The sakmė about the origin of lightning strikes explains that long ago, the devil borrowed money from Perkūnas, the god of thunder. When Perkūnas demanded repayment, the devil laughed and ran away, which made Perkūnas furious.

From that moment on, Perkūnas chased the devil relentlessly. Whenever Perkūnas spotted him, he struck, causing lightning to flash. The devil, fearing for his life, would try to hide in various places: on farms, inside animals, or even within people's clothes. But Perkūnas always found him and struck again. If lightning struck a tree, set fire to a house, or killed a person or animal, it was believed that the devil was hiding there.

This story is adapted from How the Earth Came to Be: Lithuanian Etiological Legends (Kaip atsirado žemė: lietuvių etiologinės sakmės), compiled and edited by Norbertas Vėlius.