The Stone Mushrooms near Perperikon
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There are some stone formations appearing as mushrooms, about three meters in height, near the Bulgarian village of
Beli Plast. The local people call them ìmantarnayaî (stone mushrooms). They
formed thousands of years ago. An old legend about this wonderful place is
told. It was a cool autumn morning. The sun had just risen. Laughter was
heard from the stone towers of the fortress of Perpericon. The four
daughters of the charcoal-burner Radoun started for the well beyond the
walls of the fortress with buckets. On the way, one of them named Gyusha shouted: "Oh, my God!"
She had seen a large army coming from the forest. Panic overtook
the fortress. The fight began. The siege lasted a whole week. But the few
brave people in the fortress were defeated by slyness. Traitors opened the
gates of the stronghold and the invaders went in. They started killing
everybody and burning everything. People tried to escape to save their
lives.
The most beautiful women were captured including the four lasses. The leader
of the army sat on a white Arabian horse and watched the women. He thought
how many to keep for himself and how many to sell in Odrin. They watched him
with hatred although they were hungry and powerless. Gyusha told the others
to throw stones at the leader And soon he was killed. The women rushed
towards a monastery. One of the invading army, named Omur followed them on his horse. In
the evening he found them. He cut down Gyushaís head with his sword. And the
miracle happened ... she was turned into a beautiful stone mushroom. The same
thing happened with the other three girls. Omur was frightened. He tried to
escape but at the same moment he turned into a big black rock.
The old people say early in the morning one can see tears dripping
from the mushrooms ... the tears of the pertified lasses.
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