Long ago, there was a young man who saw strange things through one eye. He couldn’t be sure whether they were
real or not. Among his visions was that of a maiden pleading for help in a dark
cave, and it always troubled him. He finally came upon a wise old man and asked
if he could explain anything; the old man told him that he had a troll splinter
in his eye. In the days of old, trolls roamed the lands during nighttime, and
they all had splinters in their eyes that caused them to see everything in a distortional
manner, confusing what was foul for fair things. When the legendary day came in
which numerous trolls turned to stone after a brave lad tricked them into seeing
the sunlight, the splinters were scattered far and wide, and some settled into
people’s own eyes. Our hero was now confused, for though now he understood
things better, still he was troubled about the vision of the maiden.
One day a wandering boy arrived to the village, claiming
he was searching for his twin sister, who had been captured by a troll. When the
young man saw him, he realized that the girl in his visions was this boy’s
sister, due to the striking resemblance. He offered the boy his help, revealing why.
They set off together to the mountains, using the splinter visions for clues,
until they reached the troll cave and managed to get inside through cracks in
the stone. After much cautious searching, trying to venture unseen, they found
the boy’s sister. However, the troll had scented them and began to track them
down. Our hero used his wit to lure the troll outside, taking advantage of this
for the three of them to escape, and the troll immediately burst into stone. The
trio celebrated, and got in the cave to take with them some of the treasures. They
returned to the village with the good news and encouraged the people to take
the remaining riches in the empty cave. Soon after the twins returned home, and
their family rejoiced and set up a celebration. But as the night lights shone
upon the swirling colors of the party dresses, the two brothers were puzzled to
see now and then that there were ugly, tasteless decorations put up.
