl. Others wrote that if you look at this portrait for too long, the stranger's lips begin to curl into a smirk, and a strange ring appears around her image. Some went even further - people began to spread rumors about the poor fellows who looked at the picture for more than 5 minutes in a row and then also committed suicide.

8. Nyx (Nykur)


Photo: kickassfacts.com

We are used to the fact that in films and pictures horses are portrayed as beautiful creatures and noble animals. However, if you ever find yourself in Iceland and notice a gray horse there, standing on the shore of the sea or lake, do yourself a favor and get accustomed to the hooves of the beast. If they look the other way, then you have a problem - it looks like you met with a nyx ...

Nyxes are said to be monsters that live in the water, but sometimes come to the coast to lure unsuspecting people to the bottom of the reservoir. The skin of such a horse is sticky, so if a person, fascinated by a wild horse, wants to saddle an animal, he will no longer be able to get off it and will be doomed to certain death, because the nyx will drag the rider to the bottom. There is a belief that if you call out the name of the mystical horse, it will get scared and run back into the water without harming anyone.

7. Child in a high chair

This city walks all over the world, but it most likely appeared in Norway. For many years, a Norwegian couple could not afford to go on vacation. Finally, everything fell into place - the couple found a reliable nanny for their grown-up baby and planned a trip.

When the day of departure came, the nanny still did not appear. She called and said that she had problems with the car. However, the woman also said that she could call a mechanic and be there in 15 minutes because she had almost reached the couple's house and was ready to walk.

Taking the nanny's word for it, the parents put their son in a high chair, fastened the child with special belts, kissed him goodbye and left the house. The couple was in a hurry to get on the plane. They left one of the doors open so that the nanny could go inside.

One version of the legend says that the nurse could not get into the house because all the doors were closed (they were slammed by the wind), and she decided that the parents took the child with them. The woman went home without being sure if this was true.

According to another version, the nanny was hit by a truck on the way to the house, and according to the third scenario, the nurse was actually an elderly relative of the family, and on the way she had a heart attack. In any case, she never made it to the house, where a little boy was waiting for her in a high chair.

In all versions, the couple return home to find the child dead and still strapped into his child seat...

6 Studley Road Girl

The scariest urban legends are those that take place closer to our own cities and homes, or when they are mentioned again and more recently. Three years ago, a user of the social platform Reddit told a horror story that terrified him all his childhood and all his youthful years. The man lives in Mechanicsville, Virginia (Mechanicsville, Virginia), and in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthis town lies a winding road called Studley Road.

Several years ago, a family with an alcoholic father lived in a small house near this road. One evening the man went berserk and beat his wife and child to death and then killed himself. The girl had a broken jaw, but she did not die immediately. In search of help, she managed to get to the road, where she fell dead, blood all over her pajamas.

Since then, on the winding corners of Studley Road in the woods, some drivers have seen the luminous figure of a little girl walking along the curb with her back to passing cars. Unsuspecting motorists, unaware of the creepy legend, stop to help a child in pajamas. The girl turns around and lets out an inhuman scream, showing her dangling bloody jaw to the stunned travelers. Sometimes she even tries to say something, but because of the blood flowing from her mouth, she manages to make only gurgling sounds.

5 Ghost Wagon

South Africa also has its own urban myths, and the most famous among them are the story of the Flying Dutchman and the ghostly fellow traveler from Uniondale. However, the most terrible legend originated here in 1887. Major Alfred Ellis told this terrible tale in his South African Sketches, and since then the legend has terrified all the locals.

Four men - Lutterodt, Serurier, Anthony de Heer (Lutterodt, Seururier, Anthony de Heer) and an unnamed visitor from Cape Town - boarded a wagon and set off on a joint trip from Ceres to Beaufort West (Ceres, Beaufort West). This area has long been famous for being haunted, which was even indicated on old South African maps. During the trip, one of the wheels of the wagon suddenly broke, and its repair lasted until 3 o'clock in the morning. The company returned to the road again, but their horse suddenly rebelled, froze in place and refused to go further.

