The Tucson citizen., 1902-07-24
THE MEADOW ORCHID
why THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE CALL n
"THE cUckoo's TEARS"

A Legend of the land Of the C1ars
That Deals with Magic. Love and
Happiness and One Rssult OF TN"
Fatal Feminine Tongue.
One warm Sunday afternoon the VII
lnre maidens assembled to bathe In the
river They took off their kerchiefs ano
their coronet headdresses, seated them
selves on the bank to cool OH ana De
pon TO gossip. One maiden alone SAT
silent. Frosya, an orphan, poor, ou'
beautiful, with fair skin and eyes az
blue as the gentian, which the kus
slams call "tbe flight of the falcon" 30
the other girls began to tease her
Have you no dearly beloved friend
Frosipya? Who is he, where Is be! Is
he handsome, Is he rlchT
where should poor girl get ricn
and handsome young lover? Yonder
adder Is my husband"
No sooner had she said this than all
the maidens cried, with one accord,
.'rhe adderw and took to their heels
And upon her kerchief, which Frosya
had thrown upon the grass. behold,
huge black adder lay coiled. She cried
out in fear But the adder beat its tail
upon the ground and was TRANSFORMED
into a wonderfully handsome young
man. There he stood before her, with
a golden cap upon his flowing curls. bis
ewes flashing fire, and honeyed words
| fell fram his lips. And he said to her:
"Dia you mean 1t when you declared
thas you were ready to marry the ad-
d~f:'
She knew not what reply 10 make.
but gazed at him and thought to her
self. whence came such wise and
ha andsome YOUTH" And he, divining
| her thoughts. replied to them. Il am no
common man, but the czar or the wa
ters. and my empire is close at hand In
q deep pool on golden sands"
Aud be read ID her eyes that she con
sented to go with him. Then he grasp
ed her with bis powerful hand. and to
gether they sank down into the deep
rea I'm Of the waters.
Great was Frosya's happiness. She
could not believe In II. He was so
good. so wise; she had never seen such
people, and there Is none such any.
where as the czar Of the waters. But
Frosya was foolish. Seven years did
she dwell with him In the deep pool In
his palace OF crystal, aud the seven
years passed as one day, and there
need not have been any end to her
bliss. A girl and boy had been born
to them. .hen. all at once. without any
cause. she became sad. longed for the
earth, to behold her native hamlet and
her friends once more. SO he let her
go, with the children. for three days
after having exacted promise that
neither she nor the children, either by
word or by hint, should reveal the
name Of her husband or where she
lived. And all this she promised. with
fearful oaths. Then her husband es'
corted her TO the dam. At the end OF
three days she was to come to the "a me
spot and cry Cuckoo" thrice. where.
upon he would swim at once to meet
her.
She kept her oatb. but her frienda
coaxed and questioned the children.
The boy to all queries replied simply,
II don't know" But the girl told ev'
erything. This was all the envious gos-
sips wanted. They ran and told all tO
their husbands and brothers. who I'm
mediately ran to the dam and uttered
the magic words And when the czaI
appeared they beat him to death. But
before he died he coutrived to say to
Frosya: II have TO thank thee. my dear
wife. that am now come to my death
through thee and my daughter. Hence
forth Gy thou ever as a gray cuckoo
and repeat thou ever my call. Cuckoo!
In sadness Of heart from early spring
until st. Peters day St Peters dag,
June 20 duly IL. o. ST. !. and from that
day forth may every bird. both great
aud small, beat thee and pursue thee.
And mayest thou my daughter. my be-
trayer, be turned into a nettle bush.
and may that weed, the fiery. forever
burn thine eyes wheresoever thou may.
est be. that thou mayest weep forever,
remembering thy fathers death. But
10 my loyal son, who Kept bis father o
command, | make this bequest: That
he shall be the bird beloved which
dwells and sings in gardens and amid
shady groves for the joy OF happy peo
pie. for the consolation OF those who
weep. the nightingale"
And from that day forth the Russia o
people have called the meadow orchid
"the cuckoos tears" II is also knows
ns "the cuckoo's slippers. "l--lsabel y
Hapgood In New York Post