How the Cuckoo Got its Song

1989-1990, tempera, aquarelle on paper, 27,5x19,5 cm /// Karlis Dobrajs (1943) is one of the classics of Latvian painting. The series of drawings have been commissioned for the book “Windy Accipiter” (“Vēja vanadziņš”, 1993). It compiles a selection of artistic designs of Latvian legends and tales with a visually represented narrative of the story itself. The folktale of how the cuckoo and its song came about is a story of a young girl named Dzeguze (Cockoo in Latvian). She was very beautiful but not the sharpest tool in the box. Her mother arranged the wedding, but when the fiancée came to meet her, she ran around and sang. Her fiancée said he would not marry her, so Dzeguze became a bird out of grief and flew away.