chapter four (model: Teodora Anghel)

The Huchen
by Vasile Voiculescu



The Huchen is the tale of a mythical, uncatchable fish. The legend says it ate children, drowned men and scared away all the other water-dwelling creatures. But the bigger the legend grew, so did the attraction for the Huchen.

No one was more adamant to catching the miraculous Huchen than Aliman, a young, handsome and stout fisherman.

His determination to catch the mighty fish became an obsession. One day, following a big storm, a girl appears on a wreckage, having been caught in the storm. Aliman saves her and, from that moment on, they become inseparable.

She has no name, no past and loves the water, but she never seems to get wet. Everyone finds her unnerving, except Aliman, who loves her madly. People from the village believe that she is the Devil and that he was being charmed by dark magic.


Until one day, when an old woman appears at their doorstep. In the flash of an eye, she drags the girl out of the house, scolding her for abandoning her own family for the lowlife of a fishermen village and taking her away.

By the time Aliman comes to his senses, the two women are already out of sight, never to be seen or found again. After a few years Aliman finally decides to get married with a local girl.




During the wedding, the word comes that the Huchen was seen again. Energized like never before, Aliman swears that this time she wouldn't escape.

He ran towards the river, jumped in and the water covered him. He never emerged again.