The name represents the patch of woods in the northern part of the country, near Škofja Loka. It lies on a hill called Zaplata. You can see the little forest on a picture below:
As the legend has it, long time ago, two farmers were having an argument about ownership of a forest that lied between their properties. Each argued that they inherited the forest after their deceased father. As they couldn't resolve the argument, they went to Škofja Loka's castle, letting castle's judge decide who the forest belongs to. The lord has questioned both over and over again and, eventually, lost his nerves as both kept telling the same story. He yelled at them "How can I know who the forest belongs to, if you are both telling me the same story! You're fathers are burried for a long time now and they are the only ones who could solve the argument! But you know what? Lets make it a bet. The one that will curse the most, is the one I will believe to!".
Then, the first farmer cursed "The devil himself should take the forest, if it is not really mine!" and the other went a step further, saying "The devil himself should take the forest and take it to the top of the Grintovec (the highest local mountain) if it is not really mine!"
After he heard them both, the judge laughed and said "If that is how it is, let the devil solve your argument, as a man, that would want to solve it, would have to be mad!"
It has happened, as the farmers wanted. The devil himself has resolved their dispute. In the middle of the night, he came to get the forest, put it on his hump and carried the forest up the hill, limping towards the Grintovec.
He was walking and walking, and when he was climbing Zaplata, a bell from a close by church of saint Jacob started tolling at the dawn of the new day. At this moment, the creature from hell has lost all his power. He has dropped the load and ran away fast, so he wouldn't get blinded by the sun.
After all this years, the little patch of forest remains where the devil has dropped it.
I've decided to post this short tale as I figured some of you might be interested in it. I've got reminded of it while I was making trees for my Strange Aeons games. I've figured how cool it would be to game on a table full of dead trees, where evil cultists preform unhumanly rituals to try and please the gods that lurk in the eternal cosmos..and then I've remembered, I actually know a place like that! Plus, the story lets me talk about my country a bit...it is a small country and we, Slovenians, are always happy to let the world know we exist!
Mathyoo