Out of nowhere, the men heard the sound of another wagon approaching at high speed. When the travelers finally saw her, they realized that a team of 14 horses was rushing straight at them, whipped by the coachman with all his might. Frightened, Latterodt, Serurii and a stranger from the capital jumped out of their wagon, and de Heer grabbed the reins and managed to remove their transport from the road. An angry de Heer shouted at the hurrying coachman: “Where are you going?”, To which he replied: “To hell.” With these words, the wagon vanished into thin air, as if it had never existed.

Later, Lutterodt learned that anyone who dared to talk to the ghostly coachman ended up very badly. A week after this incident, de Heer's body was found at the bottom of a rocky gorge, and the wreckage of his wagon and the corpses of horses lay right there next to their master.

4. Blue baby


Photo: urbanlegendsonline.com

Like Bloody Mary, the Blue Baby is a legend associated with a mirror, but in the case of a little boy, there is also an insane mother who killed her child with a piece of that very mirror. Naturally, after the birth of a terrible story, there were also those who are trying to call on an innocent victim, nicknamed the blue child. The ritual for meeting the other world includes going to the bathroom at night. Make-up mirror needs to be fogged up so that you can write "blue baby" on it. The light at this time should be turned off, and the one who made the inscription should fold his hands as if a real child were lying on them. Belief says that the spirit of the boy will certainly appear in the hands of the person calling him. If for some reason you drop this baby on the floor, your mirror will break and you will die.

According to another version, the boy appears if you go into a dark bathroom, repeat “blue baby” 13 times, and all this time move your arms as if you were rocking a child. The ghost will not only make itself felt, but also scratch you. However, this time, do not be afraid to drop the baby, because escaping from the bathroom will be the best way to survive. They say that during such a seance, a distraught mother may appear in the mirror, and she will definitely want to kill you.

3. The woman who hanged herself on a delonix royal


Photo: abc.net.au

One of Australia's creepiest urban myths is the story of a young woman from the town of Darwin who was raped by a Japanese fisherman near East Point. When the girl realized that she was pregnant, she was horrified and hanged herself on the nearest tree, which turned out to be the royal delonix.

The restless spirit of the victim began to haunt all the men who appeared in East Point. The girl appeared in the form of an alluring figure in white. However, as soon as the man succumbed to the charms of the beauty, she turned into a terrible witch with long claws, tore her prey apart and ate the insides of unfortunate men.

The most intrepid adventurers can try to evoke a suicidal spirit by visiting the local park on a moonless night. Turn around yourself three times and call the woman by name. An eerie scream will notify you that the séance was a success. Although in this case it is better not to hesitate and run without looking back if you value your own guts.

2. Devil's toy box


Photo: thoughtcatalog.com

The Hellraiser series of mystical films is said to have been inspired by a terrifying urban legend buzzing across America. According to rumors in Louisiana (Louisiana, USA) there is a one-room house, the walls of which are covered with mirrors from the floor to the ceiling. The place got the creepy name "Devil's Toy Box", and according to the myth, if you enter this house and linger there for too long, the devil appears in the room and takes the unfortunate soul.

Specialists in the field of supernatural phenomena have found that the mirrors facing the inside of the house form a hexagon, and according to rumors, it is almost impossible to stay in this room for more than 5 minutes. One person stood there for more than 4 minutes and went out into the street completely dumb. Since then, he never spoke again. One woman in this room completely survived a cardiac arrest, and a teenager who entered the "devil's box" was hardly taken out of there - he screamed and fought like a madman. Two weeks later, the guy committed suicide.

1. Tsok-tsok


Photo: yokai.com

One terrible Japanese legend says that a few years after the Second World War in Hokkaido, American soldiers raped and beat a local girl. The scolded Japanese woman jumped off the bridge over the railroad tracks that same evening, and was immediately hit by a train. The unfortunate body was cut in half at the waist. The weather that evening was very frosty, and therefore the girl did not die immediately. Bleeding slowly, she (her upper half) crawled to the station, where a shocked station employee threw a piece of tarpaulin over the terrible remains. The suicide died in terrible agony.

According to Japanese legend, 3 days after you heard or read this sad story, the ghost of a young woman will find you, and you will know about her approach by a characteristic clatter. If you think that escaping a legless girl is easy, you are wrong, because she is able to move at a speed of 150 kilometers per hour. No wonder it's a ghost...

