The Tucson citizen., 1902-10-10
The MEADOW ORCHID
WHY THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE CALL sT
"ThE CUCKOO'S TEARS"

4 Legend of the Land of the Czara
That Deals with Magic, Love and
Happiness and One Result of the
Fatal Feminine Tongue.
One warm Sunday afternoon the vii.
Iage maidens assembled to bRthe in the
river. They took of their ketchiefs and
their coronet headdresses seated them
selves ON the bank to cool off and be
gan to gossip. One maiden alone SAT
silent, Frosya, an orphan, poor. but
beautiful, with fair skin and eyes as
blue as the gentian, which the Rus.
slams call 1.-The flight Of the falcon" So
the other girls began to tease her
"Have you no dearly beloved friend,
Frosinya? Who is he, where is he? Is
he handsome. is he rich?"
"Where should a poor girl get rich
and handsome young lover2 Yonder
adder is my husband"
No sooner had she said this than all
the maidens cried, with one accord,
1.-The adder!' and took to their heels
And upon her kerchief, which Frosya
had thrown upon the grass, behold, a
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, his
eyes flashing fire, and honeyed words
fell fr0an his lips And he said to her:
"Dt@ you mean it when you declared
that you were ready to marry the ad-
def?"
She knew not what reply to make.
but ga7ed at him and thought to her
self, "Whence came such wise and
handsome youthY' And he, divining
her thoughts. replied to them, II am nc
common man. but the cZar of the wa
ters. and my empire is close at hand ip
O deep pool on golden sands"
And he read in her eyes that she con
sented to go with him. Then he grasp
ed her with his powerful hand, and to
gether they sank down into the deep
realm of the waters.
Great was Frosya's happiness. She
could not believe in 1t. 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
Frosyar was foolish. Seven years did
she dwell with him in the deep pool In
his palace Of crystal, and the seven
years passed as one day. and there
need not have been any end to heE
rsvl nj 1oA hnnS1 horn
to them. Then, 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 hei
go. with the children. for three days
after having exacted a promise that
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 same
spot and cry 'Cuckoo!' thrice. where,
upon he would swim at once to meet
her.
She kept her oath. but her friends
soaked 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 t.
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 contrived to say tt
Erosya: IL have to thank thee. my deal
wife. that | am now come to my deatl
through thee and my daughter. Hence
forth fly thou ever as gray cuckoo
and repeat thou ever my call. Cuckoo!
ia sadness of heart from early spring
until st, Peters day [St. Peters day
June 20 duly IL, o. S.il. and from tina
day forth may every bird. both grea
| and small, beat thee and pursue thee
And mayest thou, my daughter. my be
trayer, be turned into Dettle bush
| and may that weed. the fiery, foreve
| burn thine eyes wheresoeyer thou may
est be. that thou mayest weep forever
remembering thy fathers death. Blu
to my loyal son, who kept his father
command. make this bequest: Tha
| be shall be the bird beloved which
iwells and sings In gardens and annie
shady groves for the JOY Of happy peo
pie. for the consolation OF those wh'
weep. the nightingale"
And from that day forth the Russian
| peonle have called the meadow orchi(
| ''the cuckoo's tears" lit is also knows
as ''the cuckoos slippers. "l-IsabeI +
Hapgood In New York Post
Ytaly's Marriage Brokers.
| Marriage brokers are regular inst1.
tuition in Italy. In Genoa there are sew
eral marriage brokers who have pock-
etbooks filled with the names Of the
marriageable girls Of the different