The story of the bell of the Church of Šiauliai

The Church of Šiauliai had two large bells – two fellows named Jonas and Kundrotas. Once upon a time, the Swedes attempted to take the bells away. They carried the bell Jonas across a frozen lake. The ice cracked and the bell sank. But when the bell that remained in the church rang, people heard a wail: ‘Jonas, Jonas, Jonas…’ From the depths of the lake, the other bell would rebound in a hollow voice: ‘Kundrot, Kundrot, Kundrot…’ One night the rector dreamt that a solemn procession with all the ecclesiastical rites had to be held to make the sunken bell float to the shores of the lake. So all the priests went outside wearing their ecclesiastical clothing, holding crosses and candles, and waited for the bell to resurface. Soon the bell rose from the water and appeared to the people, but sank right away for the second time. It turns out that the procession had brought almost every necessity, except for the candle snuffer, which had slipped through their minds. The divers soon went into the water to inspect the bell and saw, to their biggest surprise, that a serpent had tied himself around the clapper of the bell and was preventing the bell from being lifted.