After the death of the suicide, she set herself the goal of capturing as many people as possible. The ghost chases its victims to cut them in half, and takes the lower part of the body for itself. The only way to avoid a terrible fate is to answer the monster's questions correctly. The girl will ask if you need your legs. The answer is that you need them right now. And if the ghost asks who told you this story, feel free to say: "Kashima Reiko (Kashima Reiko)".

Who doesn't love funny stories? When the world is in a state of turmoil, it's good to get a little distraction with fiction, movies, or video games. However, it is worth remembering that many fantastic stories were actually a reflection of very real events.

Even some myths and legends, oddly enough, turned out to be true, and in many cases the reality, quite provable by scientific means, managed to surpass fantastic stories.

In the south of France, there is an ancient Chauvet cave (Chauvet-Pont D "Arc), in which our ancestors lived 37 thousand years ago. At that time, mankind did not yet have advanced technologies and there were no highly developed civilizations. Ancient people were mostly nomads, hunters and gatherers who had just lost their close relatives and neighbors - the Neanderthals.

The walls of the Chauvet Cave are a real treasure trove for archaeologists and anthropologists. Pigmented prehistoric art that adorns the walls of the cave depicts an array of wildlife, from giant deer and bears to lions and even furry rhinos. These animals are surrounded by images of people's daily lives.

Because of the amazing rock art, Chauvet Cave is called the Cave of Forgotten Dreams.

In 1994, a rather unusual picture was discovered on one of the walls, similar to jets rising into the sky and overlapping images of animals.

For several decades, most scientists considered this an abstract image, which in itself is extremely unusual, because all the drawings in the cave basically depicted quite literal things.

Explanation

Asking the question: “what if a volcanic eruption is depicted on the cave wall?”, Scientists traced volcanic activity in the region during the creation of cave paintings.

It turned out that just 35 kilometers from Chauvet, the remains of a powerful eruption were discovered. Surely the eruption of a large volcano, which occurred in the immediate vicinity of the dwellings of people, led them to the idea that such an incident should be captured for future generations.

Residents of the Solomon Islands willingly share the legend of an ancient leader named Roraimenu, whose wife decided to secretly elope with another man and settle with him on the island of Teonimanu.

In anger, the chief sought out the curse and went to Theonimanu in his canoe, decorated with the image of the waves of the sea.

He brought three taro plants to the island, planted two on the island, and kept one with him. According to the rules of the curse, as soon as his plant starts to grow, the place where the other two were planted will disappear from the face of the earth.

The curse worked. Standing on top of a mountain, Roraimenu watched as a neighboring island was swallowed up by huge sea waves.

In real

Theonimanu Island really existed and really disappeared as a result of seismic activity. The only thing that scientists cannot say for sure is when exactly a strong earthquake destroyed the underwater foot of this volcanic island and forced it to sink under water.

The strong waves that the leader observed from the top of the mountain turned out to be not so much the cause of the disappearance of the island as the result.

At that time, the peninsula was not divided into two states and was home to a developed empire with excellent science.

That spring night in 1437, several astronomers recorded a noticeable flash in the dark sky. According to them, this outbreak did not go out for two weeks. Someone considered this phenomenon a divine sign, and someone - the birth of a new star.

scientific explanation

In 2017, a team of researchers solved the mystery. Scientists have linked this event with activity in the constellation Scorpio. It turned out that the flash did not indicate the birth of a star, but rather a death dance, in astronomy called Nova.

Nova is the result of the interaction of a white dwarf - the dead core of an ancient star and a companion star. The dense core of a dwarf steals its partner's hydrogen gas until it reaches a critical mass. After that, the dwarf collapses under the influence of gravity. It is this explosion that can be seen on the surface of the Earth.

The indigenous tribes have a rich oral tradition that passes the history of peoples from generation to generation. One such story has been passed down through 230 generations of the indigenous Australian Gugu Badhun tribe. This fascinating history is seven thousand years old and older than most of the world's civilizations.

An audio recording from the 1970s captured a tribal chief talking about a huge explosion that shook the earth and created a huge crater. Thick dust rose into the sky, and people who went into this darkness never returned. The air was unbearably hot, and the water in the rivers and seas boiled and burned.

