A MAIDENS DREAM
ONCE THERE WAS A YOUNG MAIDEN WHO WAS NOT VERY PRETTY, BUT HER SKILLS FOR WOMANHOOD WERE BETTER THEN ANY OF THE OTHER YOUNG GIRLS IN THE VILLAGE. ALL THE BEAUTIFUL MAIDENS WOULD TAUNT HER AND TELL HER SHE WOULD NEVER HAVE A HUSBAND BECAUSE SHE WAS SO UGLY. THEN THEY WOULD ALL GO PREENE THEMSELVES IN THE GLASSINESS OF THE LAKE AND LAUGH AT HER AND TELL MEAN STORIES ABOUT HER, WHILE SHE WORKED HARD AT ALL HER CHORES.
HER MOTHER TOLD HER ,THAT IT WAS NOT IMPORTANT TO BE BEAUTIFUL LIKE THE OTHERS ,THAT IT WAS WHAT WAS ON THE INSIDE THAT MATTERED, BUT SHE WOULD SIT ALONE BY THE LAKE AND PINE AWAY AT THE THOUGHT OF BEING BEAUTIFUL.
EVERYDAY, SHE WOULD DO HER DAILY CHORES AND THEN GO WALKING THROUGH THE WOODS ALONE. SHE WOULD LOOK AT ALL THE BEAUTIFUL THINGS AROUND HER THAT MOTHER EARTH HAD WORKED SO HARD TO MAKE INTO BRILLANT COLORS, AND WISH SHE COULD BE LIKE ONE OF THE FLOWERS IN THE FIELD, OR LIKE THE BIRDS THAT GAVE THEM SOFT SOUNDS AT NIGHT, OR MAYBE TO HAVE THE COOL BEAUTY OF A WATERFALL AS ITS BOUNTY FLOWED DOWN EFFORTLESSLY IN THE SUNSHINE.
I WILL NEVER HAVE THE BEAUTY OF THESE THINGS SHE SAID TO HERSELF, AS SHE CUPPED HER HANDS OVER HER FACE AND WEPT UNCONTROLABLY.
GRANDMOTHER SWAN WAS SWIMMING IN THE LAKE NEXT TO WHERE THE MAIDEN WAS SITTING. SHE SWAM OVER TO THE MAIDEN AND ASKED WHAT IS WRONG. WHY ARE YOU CRYING ,ASKED GRANDMOTHER SWAN? I AM UGLY REPLIED THE MAIDEN AND I LONG SO MUCH TO BE BEAUTIFUL LIKE ALL THE OTHER MAIDENS IN MY VILLAGE. I FEAR I WILL NEVER HAVE A HUSBAND TO CARE FOR ME AND I WILL BE ALONE ALL OF MY DAYS.
HEARING THIS TOUCHED THE HEART OF GRANDMOTHER SWAN SO SHE THOUGHT SHE MUST HELP HER. YOU MUST GO BACK TO YOU VILLAGE AND COOK A GREAT MEAL TO SHOW ALL THE YOUNG BRAVES HOW WELL YOU CAN CARE FOR THEM, THEN THEY WILL NOT SEE YOU ON THE OUTSIDE AND KNOW THAT YOU WILL MAKE A GOOD WIFE. THE MAIDEN WAS SO EXCITED THAT SHE RAN ALL THE WAY HOME TO TELL HER MOTHER WHAT GRANDMOTHER SWAN HAD TOLD HER.
HER MOTHER TOLD HER "WELL WE CANNOT GO AGAINST THE WISDOM OF GRANDMOTHER SWAN", SHE IS ALL KNOWING IN THE THINGS OF BEAUTY, SHE HERSELF IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL OF ALL THE WATER BIRDS IN THE LAKE." SO TOGETHER THEY MADE THE A HUGH FEAST FOR THE VILLAGE.
YOUNG BRAVES CAME FROM EVERYWHERE, AS WE KNOW HOW WELL MEN LIKE TO EAT. THE FIRST BRAVE APPROACHS THE MAIDEN AND SAYS, YOU ARE A WORTHY COOK AND I LIKE THE FOOD YOU HAVE PREPARED, I WOULD LIKE TO TAKE SOME TO THAT BEAUTIFUL MAIDEN OVER THERE SO SHE WILL KNOW I AM A GOOD PROVIDER AND WANT TO MARRY ME. NOW THIS REALLY HURT THE MAIDENS FEELINGS FOR SHE WAS HERSELF TRYING TO GET THE ATTENTION OF ALL THE YOUNG BRAVES. BUT SHE THOUGHT WELL THERE ARE ALOT OF OTHER BRAVES HERE AND GAVE THE BRAVE A LARGE PLATTER OF FOOD FOR THE TWO OF THEM TO SHARE.
THIS WENT ON ALL NIGHT AND NOT ONE BRAVE PAID ANY ATTENTION TO HER BECAUSE THEY WERE ALL TRYING TO IMPRESS THE BEAUTIFUL MAIDENS WITH HOW THEY BROUGHT THEM ALL THIS GOOD FOOD TO EAT, WAITING ON THEM AND ASKING THEIR FATHERS FOR THEIR HANDS.
