According to a legend, the fortress of Lovech had being built for nine whole years. All able-bodied inhabitants of the town and its surroundings were summoned to the building site. It was only the old and the sick, who were left at home to take care of the children in their parents’ absence. It was ordered that all eggs laid be delivered to the fortress. The builders mixed them with lime to make the wall strong, stable, and unassailable.
    It so happened that a bride stayed in. She decided to boil an egg secretly. Having boiled the egg, she shelled it and was just about to take a bite, when her mother-in-law came home. The young woman swallowed the whole egg for fear of being caught out, suffocated and immediately fell to the ground. Nobody could restore her to consciousness. They all took the bride for dead. On the following day they dressed her up and buried her. The gravediggers noticed the jewels at once, and made up their minds to open the grave during the night and steal them. When they snatched the dead woman’s necklaces, the egg, which was stuck in her throat, slipped and the bride woke up from her eternal sleep.