The research team subsequently discovered the dormant but once strong Kirrara volcano in northeastern Australia. About seven thousand years ago, this volcano erupted, which could well be accompanied by the consequences described.

Initially, the Chinese dragon played the role of an antagonist in Japanese folklore. However, in the 18th century, this role was given to the giant sea catfish Namaz, a mythical monster of enormous size that lived in sea waters and was capable of causing strong earth tremors by simply flapping its tail on the bottom. Only the god Kashima could immobilize Namaza, but as soon as the god turned away, the catfish took up the old and shook the earth.

In 1855, Edo (today Tokyo) was almost completely destroyed by a magnitude 7 earthquake that killed 10,000 people. At that time, people blamed Namaza for the catastrophe.

In reality, the earthquake was caused by a sudden rupture along the junction of the Eurasian and Philippine tectonic plates. According to scientists, such an earthquake may happen again, but now we have scientific evidence of the causes of such disasters and it would never occur to anyone to blame the sea monster for the movement of tectonic plates.

Pele is the name of the Hawaiian goddess of volcanic fire. It is said that she chose Hawaii as a refuge from her older sister. She hid under each island until she found a place for herself in the depths of the main island, forming the Kilauea volcano.

This is why the legends say that Kilauea is the fiery heart of Hawaii. And this is scientifically confirmed: at least on the surface of the islands, Kilauea is the volcanic center of the archipelago.

The legend also says that Pele's tears and hair can often be found around the volcano. However, the presence of frozen "tears" and "hair" is easily explained by physics.

When lava cools rapidly, especially in water or cold air, it turns into volcanic glass. When lava cools while in motion, its splashes sometimes form tear-shaped droplets; in other cases, the jets solidify into thin glass tubes that look like hairs.

That is why people passing by an active volcano can easily find the petrified tears and hair of the ancient fiery goddess living in the depths of Kilauea.

Disputes between supporters of the theory of creationism and evolutionary theory do not subside to this day. However, unlike the theory of evolution, creationism includes not one, but hundreds of different theories (if not more).

The myth of Pan-gu

The Chinese have their own ideas about how the world came into being. The most popular myth can be called the myth of Pan-gu, a giant man. The plot is as follows: at the dawn of time, Heaven and Earth were so close to each other that they merged into a single black mass.
According to legend, this mass was an egg, and Pan-gu lived inside it, and he lived for a long time - many millions of years. But one day he got tired of such a life, and, waving a heavy ax, Pan-gu got out of his egg, splitting it into two parts. These parts later became Heaven and Earth. He was unimaginably tall - about fifty kilometers long, which, by the standards of the ancient Chinese, was the distance between Heaven and Earth.
Unfortunately for Pan-gu, and fortunately for us, the colossus was mortal and, like all mortals, died. And then Pan-gu decomposed. But not the way we do it. Pan-gu was decomposing really cool: his voice turned into thunder, his skin and bones became the firmament of the earth, and his head became Cosmos. So, his death gave life to our world.

Chernobog and Belobog

This is one of the most significant myths of the Slavs. He tells about the confrontation between Good and Evil - the White and Black gods. It all started like this: when there was only one solid sea around, Belobog decided to create land by sending his shadow - Chernobog - to do all the dirty work. Chernobog did everything as expected, however, having a selfish and proud nature, he did not want to share power over the firmament with Belobog, deciding to drown the latter.
Belobog got out of this situation, did not allow himself to be killed, and even blessed the land erected by Chernobog. However, with the advent of land, one small problem arose: its area grew exponentially, threatening to swallow everything around.
Then Belobog sent his delegation to Earth in order to find out from Chernobog how to stop this business. Well, Chernobog sat on a goat and went to negotiations. The delegates, seeing Chernobog galloping towards them on a goat, were imbued with the comedy of this spectacle and burst into wild laughter. Chernobog did not understand humor, was very offended and flatly refused to talk to them.
Meanwhile, Belobog, still wanting to save the Earth from dehydration, decided to spy on Chernobog, making a bee for this purpose. The insect coped with the task successfully and found out the secret, which was as follows: in order to stop the growth of land, it is necessary to draw a cross on it and say the cherished word - “enough”. What Belobog did.
To say that Chernobog was not happy is to say nothing. Wanting to take revenge, he cursed Belobog, and cursed him in a very original way: for his meanness, Belobog was now supposed to eat bee feces all his life. However, Belobog did not lose his head and made bee stools sweet like sugar, and this is how honey appeared. For some reason, the Slavs did not think about how people appeared ... The main thing is that there is honey.

