Introduction
One of the best ways to form behavior and the way people act in certain situations in life is to try to teach them the right way starting from the young age and incorporate it into everyday thinking. For long time folklore gave stories and tales which provided examples of good and bad choice in life and the outcome that will follow. Usually characters were facing everyday situations, or their behavior was an outcome of something that will outlive them. In Lithuanian culture the most important qualities that a person could have is honesty, being humble and hard working as well as understanding that any goal is reachable as long as if the wish is pure, honorable and especially if it is seeking not personal success, but help the ones in need.
Like in the Hill of Cross tale the old father believes the vision of saint woman and instructions giving by her will help his sick daughter to become healthy, there are no obstacles that matter and could stop him. No matter his own health or the weight of the cross which he had to carry for 13 hours, the moral of this story is to always look after those who are close to you – family and people who are less fortunate. As being a country of agriculture and people being usually poor farmers with lack of medicine the possibility of someone being severely sick was common. People relied on natural medicine and miracles that is why the faith in god and all saint is strong in our culture. Being worth of miracle and blessing is one of the key moments aswell, that is why the heavy task was giving to show of how much you believe and care. Miracles involving saint, or angles are common in other countries tales, mostly because we are all Christians. Being worthy of the miracle, because of innocence or just being a good person is found in Italian legend of “The beautiful Alda” where she is saved by the angels after she threw herself from the cliff.
Saving others is an aspect found in a legend of Neringa's conquest, where the giant Neringa decides to save fishers from the sea dragon by pouring sand dunes and creating a lagoon for ordinary people to be safe.
But not all legends talk about good intentions and behavior which is worth following of every character involved. Aswell as good people there are always a place for someone who is jealous, unkind and wicked, but in Lithuanian folklore each act of being evil is always followed by a response of “what is deserved. For example the biggest stones in Lithuania were placed here by devils, in the Devils stone tale devil try to punish city inhabitants for acting too greedy, or partying too much and a stone is a representation of what my happen next time. In the Puntukas stone story the stone fell from devils arms on a house of old man who been evil, wicked and never got along with people.
And last but not least purpose that is showed in tales is love. Fathers love for sick daughter, or Dukes love for his wife and willingness to make her feel like home and building a Trakai castle on the island surrounded by lakes. Romanian “The master builder Manole”, tells about the love of Manoles wife who was willing to go through storm just to bring her beloved husband dinner and this love led her to being build in a monastery. Also love for her child and husband led the wife of the youngest bridge builder in Bulgarian “Devils bridge”, to sacrifice herself.
People always wish to have an explanation for everything that surrounds them and always are tend to believe that things happens for a reason and that reason is an act of good intentions, or gratitude for being the exemplar person whose behavior will be followed in future generations. Stones, hill of crosses are monuments that lets people remember the reasons of what will happen if we act certain way, just like triplets rocks in Bulgarian “Belograchik rocks” who made the noble men go insane, or “Lake Misurina and Mount Sorapiss” in which those objects represent spoiled girl with her selfish wish and her kind father who was willing to do anything for her. We Lithunians do believe that person or his act never actually dies if he is remembered.