Legend
The Devil's wife's loom, Jaanikeste
Vanakurja naise kangastelg Jaanikestel
In the high bank of the Võhandu river by Jaanikeste village there is a cave that locals called the evil cave. A woman from the village said in the 1930s that the Old Devil's wife sat inside weaving cloth on an iron loom. Once a herd boy heard the clatter and threw a stone in, which landed among her warp threads. She came out ready to eat him, but because he was an orphan she let him go with a sound scolding. A similar Räpina tale from 1895 adds that her iron loom beams were said to lie in the cave still.
Open it on the map See the spot on the old maps and as it is today
Eesti keeles
Jaanikeste küla juures Võhandu jõe kõrges kaldas on koobas, mida kohalikud kutsusid kurjaks koopaks. Üks küla naine rääkis 1930. aastatel, et seal kudunud Vanakurja naine raudpooltel kangast. Kord kuulnud karjapoiss kudumist ja visanud kiviga, mis sattus kanga lõimede vahele. Naine tuli välja ja tahtis poisi ära süüa, kuid et too oli vaeslaps, jättis ta poisi ellu ja noomis teda vaid tublisti. Sarnane Räpina lugu 1895. aastast lisab, et tema raudsed kangatelgede pakud olevat koopas tänini alles.
Source: After the Estonian Folklore Archives (ERA II 246, 137; E 18167/8), via folklore.ee ↗