Armenian duality

Armenian myths are reminiscent of Slavic ones and also tell us about the existence of two opposite principles - this time male and female. Unfortunately, the myth does not answer the question of how our world was created, it only explains how everything around is arranged. But that doesn't make it any less interesting.
So, here is a summary: Heaven and Earth are husband and wife separated by the ocean; The sky is a city, and the Earth is a piece of rock, which is held on its huge horns by an equally huge bull - when he shakes his horns, the earth bursts at the seams from earthquakes. That, in fact, is all - this is how the Armenians imagined the Earth.
There is also an alternative myth where the Earth is in the middle of the sea, and Leviathan swims around it, trying to grab onto its own tail, and constant earthquakes were also explained by its flopping. When Leviathan finally bites his own tail, life on Earth will end and the apocalypse will come. Have a nice day.

Norse myth of the ice giant

It would seem that there is nothing in common between the Chinese and the Scandinavians - but no, the Vikings also had their own giant - the origin of everything, only his name was Ymir, and he was icy and with a club. Before his appearance, the world was divided into Muspelheim and Niflheim - the realms of fire and ice, respectively. And between them stretched Ginnungagap, symbolizing absolute chaos, and there, from the merger of two opposite elements, Ymir was born.
And now closer to us, to the people. When Ymir began to sweat, a man and a woman emerged from his right armpit along with the sweat. It's strange, yes, we understand this - well, that's how they are, harsh Vikings, there's nothing to be done. But back to the point. The man's name was Buri, he had a son Bor, and Bor had three sons - Odin, Vili and Ve. The three brothers were gods and ruled Asgard. This seemed not enough to them, and they decided to kill Ymir's great-grandfather, making the world out of him.
Ymir was not happy, but no one asked him. In the process, he shed a lot of blood - enough to fill the seas and oceans with it; from the skull of the unfortunate brothers created the vault of heaven, they broke his bones, making mountains and cobblestones out of them, and they made clouds out of the torn brains of poor Ymir.
Odin and the company immediately decided to populate this new world: so they found two beautiful trees on the seashore - ash and alder, making a man out of ash, and a woman out of alder, thereby giving rise to the human race.

Greek myth of balloons

Like many other peoples, the ancient Greeks believed that before our world appeared, there was only continuous Chaos around. There was no sun, no moon - everything was dumped into one big heap, where things were inseparable from each other.
But then a certain god came, looked at the chaos reigning around, thought and decided that all this was not good, and set to work: he separated the cold from the heat, the foggy morning from the clear day, and all that sort of thing.
Then he set about the Earth, rolling it into a ball and dividing this ball into five parts: it was very hot at the equator, extremely cold at the poles, but between the poles and the equator - just right, you can’t imagine more comfortable. Further, from the seed of an unknown god, most likely Zeus, known to the Romans as Jupiter, the first man was created - two-faced and also in the shape of a ball.
And then they tore it in two, making a man and a woman out of it - the future of us.

One businessman applied to one of the local banks in New York with a request to provide him with a three-week loan in the amount of $1,000.

As collateral, he offered the bank his car, a sports Ferrari worth a quarter of a million ($250,000).

Who is stronger?

The parable of the ancient Greek sage Aesop.

The Sun and the Wind argued who is stronger, and the Wind said: “I will prove that I am stronger. Do you see the old man in the raincoat? I bet I can get him to take off his cape faster than you can."

The sun hid behind a cloud, and the wind began to blow harder and harder until it almost turned into a hurricane.

Leaving all the hard work on newcomers is the policy of many companies. Somewhere this rite is called probation, somewhere - hazing.

But almost everyone does it.

Jay Walter Thompson (JWT) was no exception.

A young manager, James Young, came to work for them. At the same time, a batch of apples came to the company, beaten by frost and covered with black spots. The fruits were intended to be sent to customers, but seeing the state they were in, the JWT management was horrified.

The managers puzzled over what to do with the apples. And they decided to entrust the implementation of apples to a beginner.

