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Once upon a time, there was an old woman who lived in a quiet village by a wide river that flowed into a large lake on the edge of a deep forest, above which a beautiful mountain shone in all its beauty. She had spent her life collecting herbs and helping everyone who came to her humble hut.

While gathering herbs again early one morning, she suddenly heard a happy laugh. She looked around in all directions, but could not see a single soul. The laughter resembled the light-filled sound of a bell. All at once, this sound was mixed with a very soft and loving voice. She turned to the voice. With wonder, she spied a tall, white-shimmering birch, which spoke to her. Never before had a tree done so.

«Go down to the river in the direction from which the sun shines, and you will see.»

Однажды в тихой деревне у широкой реки, впадающей в большое озеро, на опушке дремучего леса, рядом с которым во всей своей красе сияла чудесная гора, жила старушка. Она всю жизнь собирала травы и помогала всем, кто приходил в её скромную хижину.

Однажды рано утром, когда она снова собирала травы, она вдруг услышала радостный смех. Старушка огляделась вокруг, но никого не увидела. Между тем, смех напоминал легкий звук колокольчика. Внезапно к этому звуку добавился очень мягкий и любящий голос. Она повернулась на голос. С удивлением она узнала высокую белую мерцающую березу, которая с ней говорила. Никогда раньше дерево не разговаривало с ней.

«Спустись к речке в том направлении, откуда светит солнце, и ты увидишь.»

The old woman picked up her basket, half-filled with various herbs, and walked through trees and bushes and across a flowery meadow down to the river.

There, in a circle of twelve large water lilies on the river, she saw a cradle in which a child was lying, looking up at the sky and laughing with joy at the sun. A white dove appeared above the head of the cradle, stopped in the air and fluttered on the spot. The voice of the slender birch tree sounded from the forest: «This child was sent to you. Take him home and into your heart as if he were your own.»

Старушка взяла свою корзину, наполовину заполненную различными травами, и направилась между деревьями и кустарниками через цветочный луг вниз к речке.

На речке она увидела колыбель в кругу двенадцати больших водяных лилий, в которой лежал ребенок, смотрящий в небо и радостно улыбающийся солнцу. Над колыбелью появился белый голубь, остановился в воздухе и порхал на месте. И тут из леса вновь донёсся голос той стройной берёзки: "Это дитя послано тебе. Возьми его к себе домой и прими в своё сердце так, как будто это дитя твоё".

The old woman waded into the water, gently lifted the child out of the cradle and put him in her basket on the bed of fragrant herbs. Then she set off with the child back through the forest to her cozy hut.

Day in, day out, from early morning until late evening, she now lovingly cared for this sunny being. The child grew up as a happy and strong boy. The old woman was like a grandmother to him, and he affectionately called her «Nonna», which means «grandma». She did everything to ensure her sun being was always well and had no worries. She named him «Solis» after the sun he was beaming at when they first met. She brought him heaven on earth with her love and care.