The caption reads: He asked the Era where he had hidden the thief. The tale: A Turk told his wife to wait while he took the horse for water. An Era tells the wife he is from the Afterlife. The wife asks about her dead son. The Era says the son needs money. The Turk chases the Era, who had run into a mill and forced the miller out. The Turk enters the mill, thinks the guy is the miller and tells him his tale (seen here). The Turk chases the real miller and threatens him. He realizes the Era has tricked him, returns to his wife, who gave the horse to the Era for her son in the Afterlife.


The caption for this illustration reads: He asked the Era where he had hidden the thief. Era is a name given to the peasants of the district of Ouzitze in Western Serbia. Era are said to be very witty and shrewd. According to the tale: A Turkish man and his wife were traveling and the Turk stopped and told his wife to wait for him while he took the horse to get water. While he was away an Era approached the wife and said he was from the Afterlife. The wife asked about her dead son, and the Era said he knew him well and that he could use some money there. The wife gave the Era money. The Turk returned, angered that his wife had been tricked, and chased the era, who had run into a mill and forced the miller out. The Turk entered the mill, thinks the guy there is the miller and tells him his tale (seen here). The Turk, with his sabre, then chases the real miller, finds him, and threatens him. He soon realizes the Era has tricked him as well, returns to his wife, who no longer has a horse as she gave it to the Era so her son could get around in the illustration is from a 1921 book on Serbian myths and legends.


Size: 3532px × 5100px
Photo credit: © Ivy Close Images / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No

Keywords: era, folktale, legend, men, myth, mythology, ouzitze, saber, sabre, serb, serbia, serbian, serbs, sword, tale, turk, western