Once, already a millionaire, Henry Ford came to England on business. At the airport information desk, he inquired about any cheap hotel, as long as it was nearby.

The clerk looked at him - his face was famous. Newspapers often wrote about Ford. And here he is, wearing a raincoat that looks older than he is, asking about a cheap hotel. The clerk asked uncertainly:

If I'm not mistaken, are you Mr. Henry Ford?

You call shame on me in front of everyone:
I am an atheist, I am a drunkard, almost a thief!
I am ready to agree with your words.
But are you worthy of judgment?
(Omar Khayyam)

One person began to publicly insult Omar Khayyam:

- You are an atheist! You are a drunk! You are mediocre!

In response, Khayyam only smiled and said loudly:

- I am ready to agree with your words ... provided that you yourself are a worthy person.

And he turned to those around him:

- Do you agree to call this person worthy?

- Not! - said the people around. - If it was a worthy person, he would not speak badly about other people.

In one city they held a competition for the best artist.

And, in the end, the jury chose the two best. But the judges could not decide which of the artists was the best. Then they turned to the Sage for advice.

The sage addressed the finalists with a question:

– How many shortcomings do you see in your paintings.

One artist said:

- If I saw a flaw in the picture, I would immediately correct it. This picture is flawless.

Modern legend.

Mark Zuckerberg reveals that he has been in talks for a long time to merge Facebook and WhatsApp. And the negotiations didn't work.

For reference. WhatsApp appeared in 2009. It was founded by Jan Koum and Brian Acton. In 2014, when WhatsApp had 400 million monthly active users, Facebook wanted to take over WhatsApp. Both WhatsApp and Facebook were to benefit from this merger.

Mark Zuckerberg invited Jan Koum to his home to once again discuss the terms of the acquisition of WhatsApp.

Philosophical parable.

What kind of people live in this city?

It was a long time ago. But this story is still alive.

One gray-haired man was sitting near an oasis, at the entrance to an eastern city. A young man approached the old man and asked:

– I have never been here. Tell me, Old Man, what kind of people live in this city?

The old man answered him with a question:

What kind of people were in that city? The one you left?
“They were selfish and evil people. However, that is why I gladly left there!
- Well. You're out of luck. And here you will meet exactly the same people, - the old man answered him.
Well, I'm going to look at the city.

After a while, another person approached the place and asked the same question:

The most common legend about Narcissus,
although there are other legends….

There lived a handsome young man named Narcissus.

He was the son of the river god Kefiss. The nymph Echo, captivated by his beauty, suffered severely from unrequited love. In the end, Echo went to the mountains and died there, leaving her voice.

It just so happened that the heart of the young man did not reciprocate.

As punishment, Nemesis prophesied that Narcissus would one day experience an all-consuming feeling of unrequited love.

And soon the prophecy came true: on a hot day, the young man bent over the stream to quench his thirst and, seeing his own reflection in the mirror surface of the water, froze.

Narcissus was fascinated, in love with unconsciousness.

He did not sleep, did not eat, only admired himself until he died. In the place where the soul left the body, a beautiful lone flower with a drooping head grew.

Video Legend of Narcissus.

/ Legend of Narcissus / Narcissus, the legend /

There was a woman walking along the road, beautiful as a fairy. Suddenly she noticed that a young man was following her. She turned around and asked:

“Tell me, why are you following me?”

The guy replied:

“Oh, mistress of my heart, your charms are so irresistible that they command me to follow you. I want to express my love to you, because you captured my heart.

The girl silently looked at the young man for a while, and then said:

There lived a wise man. Everyone loved him. But, as always, there was a young man who wanted to test his wisdom. He persuaded his friends to teach the old man a lesson.

The sage sat near his house and thought about something. Suddenly, young people approached and they began to tease and even insult the person, trying to piss him off.

And again about the main thing - about mutual understanding.
Someone once (whether it was John Gray with his helpful relationship books, or someone before him) came up with the idea that Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus. Everyone has heard about it, but no one takes it seriously. An intricate invention - nothing more. Artifice. But after all, like any good metaphor, it can help to better understand and see what we sometimes forget. And it's good when someone appears who will remind you of this.
🙂

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We are sure that many of you still believe in unicorns. It seems wonderful to imagine that they still exist somewhere, and we just haven't found them yet. However, even the myth of such a magical creature has a very prosaic and even somewhat frightening explanation.