THIS MADE THE MAIDEN EVEN MORE UNHAPPY, SHE FELT THAT GRANDMOTHER SWAN'S MEDICINE MUST HAVE RUBBED OFF ON THE OTHERS AND FORGOT HER COMPLETELY. SO THE NEXT DAY AFTER SHE FINISHED ALL HER CHORES, SHE WENT WALKING IN THE WOODS ALONE. SHE WAS GOING TO FIND GRANDMOTHER SWAN AND TELL HER THAT HER PLAN HAD FAILED, AND NOW ALL THE YOUNG BRAVES WERE PROMISED TO THE BEAUTIFUL MAIDENS IN THE VILLAGE AND THERE WAS NO ONE LEFT FOR HER.
SHE SEARCHED ALL AFTERNOON, BUT GRANDMOTHER SWAN, WAS NO WHERE TO BE FOUND. SO THE MAIDEN SAT DOWN ON AN OLD TREE STUMP AND BEGAN TO CRY ONCE MORE, THINKING FOR SURE THAT THERE WAS NO HOPE FOR HER. THERE WASN'T ANYONE IN THIS WHOLE LAND THAT WOULD HAVE HER, SHE WAS SO LONELY THAT SHE PRAYED FOR GRANDFATHER TO END HER SORROWS.
IT WAS JUST THEN THAT THE MOST HANDSOME BRAVE IN THE VILLAGE WAS COMING HOME FROM A HUNT AND HE CAME UPON THE MAIDEN CRYING IN THE FOREST ALONE. THE BRAVE ASKED, WHY ARE YOU CRYING ALL ALONE THIS WAY? WHAT IS WRONG? WELL THE MAIDEN TOLD HIM ALL THAT HAD HAPPENED, AND OF THE MEDICINE THAT GRANDMOTHER SWAN HAD TOLD HER TO DO TO GET A HUSBAND, BUT IT FAILED AND I STILL DO NOT HAVE ANYONE TO LOVE AND CARE FOR ME.
THIS ALSO TOUCHED THE YOUNG BRAVES HEART AND HE HAD TO TELL HER THAT HE HAD BEEN WATCHING HER FOR A VERY LONG TIME, AS SHE WOVE HER BASKETS JUST SO , MADE MOCCASINS FOR HER FATHER AND STRUNG BEADS FOR THEIR REGALAS, AND COOKED THE FOOD FOR HER FAMILY THAT SMELLED SO GOOD HE ALMOST COULDN'T STAND IT. SHE LOOKED UP AT HIM AND SAID, BUT I AM SO UGLY THAT NO ONE WILL LOVE ME, WHY DO YOU SAY THESE THINGS TO ME?
THE YOUNG BRAVE CONFESSED HIS HEART TO HER ON THAT DAY. HE TOLD HER THAT IT WASNT THE OUTSIDE BEAUTY THAT WOULD KEEP HIM WARM AT NIGHT OR RAISE HIS CHILDREN WITH TENDERNESS AND LOVEING CARE. NOR WOULD IT SEW HIM A WARM SHIRT WHEN THE WEATHER TURNED COLD OR WARM HIS FEET BY THE WELL BUILT FIRE IN A LODGE, MADE FROM LOVE OF HIS WIFE. THOSE OTHER MAIDENS ARE TO BUSY WITH BRUSHING THEIR HAIR OR WASHING THEIR FACES TO HAVE TIME TO LEARN THESE IMPORTANT THINGS HE TOLD HER.
THEN MAIDEN SAID, BUT THE OTHERS ARE SO BEAUTIFUL AND I AM SO UGLY... STOP RIGHT THERE, THE BRAVE TOLD HER. YOU HAVE A BEAUTIFUL HEART AND ALL THE OUTSIDE BEAUTY IN THE WORLD CAN NOT REPLACE THAT. ALL THOSE OTHER MAIDENS ARE JUST PLAYING GAMES WITH THE OTHER BRAVES, BUT YOU WILL LOVE ME AND CARE FOR ME FOREVER. THIS IS WHO I SEEK TO BE MY WIFE. THE MAIDEN COULDN'T BELIEVE WHAT SEE WAS HEARING, FORE TO EVEN THINK THAT THE MOST HANSOME AND STRONGEST BRAVE IN THE VILLAGE WOULD WANT HER WAS BEYOND HER WILDEST DREAMS.
HE TOOK HER BY THE HAND AND THEY WALKED TOGETHER BACK TO THE VILLAGE WHERE HE ASKED HER FATHER FOR HER HAND. HE BROUGHT MANY SKINS AND AN ABUNDANCE OF MEAT FROM HIS HUNT TO SHOW HER FATHER HE WAS WORTHY OF HER.
THEY WERE MARRIED THAT SPRING , HE WAS IN BUCKSKIN AND SHE WORE BEAUTIFUL WHITE SWAN FEATHERS IN HER HAIR, THAT GRANDMOTHER SWAN GIFTED HER FOR THE OCCASION. SHE WAS A BEAUTIFUL BRIDE.
TO THIS DAY THEY LIVE AND LOVE IN THEIR VILLAGE WHILE ALL THE OTHER MAIDENS ARE STILL LOOKING FOR HUSBANDS, AND THE MAIDEN IS NOW THE ENVY OF ALL THE OTHERS.
THE END
BY: MOUNTAIN LION
1998
REFLECTIONS OF MOUNTAIN LION
Email: mlwatchs@aol.com
