 Source of image: www.nbrb.by
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| THE LEGEND OF THE CUCKOO
In traditional Belarusian culture, the cuckoo is one of the most mythologized birds which is endowed with particularly pronounced female symbols representing sadness, melancholy, woe, separation, loneliness, death, and the world of the dead.
Like the stork, it is sacred to the Belarusians, i.e. they are prohibited from killing, hurting, or harming the bird in any way. In Belarusian folklore - legends, songs, and ballads in particular - an extensive use is made of the motif of a woman's transformation into the cuckoo where women experiencing strong feelings of sorrow, despair, and jealousy voluntarily undergo the metamorphosis.
Among the legends of the cuckoo - there are 16 different versions and variants - the plot about mother insulted by her disobedient children is one of the most popular with the Belarusians. According to it, the children did not serve her a drink of water when she fell sick. The mother kept asking each of them, one after another, to bring her some water, but they all were in a hurry to have fun and ignored, for the want of time, her pleas. Then the woman who felt upset stood by the window, spread her arms, and turned into the cuckoo. The children saw their mother in the guise of a bird flying away from their home and started to run after her, calling her and crying. Alas, it was too late -she did not come back.
That is why the cuckoo on the reverse of the coin bears resemblance to both the bird and the woman. It has the "human" eye, circle-shaped breasts, and arms in the form of wings which are associated with a swing of a dancing woman's long-sleeved clothes. The conventional rhomboid ornamentation is linked with both the folk needlework design and the bird's streaky plumage. The conventional figures of the children accentuate the female nature of the character. An infant's figure in the oval and ornamental eggs on the field of the coin - as if they are traveling in the outer space - clearly refer to the story line of the legend and are directly connected with both the cuckoo's deposited eggs and the birds' eggs which the cuckoo chick throws out, when it hatches, of the host's nest.
The cuckoo is a dramatic character. Its head and beak have been designed to display the features of a bird of prey. The rhythm of the decorative elements of the bird's clothing and feathering creates an inner tension and causes a discord in the harmony and equilibrium. It is not by accident because the cuckoo is portrayed in popular legends and beliefs as a victim, or a sinner, or a fortune-teller. It is capable of changing into a bird of prey and acts as a medium between the quick and the dead. M. Boganeva
V. A. Labacheuskaya
Employees of Belarusian State Institute for Culture Issues
Text from the official flyer “The Legend of the Cuckoo” of the National Bank of the Republic of Belarus
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| Date : 27.03.2008 |
| Metal : Cu/Ni |
| Diameter, mm : 32.00 |
| Weight, g : 15.50 |
| Mintage, St. : 5000 |
Minted by :
CJSC "Lithuanian Mint", Vilnius, Lithuania |
Design :
O.Novoselova | | | 
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Ebay-Statistic
(Prices in Euro):
| Year |
Count |
Ave
rage |
Min. |
Max. |
| 2006 |
0 |
0,00 |
0,00 |
0,00 |
| 2007 |
0 |
0,00 |
0,00 |
0,00 |
| 2008 |
27 |
13,10 |
8,68 |
16,18 |
| 2009 |
26 |
11,19 |
7,33 |
20,50 |
| 2010 |
8 |
8,25 |
7,80 |
10,20 |
| 2011 |
1 |
7,75 |
7,75 |
7,75 |
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