If it seems to you that website is very skeptical and no longer believes in magic, then at the end of the article a real miracle awaits you!

great flood

Scientists believe that the legend of the Great Flood was based on the memory of major flood, the epicenter of which was Mesopotamia. At the beginning of the last century, during the excavations of the tombs of Ur, a layer of clay was found that separated two cultural layers. Only a catastrophic flood of the Tigris and Euphrates could lead to the appearance of such a phenomenon.

According to other estimates, for 10-15 thousand years BC. e. an incredible flood happened in the Caspian, which spilled over an area of ​​​​about 1 million square meters. km. The version was confirmed after scientists found sea shells in Western Siberia, the closest distribution area of ​​\u200b\u200bwhich is in the zone of the Caspian Sea. This flood was so powerful that there was a huge waterfall in the place of the Bosphorus, through which approximately 40 cubic meters were poured per day. km of water (200 times the volume of water passing through Niagara Falls). The flow of such power was at least for 300 days.

This version seems insane, but in this case, it is by no means possible to accuse the ancient people of exaggerating events!

Giants

In modern Ireland, legends are still told about gigantic people who can create an island by simply throwing a handful of earth into the sea. Endocrinologist Martha Korbonitz came up with the idea that ancient legends might have a scientific basis. Incredibly, the researchers found what they were looking for. Huge number of Irish people have mutations in the AIP gene. It was these mutations that caused the development of acromegaly and gigantism. If in the UK the carrier of the mutation is 1 per 2,000 people, then in the province of Mid-Ulster - every 150th.

One of the famous Irish giants was Charles Byrne (1761-1783), his height was over 230 cm.

Legends, of course, endow the giants with great power, but in reality, not everything is so rosy. People with acromegaly and gigantism often suffer from cardiovascular disease, vision problems and frequent joint pain. Without treatment, many giants may not live past the age of 30.

Werewolves

The legend of werewolves has several origins. Firstly, The life of people has always been connected with the forest. Rock carvings of hybrids of people and animals have come down to us from the deepest antiquity. People wanted to be stronger, they chose a totem animal and wore its skin. On the basis of these beliefs, narcotic drugs also worked, which the soldiers took before the battle and imagined themselves as invincible wolves.

Secondly, belief in the existence of werewolves was also supported by the presence in people of such a genetic disease as hypertrichosis- profuse growth of hair on the body and face, which was called the "werewolf syndrome". Only in 1963 did the doctor Lee Illis give the disease a medical justification. In addition to the genetic disease, there was also a mental disease, known as lycanthropy, during the attacks of which people lose their minds and lose their human qualities, considering themselves wolves. In addition, there is an exacerbation of the disease in certain lunar phases.

By the way, the wolf from the world famous Little Red Riding Hood, according to, was none other than a werewolf. And he didn’t eat his grandmother, but fed his granddaughter.

Vampires

The theory about the connection between the bones of dinosaurs and dragons is confirmed in Mongolia. There, in various geographical names, the word "dragon" is present. This is due to the fact that in some areas of the Gobi Desert, dinosaur bones can be easily found by anyone, because they lie on the surface of the earth's layers. There are many of them even now, so much so that all the time excavations are carried out illegally.
An important detail: there are no such myths in Africa, as well as access to the remains of dinosaurs.

However, why do dragons appear in the human mind as reptiles, with scales and claws? This question is explained by the observation of people. The appearance of the skeleton is similar to the bones of modern lizards., snakes, crocodiles. They enlarged these animals many times - and the result was a dragon. And by the way, it is lizards and snakes that sometimes form not one, but two heads, just like some fairy-tale dragons.

centaurs

The image of the centaur was known as early as the 2nd millennium BC. e. Presumably it originated in Greece as a figment of the imagination of representatives of civilized peoples who did not yet know horse riding, who first encountered horse riders of some northern nomadic tribes: Scythians, Kassites or Taurians. This explains the ferocious disposition of the centaurs. The nomads really lived in the saddle, skillfully shot from the bow and galloped very quickly. The exaggerated fear of the farmer, who for the first time saw a man who rode so skillfully in the saddle, could well turn into a story about a hybrid of a man and a horse.

