Legend about Time man and his lantern
Do you know why the lantern is the symbol of Cesis? A lot of time has passed, maybe something new has been added or some information is lost – it happens so going through centuries.
In ancient times, when Cesis where surrounded by high stone walls and the only entrance was a big iron gate, there lived a man. He was very quiet and unnoticed, but he honored and loved his job. People saw him very rarely, but more heard about him. When citizens whet to sleep, the man went outside in the city streets with his trustful attendants – stick and always shining lantern.
And so it was from the beginning. Nobody asked about the man’s age and status. People were safe and calm.
But one evening, when the city was wrapped into a deep fog, people, who were met in the streets, seemed that the man’s lantern is not bright enough. It has always been shining very brightly, but today the light was very weak.
A night came. Everything was quiet, there were no key bundle jingles, no voices. A morning fog disappeared and people noticed that the man was lost. They searched everywhere and spoke this and that about him, but didn’t find a certain solution. They remembered only that weak lantern.
New lantern carriers and citizen dream guardians came. How many – there are no certain information. Times changed, war tragedies came, and strange troops robed the city. Citizens rebuilt it from new, but didn’t build towers and walls. They continued to live without closed gate and only a few persons remembered about the night watch and his step sound, key jingle and his silent repeating words “everything is ok...”
If you someday in the streets of Cesis will meet a man with a stick and a lantern, don’t forget to shine his lantern’s glass, so that the light would always show a safe way and not only for the man but also for your good thoughts, dreams and jobs...
translation Ieva Lapsina
translation Ieva Lapsina
Polish pupils visiting Cesis Castle with traditional lanterns
