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Lily of the Valley

5/15/2014

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It happened  long time ago in a country that never existed. A happy country whose only inhabitants were gods of all sorts.  Filled with  insatiable longing for beauty,  the almighty gods  resolved  to create a flower, a perfect flower, far more beautiful than all the flowers  thriving in the endless and colourful meadows of the country.  Surprisingly, the  realisation of the dream appeared  to be impossible, as  the divine  designers could not work out the shape for that perfect flower. All  suggested forms fell short of their expectations. They were all too inferior.  The initial enthusiasm slowly morphed into doubt and then despair, which had never been  favourite  emotions among gods. Suddenly, one of them cried that he had seen an ideal shape they might copy.  It was... 
...a tear in the eyes of one of an unhappy goddess waiting in vain for her beloved lover. Hope returned and the gods agreed to send a messenger to secretly steal a few unhappy but ideally shaped tears from the poor goddess  in case the lover came back to her too early (you never know with the lovers). 

Soon a number of tears were ready to be copied and give shape to the perfect flower. The gods  used the most precious  and durable materials  to create a piece of eternal beauty. They all worked fervently but the result of their effort was  far less than satisfactory. Although the flower was perfectly shaped it still  looked cold and lifeless. The gods did not know why nor what to do with it when suddenly they heard a sonorous laughter from the underground kingdom. It belonged to  the only god who had not been invited to collaborate on the project, the god of death. "You dared to create beauty without me? It will never work!" The ashamed company reluctantly gave the freshly finished flower to the menacing king of the dead and he slowly immersed it in the stream of water flowing across his kingdom. The cold and bleak, and odourless flower suddenly transformed into a shiny pure white, vibrant and scented blossom. Everybody was amazed at the magical metamorphosis,  including the god of death. That was the moment lily of the valley was born. 

However, the price was high: lily of the valley  was beautiful but  not eternal, as it had been designed. But the celestial gods outwitted their somber counterpart and made the perfect flower come back every spring. Its white, tear-like and wonderfully scented buds open in May and remind us that unrequited love can be equally inspirational as the reciprocated one if not more. I am not sure whether the godly source of tears is of the same optimistic opinion. As far as I know, the lover is still missing!

PS. Years ago I came across an Indian(?) legend about  the fascinating creation of  lily of the valley.  I tried to recollect as many details of the story as possible but the task  soon appeared  impossible. Still, the essence of the legend is exactly  the way I presented  it above. All possible disfigurations reflect  my faulty memory and  imagination. 
Jarek
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    I was destined to be born gardener. In order to become a professional  one I had to enjoy years of studying at various  schools and  universities...  read more

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