According to ancient Greek legend, under the palace of King Minos there was a huge labyrinth in which a formidable monster, half-bull-half-human Minotaur, was imprisoned. The thirst for blood torments the monster so much that its roar shakes the earth.

The island of Crete, where the monster lived, is very interesting for its seismic activity. Part of the island is on a continent called aegean plate, and the other part is oceanic Nubian Plate, which moves directly under the island. This geological phenomenon is called a subduction zone. It is in these areas that there is an increased risk of earthquakes. In Crete, the situation is aggravated by the fact that the African plate is pressing on the oceanic Nubian plate (and you can imagine how huge it is), and a phenomenal thing happens: under the interaction of the plates, the island is simply pushed to the surface. Since the dawn of civilization, Crete has experienced several such climbs, some of them up to 9 meters. It is not surprising that it seemed to ancient people that a furious monster lives in the depths, because every earthquake was accompanied by terrible destruction.

Cyclops

In ancient Greek mythology, the cyclops are groups of characters, in different versions they are divine beings (children of Gaia and Uranus) or a separate people. The most prominent representative was Poseidon's son Polyphemus, whom Odysseus deprived of his only eye. The Scythian people of the Arimaspians were also considered one-eyed.

As for the scientific substantiation of these myths, in 1914 the paleontologist Otenio Abel suggested that the finds in antiquity of the skulls of pygmy elephants caused the birth of the myth of the Cyclopes, since the central nasal opening is easily mistaken for a giant eye socket. It is curious that these elephants were found precisely on the Mediterranean islands of Cyprus, Malta, Crete.

Sodom and Gomorrah

We don't know about you, but we always thought that Sodom and Gomorrah is a very large-scale myth and more like a personification of vicious cities. However, this is quite a historical fact.

Excavations of the ancient city have been under way for a decade in Tell el-Hammam, Jordan. Archaeologists are sure they have found the biblical Sodom. The approximate location of the city was always known - the Bible described the "Sodom pentagon" in the Jordan Valley. However, its exact location has always raised questions.

In 2006, excavations began, and scientists found a large ancient settlement surrounded by a powerful rampart. According to researchers, people lived here between 3500 and 1540 BC. e. There is no other option for the name of the city, otherwise the mention of such a large settlement would have remained in written sources.

kraken

The kraken is a legendary mythical sea monster of gigantic proportions, a cephalopod known from the descriptions of sailors. The first extensive description was made by Eric Pontoppidan - he wrote that the kraken is an animal "the size of a floating island." According to him, the monster is able to grab a large ship with its tentacles and drag it to the bottom, but the whirlpool that occurs when the kraken quickly sinks to the bottom is much more dangerous. It turns out that a sad end is inevitable - both in the case when the monster attacks, and when it runs away from you. Really creepy!

The rationale for the myth of the "creepy monster" is simple: giant squids still exist today and reach 16 meters in length.

When it comes to unicorns, we are immediately presented with a graceful creature with a rainbow horn in its forehead. Interestingly, they are found in the legends and myths of many cultures. The very first images were found in India and are over 4,000 years old. Later, the myth spread across the continent and reached Ancient Rome, where they were considered absolutely real animals.

The main "candidate" for the role of the prototype of the unicorn are elasmotheria - rhinos of the Eurasian steppes that lived during the Ice Age. Elasmotherium was somewhat horse-like (albeit at a stretch) with an extremely long horn in its forehead. It became extinct at the same time as the main megafauna. However, according to the materials of the Swedish Encyclopedia and the arguments of the researcher Willy Ley, individual representatives could have existed for quite a long time to have time to get into the legends.

Bonus: Moses trail

Surely each of us has heard about the plot from the Bible, which tells how the sea parted before Moses. But few people know that such a phenomenon can be seen near the island of Jindo in South Korea. Here the waters between the islands part for an hour, opening a wide and long road! Scientists explain this miracle by the difference in the time of ebb and flow.

Of course, many tourists come there - in addition to simple walks, they have the opportunity to see the marine inhabitants who remained on the open land. The amazing thing about Moses' Path is that it leads from the mainland to the island.