Lake Chernoe is located near the village of Brusy, Myadel District, Minsk Region, Belarus. This reservoir is a part of the Naroch National Park, surrounded by dense forests, marsh and shrub plants grow along its banks. Due to the muddy, muddy bottom, the surface of the water seems dark, although, in fact, the water is quite clean and transparent. The maximum depth can reach over four meters. It should be noted that several lakes with a similar name can be found on the map of Belarus, but only this can boast of the presence in its waters of a special variety of mermaids, called lakes (in the original - azyarnitsy).
Ancient legends often inhabit rivers, lakes and swamps with a variety of mythical creatures, as a rule, not very friendly to people. Perhaps this is caused by a natural and easily explainable fear of the dark depths, where unknown dangers may lie in wait for a person. The darkness is mysterious, impenetrable for ordinary sight, which is why most gloomy folklore characters begin hunting only at nightfall, when a person is especially vulnerable and defenseless. In this respect, the lakes do not differ in originality, they unfold their activities mainly at night.
The origin of the lakes (or lake maidens) is not known exactly. There is a version that they are brought by the closest relatives of the Ozerny, a powerful spirit that lives in all lakes. For some unknown reason, Ozerny alienated them from himself and his other numerous offspring, slightly modifying and leaving them only Black Lake as a habitat. It is also possible that the lakes appeared simultaneously with the emergence of the lake itself and will also disappear only with it. In any case, one thing can be said for sure - the lakers are the sisters of mermaids, marsh women, mavks and other characters of Slavic legends associated with the element of water.
Although all the lakes are female, moreover, young girls, outwardly they cannot be called attractive. Legends describe the lake maidens as tall, bony, emaciated-looking creatures that only vaguely resemble living women. They have long, green hair, usually dark or greenish skin, and have fins instead of feet. Their clothes consist of dresses or capes woven of seaweed, their heads are often crowned with wreaths made of river plants. It is interesting that the little lakes communicate with each other in an incomprehensible language that resembles a bird's scream. Local legends also say that these creatures apparently do not have blood, using instead a certain substance that resembles ordinary water.
Unlike their closest cousins, lake moths do not have the ability to change their appearance. On moonlit nights, they go to the shore of the Black Lake in their true appearance and are engaged in singing songs, moreover, eyewitnesses claim that in this case, their singing in beauty can be safely compared to nightingale trills. A person who accidentally happens to be close enough to hide and not attract attention to themselves, in this case, the lakers will not notice him. If a passer-by betrays his presence, the maidens will drag him to the bottom of Black Lake and there they will kill him. Young men and young men are especially desirable prey for the lake-dwellers; according to legend, many of them disappear in these places.
Lake Maidens live in the Black Lake even today, however, their number is gradually decreasing. Nowadays, the term "lakeside" often denotes all mythological characters living in all lakes in general, and not only in the Black Lake.