This folktale blends Biblical elements with local spiritual interpretations, rich in symbolism and moral ambiguity. Its themes of divine justice, temptation, and redemption—colored by dualistic overtones—align intriguingly with the beliefs of the medieval Bogomils, suggesting it may preserve echoes of their suppressed sacred traditions.

A Folk Tale of the Flood: Echoes of the Bogomil Bible?

This oral tradition about the Flood and Noah bears a distinctly dualistic character, suggesting it may be a surviving fragment of the elusive Bogomil Bible—a text believed to have existed, though never discovered in written form.

The Building of the Ship – And the Brandy

People had grown wicked, and God resolved to destroy them. But Noah, a son of Adam, found favor with God. One night, God appeared to Noah in a dream and instructed him to build a ship. Noah obeyed and worked in secret, nearly completing the vessel.

The Devil, aware that a ship was being constructed but ignorant of its location, approached Noah’s wife. He brought her a sip of brandy and inquired about her husband's activities. Curious, she questioned Noah, but he refused to answer—God had forbidden him to reveal anything.

The next day, the Devil returned with more brandy, asking her to share it with Noah. This time, Noah drank a little and became slightly intoxicated, but still said nothing. On the third day, well and truly drunk, Noah revealed everything—what he was building and where, deep in the forest.

The Devil rushed to the location and destroyed the ship.

When Noah discovered the wreckage the next morning, he wept. Then God spoke to him:

"Did I not warn you not to trust the woman? Return to the tree from which you cut the first timber, pray and weep—do not rise until it is done."

Noah obeyed. He cried and prayed without ceasing. When he finally rose, the ship was complete—restored by the Devil himself, under divine compulsion, exactly as it had been.

The Talking Ox:

When the flood came, Noah abandoned his wife, feeling betrayed. Instead, he took a new pair of humans, along with all his livestock and seed animals.

Among them was a talking ox. Noah invited the ox to join him, but the beast refused, claiming he would swim through the waters on his own for forty days. He might have succeeded—but birds of the sky perched upon his horns, weighing him down, and he drowned.

Of Mice, Cats, and Baldness

The Devil, enraged that the ark floated and life continued according to God’s will, sought revenge. He created a mouse and instructed it to gnaw a hole in the side of the ark, hoping to sink it.

At that moment, God—or in some versions, the Mother of God—cast down a glove, which transformed into a cat. The cat caught and devoured the mouse.

When Noah saw water entering the ship, he panicked. In desperation, he tore a tuft of hair from his own forehead to plug the hole. From that moment on, it is said, men became bald.

Noah's Sin

After the flood, Noah sinned. Following his wife's death, he took his own daughter as his wife. God chastised him, saying:

"Did I not command you not to marry your own blood? You should have sought another."

But Noah claimed he did not know it was wrong. In His mercy, God forgave him.