Once upon a time the goddess Jurate lived under the Batlic Sea in a beautiful amber castle. She ruled the sea and all the sea-life. The local people lived in harmony with her so she let them to catch fish from her sea. Nobody went fishing before they had sacrificed some bread to Jurate. As a reward they came back with nets full of salmon and mackerel. A young fisherman named Kastytis did not respect the divine law and mermaids reported the fact to the goddess so Jurate decided to punish him. However, as soon as she came up to the surface she fell in love with his curly locks and eyes like golden amber. The young fisherman also fell in love with the beautiful goddess so Jurate invited Kastytis to her palace. Thanks to magic they were supposed to live forever young and happy. They spent some happy time in the castle , but Neptune, Jurate’s father, the god of fresh water and the sea, found out that an immortal goddess had fallen in love with a mortal man who was just a poor fisherman. He became furious and decided to destroy the castle. Neptune struck the amber castle and it exploded into millions of pieces. Kastytis did not survive and Jurate has mourned him to this day at the sea-bottom. According to the legend, her tear drops are amber pieces washed ashore after the storm on the Baltic Sea. |