3 minute read
Pitch Perfect: Duhallow Youth and Public Speaking
By NOLLAIG MURPHY Development Officer, IRD Duhallow
In 2024 IRD Duhallow’s Youth and Education Working Group organized a series of SICAP funded public speaking workshops for National School pupils. During these workshops local children spoke in relation to places, people and topics that were of specific interest to them. In this issue we are delighted to present a speech which was delivered by Ivan Palchak, who attends Newmarket Boys National School.
The Legend of Ayu-Dag
By IVAN PALCHAK, Newmarket Boys N.S.
Have you ever heard a Ukrainian legend? Whatever the answer is I’m about to tell you one, so get ready.
Good afternoon, my name is Ivan Palchak and today I will tell you a Ukrainian legend about a mountain from peninsula called Crimea. The legend says that a mountain by the sea was once an actual bear. A long time ago only wild animals lived in the mountains of Crimea. The most gruesome one was a big, old bear. One day the bear saw a wrecked ship near the shore and on a wooden plank there was a little girl.
The animal spared the girl and saved her. The bear started taking care of the girl and loved her as his own daughter. He could listen to her singing all day long, such a beautiful voice she had. Once the girl was having a walk by the shore and she saw a kayak-like boat. There was a handsome young man inside that boat.
The man had no energy in his body because of hunger and thirst. As the girl was very kind she helped the man. After that day they were always together since they had fallen in love. The man was telling stories about his country and the girl sang to him.
They loved each other so much that they decided to escape. They fixed the boat and started to move away from the shore.
When the bear couldn’t find the girl he looked at the sea and understood everything. It made him very angry. He came to the sea and started drinking from it. That way he wanted to suck the boat with the girl back to the shore. But the girl saw what the bear is doing and started singing to him.
The beautiful song melted the old bear’s heart and he let the boat go.
Some people think the bear drank so much water that he couldn’t stand up. Others think the bear was lying there and waiting for the girl to come back for so long that he turned into stone and now we call him the mountain AyuDag.
This is one of my favorite Ukrainian legends. Hope you liked it too. Thank you and good bye!
