I've been carving pumpkins with unusually intricate designs for several decades now, and thought that a web site would
be a good way to distribute pictures of them.
This 23 pound pumpkin illustrates a Russian folk tale. In my version, the Tzar has fallen in love with
a Gypsy girl, and insists she marry him. She says she's sorry, but he's too old for her. He responds
that, though he looks old, his heart is actually very young. She then tells him that, among her people, it
is said that immersing one's self in hot mare's milk for five minutes will allow a person's face to look as young as
his heart. The Tzar, delighted at the chance to show his youth, orders a cauldron to be set up in the square, filled
with mare's milk, and heated. He leaps in, and holds his breath under the surface until the man at the left (who is
secretly the girl's lover) signals to the Tzar to come up by beating a large spoon against the cauldron. The
Tzar emerges triumphant -- but then sees he face (unchanged, of course!) in the mirror the girl is holding, and is crestfallen.
"I had no idea my heart was so old! Go, you may marry whomever you wish!"
The theme of this pumpkin was inspired by the show presented by the Washington Revels in December of 2003, entitled
"Roads of the Rom," concerning the travels of the people that have been called "Gypsies." In 2005, Revels presented
a show with a Scandinavian theme -- and I've posted appropriate pumpkins on two other tabs (Kalevala and Beowulf)
Click on the link, read about the show, and then get ready to buy tickets for next year's show!
www.revelsdc.org
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