In olden times people lived in much closer contact with nature than nowadays. Sometimes, when people were out in the wood hunting or collecting firewood they would come face to face with a bear, a wolf or a lynx. In the struggle to overcome these predators it was necessary to understand their habits and learn about the places where they lived. And for this reason our ancestors observed woodland life very carefully so as to fathom its secrets.
When we read these Latvian folktales which have come down to us through centuries we see that their authors were remarkably observant and imaginative. They turned the forest into a fairytale kingdom of its own whose inhabitants live an ordinary, everyday life full of cares, just like people. They bring up their children, they quarrel with their neighbours or, on the contrary, get along very well with them, they help each other and they get their daily bread either by honest toil or by cunning. The creatures of the forest have the vices and virtues characteristic of society at the time, fully with the habits of each animal.