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PUIU*; OR,
THE
YOUNGEST
BORN
BY HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN OF ROUMANIA
AN ALLEGORY
MOTHER EARTH was a splendid woman, and the parent of many sons and daughters.
Her chief thought was to know in what way she could best promote their happiness
and welfare. To each child she gave a separate garden, to each a different
language. The eldest was the possessor of the warmest and most fertile garden,
shaded by tall palm-trees, and ever gladdened by the sun's rays. As she brought
forth many children, the land allotted to them gradually extended farther
towards the West and towards the North, where the sun's power was less ardent,
so that the ground required cultivating with greater care and assiduity.
Some of these gardens were situated among the
mountains, others in the regions of perpetual snow, while others stood on
islands, in the midst of the mighty sea. But, alas! these children were not all
so contented as they should have been with their lot, and as their Mother had
endowed each with a different language, misunderstandings speedily arose amongst
them.
Quarrels and strife grew rife, and the Mother's lap was
often sprinkled with the blood of her own offspring.
After a lapse of time, Mother Earth gave birth to a
lovely babe, with large, dark eyes, shaded by long curling lashes, and crowned
by finely penciled eyebrows, with rings of wavy black hair clustering on its
tiny head.
For this daughter, the youngest and dearest of all her
children, she reserved the most charming lot. In the midst of the lands of the
strong brothers, and under their protecting wing, she found an enchanting
garden, surrounded by mountains, watered by a vast river, warmed by the genial
rays of the sun, fertilised by rain, refreshed by snow, verdant plains, and
smiling vineyards.
In addition to all these good gifts, the kindly Mother
endowed her youngest born with a language so sweet and musical that when Puiu
was seen dancing and singing, a garland of purple flowers restraining her
rebellious locks, sky and earth, sun and fields, rejoiced at the sight of her,
and the fruits of the earth blossomed spontaneously under the steps of the
smiling maiden, who had no need to spoil her pretty hands with toiling and
delving.
But the elder children looked with envious eyes on the
beautiful Puiu, for whom Earth—their common mother—evinced so great a
preference, and on whom she lavished all her care.
The thought that her elder children, who lived in an
atmosphere of perpetual discontent, would not be suitable protectors for her
delicate Puiu, had never presented itself to her mind.
Yet the mighty brothers became so envious and
intractable that each time their young sister planted her garden they came down
with a fell swoop upon it and carried off her flowers and fruit, or they
quarreled amongst themselves, and made Puiu's garden—which was in the centre of
their own—the theatre of their conflicts, and destroyed or spoiled everything
which it contained.
Puiu made great efforts to repulse these aggressors,
but she always came to grief.
Then other brothers would come ostensibly to her aid,
though without her having demanded their help; they did but prolong the combat,
and despoiled their sister of the best portions of her garden, under the pretext
that she had not the strength requisite to cultivate so large a portion of
ground. At length
one of these brothers entirely overwhelmed her, and forced her into chains, and
ordered her to give into his hands the remnant of her garden.
The beautiful Puiu, in captivity, sang such plaintive
songs hat the heart of her mother was well-nigh breaking when she listened to
them.
Puiu had now no heart for work, and she performed her
tasks so negligently that her brother who had made her his slave threatened her
with severe punishment. She looked on with indifference at the battles which
took place, when her garden was invariably chosen as the scene of conflict, but
none thought of delivering their young sister from the hands of the oppressor.
One day Puiu fell asleep amongst her flowers; her head
rested on the irons which attached her shapely arms, her eyelashes were heavy
with unshed tears, and deep-drawn sighs escaped from betwixt her rosy lips, and
ascended to the distant blue Heaven, intermingled with the perfume of fragrant
flowers.
The noise of rolling thunder aroused her, and as if
from the depths of space she heard the voice of her Mother Earth. "Puiu," said
that voice, "why dost thou despair? Hearken, and in silence obey my behests. In
the dead of night gently file off thy chains, so that no one may suspect what
thou art about. Thy task accomplished, await my signal before casting off thy
fetters."
Puiu passed the long night in endeavouring to file the
irons, which were strongly forged. Dexterously and silently she effected her
difficult task without detection. Had her brother but known of her efforts for
freedom he would immediately have doubled the strength of her chains!
At last! at last! She was free! She stood on the edge
of the mountain, awaiting anxiously the mother's signal. The young maiden smote
the ground impatiently with her tiny feet, and bit her rosy lips with her pearly
teeth. She remembered the sweets of liberty, and was eager to taste of them.
Precisely at this critical moment a fresh quarrel arose amongst the brothers,
one trespassed on her garden, bent on the other's overthrow.
He who had reduced Puiu to slavery awaited the shock
with a bold front, and a formidable struggle ensued, in which his assailant was
on the point of being vanquished. Puiu, a silent spectator of the combat, all at
once heard a voice, as it were, from the earth:
"Thy time has come!"
And the maiden shook off the fetters from her rounded
arms with a cry of joy.
The chains fell at her feet, and with her liberated
hands she raised an immense block of stone, with strength which she had never
been suspected of possessing, and hurled it on the head of the brother who had
been the chief cause of her misfortunes, and shattered his traitorous limbs. She
now stood in all the glory of her youth and beauty, in the full light of the
midday sun; she saw the chains al her feet, the mutilated form of her wicked
brother, and her own beautiful garden, which for the first time was her
undisputed property, and a bright smile of happiness irradiated her countenance.
The Earth trembled with joy at the sight of her
magnificent child, and the mighty sea and the soft breeze wafted caresses, which
played with her hair, and seemed to raise a song of victory throughout the
rustling forest. Then came from the depths the voice of the common mother:
"Have I not protected thee? Didst thou believe that I
endowed thee with great beauty and elevated thought in vain? Thou shalt live and
prosper in dignity and force. The whole universe shall rejoice and profit by the
abundance of thy fruits."
Puiu rose and gazed far away—far away into space, and
in her dreamy eyes lay the foreshadowing of a great future.
* Puiu (literally "little chicken") a term of endearment. Puiu in
this case means Roumania. |
