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Two green-skinned children who spoke an unknown language were found near the village of Woolpit in Suffolk in the 12th century, according to two medieval English chroniclers. At first they would eat nothing but raw broad beans.

Suffolk, 12th century

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The story behind the card

The story comes from William of Newburgh and Ralph of Coggeshall, who wrote it down some decades after the event, which probably took place in the reign of King Stephen (1135–1154). Villagers found a brother and sister beside one of the wolf pits that gave Woolpit its name. Over time the children learned to eat other food and lost their green colour, but the boy was sickly and died around the time of his baptism. The girl learned English, said they came from a twilight land she called St Martin's Land, and later married a man from King's Lynn. One modern explanation is that they were lost children of Flemish immigrants, tinted green by chlorosis, a form of anaemia caused by poor diet; nobody can now prove it.

Türkçe oku
12. yüzyılda İngiltere'deki Woolpit köyünde, yeşil tenli ve kimsenin anlamadığı bir dil konuşan iki çocuk bulunduğu anlatılır. Olayı iki Orta Çağ tarihçisi kaydetti; onlara göre çocuklar ilk günlerde çiğ bakladan başka hiçbir şey yemedi.
Suffolk, 12. yüzyıl

Hikâye, William of Newburgh ile Ralph of Coggeshall'ın kayıtlarından geliyor. İkisi de olayı onlarca yıl sonra yazıya geçirdi; olay büyük olasılıkla Kral Stephen döneminde (1135–1154) yaşanmıştı. Köylüler kız ve erkek kardeşi, Woolpit'e adını veren kurt çukurlarından birinin başında buldu. Çocuklar zamanla başka yiyeceklere alıştı ve yeşil renkleri soldu. Hastalıklı olan erkek çocuk, vaftiz edildiği sıralarda öldü. Kız İngilizce öğrendi; alacakaranlık gibi loş bir ülkeden geldiklerini, oraya Aziz Martin Diyarı dendiğini anlattı ve ileride King's Lynn'den bir adamla evlendi. Bugünkü açıklamalardan birine göre bunlar, yolunu kaybetmiş Flaman göçmen çocuklarıydı; tenlerindeki yeşillik de kötü beslenmeden kaynaklanan ve kloroz denen bir kansızlıktan geliyordu. Ama bunu artık kanıtlamanın yolu yok.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Green children of Woolpit
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