A legend of the rosal

Title

Creator

L. V. R.

Language

English

Year

1936

Subject

Folklore -- Philippines

Tales -- Philippines

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

50 THE YOUNG c;ITIZEN ,l/arch, 19.'16 A Legend of the Rosal ,/ By L. V. R. ONCE, when the night was very dark, Mother Nature wandered over her meadows. She stooped over the starry clots of field flowers and sipped the new honey from their hearts. Then she lay clown on the soft, cool grass and gazed up at the stars. Like a million white jewels they twinkled clown at her, their bright eyes inviting her to slumberlancl. Mother Nature thought, "How beautiful the stars are! How bright and numerous they are!" She gazed up at the stars for a long while, envying the heavens their wealth of brightness. She then looked around at the flowers scattered about her land-tiny little flowers that were the stars of the earthancl smiled. She looked at the fragrant bloom of dainty sampaguitas, sniffed the heady sweetness of clama de noche which the wind brought her from a distance. Then a thought came to her. She stood up and stretched her arms to the stars. "I am going to create another flower," she said softly, "and I shall need your help. I shall need the help of the Wind. too, and the sun and the birds and bees. I want to create a flowe1· that will be as lovely as the stars, but sweeter and closer to the people of my earth." With these words, she bowed her head and thought for a while. The stars ove1·head, the Wind and even the slumbering birds heard her words. Even the dew fell softer and slower as they thought about llfother N atm·e's w01·ds. "We · must help he1-," they said to each other. "We must l\ll help he1· create another flower." The next nig·ht, IVIother N atme had leafy bowers of g1·een leaves ready. S!1e polished the small leaves till they shone with crispness, and she firmly set them up in their boughs. Then she once more made her appeal to the starn mid the Wind, the birds and the bees and the flew. to help her with the creation of a new kind of flower- a flower that would be as lovely as the stars. but sweeter :1 nd close1· to the touch of human hands. The stars, the wind. the birds and the bees, and even the softly falling- dew answe1·ed her CH II. The stars each shed off a silver tip. The wind caniecl it down to the ea1th. TJoe birds s".ng songs of welcome, while tl10 bees hmeed around with their gifts of honey. The sparklin11: silver tips ·melted into petals of softest velvet "'hen they fluttered (f'/,·11si· ;,,,·n lo /11'.fl<' (i8) 68 TV BREAD AND CHEESE Bq Doris and George Hauman Here is a jolly fairy tale for even the smallest children. It tells in a gay, sprightly manner the story of Buttercup, a yellow cow, and Dai~y. a little white lamb, who lived in a big blue barn under a smooth green hill. Life was very serene for them. They munched grass on the green hillside, lay under the·crooked apple tree, and produced milk for Two Happy Children. But Buttercup, being as near a fairy cow as any cow Could be, ha<l to obey thE' wishes of a Little Oki Woman who ,lived on the other sid~ of the hill. This Little Old Worn-. an loved bread and cheese. Once Buttercup forgot, and a dreadful thing happened! Thr book is attractively illustra,;fd. The Haumans, pJrents as weiJ <1S ar.tists, seem to know just how lo catch that irresistible humor which belongs in books of this happy age of childhood. THE CHILDREN'S SECRET (Continued from page 47) her on the side. -Irma got up and went in. The other two followed. A long conference was held. Then they went to th1>ir aunt. "Tia lbano. here is the money. Two-fifty in alt." Irma olaced th<! nile of c-entavos on the table. ••Hav.z ft n1ac1>d in a beautiful box." On Sunday the children s;i:ot un V<'rv f'arlv. Thev entered their rnothrr' s room on tiotoe. Thev ~wooned upon her on the bed and kissed her on the face and on the h:iir. After o1acins;i: a box on Mothn'" hn. they sang, "Happy birthday to you! THE YOUNG CITIZEN THE LOST MERRY-GOROUND Bl/ Dorothy Lathrop All children who love merry-gorounds and the other fun-machines of childhood will find "The Lost Merry-Go-Round" a new ~nd fas- . cinJting adventure into the world of imagination. The book con· tains a delightful collection of animal adventures which centers around the discovery of a grass-grown, rnsty merry-go-round in FJittermouse Wood by children who were looking for a lost ball. While the children were playing with it, faint music was heard, and the merrygo-round began to· move.' And J.s each child clings to his chosen animal, the adventure stories are told-1 of Denny on the big dog; of Jim on the dragon which flies over the sea to Cockle Shell Island; of Peter en the bear; Rosemary Qn the Deerl which go deeper into the woods, and so on. · The book has many interesting illustrations by the author. Pictures 1 in color and in black and white will,! delight the children. !, L V. R:' Happy birthday .to you. Happy birthday. dear Mother. Happy birthday to you." "That is our secret, Mother." Frida declared proudly. "We got all the money in our bank," Ernie explained. "Thank you, my darlings. This is a very pleasant surprise." She drew them a11 to her breast. "Open the box now, Mother. and see if you like our gift." Irma 1;uggested. ....., Mother carefully untied the goldrn ribbon and removed the pretty wrapper. Pressing the cardboard box. she asked. "Is it a little book?" "No!" shouted Frida. "Ts it a birthday cake?" March, 1936 - LEGEND OF THE ROSAL (Continued from p<;r,ge 50) close to Mother Nature. She formed them into pretty sets of petals and laid them upon the bowers of gfeen which she had prepared. The Wind gathered the fragrances o( the nigh{ and breathed them upon the newly-formed flowers which shone like soft stars in the evening darkness. The next morning, the sun, peep· ing out of its mountain bed, spied the starry flowers. Touching them with his rays. he gave them lovely hearts of gold....:...._his gift to Mother Nature's new creation. The bees and the butterflies hovered around the flowers, humming and buzzing with joy at the pretty sight. This happened a long time ago. Today, when you go into your garderl., do · you ever notice the Iov:ely flowers that glow so white and sweet among their leaves of datk green? Perhaps you caII them the Rosal. but once upon a time. the velvet white petals that you touch and admire were the silv·:?r tips of stars. "Oh, No. A cake is soon finished," Irma reminded her. "Is it a box of powder?" "Powder is soon used up." Ernie said. "Well. dears, yours is a real se· cret and I am a poor guesser." Lifting the lid. Mother saw a pretty, brown handbag. She op.ened _ it and found sixteen· centavos in a t~nv purse inside. "This is what I call useful and lastine." she Cfec1ared. holdin'2; un the handbaS!:. "But what does the monev mean?" "SixtPPn stands for the date of vour birth." Irma ('Xolained. "The monev calso serves as a bait to attrcact more monev. It means vou ·will never find vour bag empty." "I see! Mv children know somethin<;? their mother does not know. I like the gift and I love the givers." The children were happy. They wHe also very proud because thev could keep a secret.

pages

50, 68

Media