After the great success of last year’s mermaid costume, I have decided to take the festivities seriously again this Hallowe’en. I had picked a costume a long time ago, and have kind of started collecting material for it. By collecting I may or may not mean buying expensive boots on amazon because they fit into my costume.
As I have been emotionally intimidated by the evil protagonist of Karel Jaromír Erben’s famous poem Vodník as a child, I have decided to go as one of these creatures. The English (and apparently Russian) name is Vodyanoy or The Water Goblin. It’s a guy who lives underwater, usually wears a green coat, a green hat and red boots. In children’s stories, they tend to be funny, friendly fellows that pop out of the water to return an important usb device that fell out of one’s pocket while walking over a bridge, yet in reality they are evil. Just ask Erben. They prey on helpless water seeking tourists and maidens, drown them, and store their souls under upside down porcelain cups, although I have never found out whether this is just a disturbing hobby or a survival necessity. With maidens, they usually just marry them and father children on them. I think they don’t obey the law of the countries they live in, so polygamy would be possible but let’s face it, how many maidens do their laundry in the lakes these days?
The only problem with my costume is that here in the West, no one has really heard of this popular character of Slavic mythology, so I will end up being a misunderstood zombie-like weirdo with a cup. They are about to learn something new I guess.
So far I have collected a few items for my costume: the boots that I have mentioned before, some pretty seaweed all the way from Mull to either put on my hat or make accessories out of, stripy red and white tights. And I’m about to look around for a green bush hat.
I am particularly excited about trying out coloured lenses for the first time in my life. I am going for violet, as it seems like a good colour for someone who lives underwater, judging by how pink the whites of my eyes get when I open them for swimming. Also, I am hoping to ask the make-up artist Claire to make me look a bit drowned.
The pants will be the most challenging part. I might have to sew some up, like last year, which brings me to the climax of my post:
Sviť, měsíčku, sviť, ať mi šije niť.
The Kattery 