Where amber comes from

Early in our marriage, in 1978 I believe, Vaiva began teaching Lithuanian History and Culture at Sacred Heart University in Bridgeport, CT.  This was an evening course, and as such many of the students were middle-aged adults of  Lithuanian heritage, looking to reconnect to their  roots. 

Down the hall, I was a student, taking a night class in the Lithuanian language from Professor Zukauskas.  We had about 20  students, and we studied with him  for two years.  I picked up a bit of vocabulary, but I never became fluent.  I never got to be Vaiva's student.

Through these classes we became well-acquainted with Bridgeport's Lithuanian-American community.

Interesting footnote.  The President of Sacred Heart held a fundraiser for George H. W. Bush, then running for President against Ronald Reagan, at the University.  We were invited to his press event, which was fascinating for me.  That's when Bush senior was excoriating Reagan's "voo-doo" economics, and I heard him say it in person.  History shows the so-called "voo-doo" brought the longest-running peacetime expansion of the U.S. economy ever.

These memories were brought to mind this  morning because Pat Illingworth sent the poem "Jurate and Kastytis," by Maironis.  This work was in Vaiva's curriculum, and she was an avid student of Lithuanian literature and poetry.  In the poem, Jurate is a sea goddess who lives  in an undersea amber castle. She falls in love with a mortal, Kastytis.  The father-god, Perkunas, is outraged, and destroys the castle with a thunderbolt.

As a consequence, bits of the  castle wash ashore all along Lithuania's coastline.  Here is the poem (click on "more" to read all of it).

Poems by Maironis
(1862 – 1932)

JŪRATĖ AND KASTYTIS

The sun is sinking in the west,
Turn back, Kastytis, in a hurry!
Your dear old mother finds no rest,
She will be wearing down with worry
Until she sees your flapping sails
Approaching on the foaming waves.

But Kastytis
Will not listen!
He's astounded by sea treasures.
Though the blushing sun is setting,
Playful fish he keeps on netting,
Musing over youthful pleasures.

The stars on high serenely shine.
The waters slowly surge and splatter.
But – lo! – emerging from the brine
Appears the beautiful Jūratė:
As white as foam, lit up with gleam,
Below her waist all clad in green.



"Hey, Kastytis,
Fellow sweetest,
Don't you think you are immodest?
Why do you at night again
Cast your nets in my domain?
I'm Jūratė, a sea-goddess."

Yet for the goddess to admire
The lad was far from turning coward:
His beaming eyes kept flashing fire,
His figure radiated power;
He caught his breath, then took an oar
And steered his small boat straight to her.

When she took
A better look
At this giant, young and smart,
She forgot her innocence
And divine magnificence,
Fell in love with all her heart.

A wrecking wind began to blow.
The heavens rose in indignation
And burst upon the sea below,
When conquered by the sweet temptation
Jūratė rushed to his embrace
And softly touched Kastytis' face.

He's excited
And delighted
Living in the world of wonder
With Jūratė by his side
Sweetly kissing his blue eyes
In the palace of bright amber.

On seeing this from high above
The mighty Thunder was offended:
How dare a mortal fall in love
And touch the goddess, pure and tender!
The amber palace in a flash
Was by a streak of lightning smashed.

And Kastytis,
Fellow sweetest,
While the thunderstorm was dying,
Kissed and fondled by the wave
Lifeless came to land again –
To the beach where pines were sighing.

Just listen sometimes late at night
When restless waves grow sad and sombre
And from the seabed out of sight
They strew the shore with bits of amber;
Deep in the heavy mist and foam
You're sure to hear a sobbing moan.

All this moaning,
All this groaning
Is Jūratė's lamentation
For Kastytis, her sweet lover,
And her palace lost forever,
Ruined by the god's damnation.

The Lithuanian girl today
Wishing her boy to stare with wonder
Likes sometimes in her charming way
To deck herself with beads of amber.
But when a song of love she sings,
As sad as a lament it rings.

When concealing
Her sweet feeling
She can find no word to utter,
Yet she loves with deep emotion,
Sometimes stormy as an ocean,
Like the legendized Jūratė.

Translated by Lionginas Pažūsis