The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1902-04-25

Tb,t Deal. with Magic, Low. and
Happiness aud One Result of th.
Fatal Feminine Tongue.
One warm Sunday afternoon the vii
bpp maidrns assembled 20 bathe In the
river. They took or their kerchicfs aud
their cOr0not hcaddresscs. seated them
selves on the bank 10 cool of and be-
gan 10 gossip. One maiden alone sat
silent. FrOsya. an orphan, poor, but
beautiful. with fair skin and eyes as
blue as the gcntlan, which the Rus
slams call "the flight ~ the falcon 50
the other girls began 10 tease her:
Have you no dearly beloved friend.
Frosinyn? Who Is hc, where Is hei l.
he handsome, is lac richF'
Where should poor girl get rich
and handsome young loverE Yonder
adder is my husband
No sooner had she said this than all
the maidcns cried, with one accord.
"The adder and took TO their heels
And upon her kerchicf. which Frosya
had thrown upon the grass, behold.
huge black adder lay coiled. She cried
out I'm fear But the adder beat It's tail
upon the ground and was transformed
into 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 from his lips. And he said To her:
"Dld YOU mean it when you declared
that YOU were ready to marry the ad-
dCrf"
She knew not what reply To make.
but gazcd at him and thought To her
self. "Whcncc came such wise and
handsome YOUTH And hc. divinng
her thoughts, replied TO them. II am no
common man. but the ear Of the wa
tcrs. and my empire Is close at hand In
n deep pool ON golden sands
And ne read In her eyes that she con
scented 10 20 with him. Then he grasp
cd her with his powerful hand, and to-
gcthcr they sank down into the deep
realm Of the waters.
Great was FrOsya's happiness. She
could not believe in II. lie was So
good 50 wise: she had never seen such
people, and there is none such any
where as the ear of the waters. liut
Frosya was foolish. Seven years did
shc dwell with him In the deep pool in
his palace Of crystal. and the seven
ycars passed as one day, ana there
need not have been any end To her
bliss, \ girl aud boy had been born
90 them. Then. all nj once, without any
cause. she became sad. lOngcd for the
earth. TO behold her native hamlet and
her friends once more. SO he let her
20. with the children, FOR three days
after having cNactcd II 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 or
three days she was to come To the same
spot and cry Cuckoo" thrice. where
upon he would swim nt once to meet
her.
She kept her oath. but her friends
coaxed and questioned the children.
The boy to all queries replied simply,
II don't know" But the girl told ey-
erythlng. This was nll the cnvious gos-
sips wanted. They ran and told all 10
their husbands and brothers, who inn
mcdintcly ran to the dam and uttered
the magic words And when the ear
appeared they beat him To death. But
before he died he cOntrlvcd TO say to
Erosya: II have 10 thank thee, my dear
wife. that am now come TO my death
through thee and my daughter. Hence
forth ly thou ever ms gray cuckoo
aud repeat thou ever my call, Cuckoo!
In sadness of heart from early spring
until ST. Peters day st. Peters day.
June - Guly II, q. SDI, aud from that
day forth may every bird. both great
and small, beat thee and pursue thee.
Aud mnycst thou, my daughter, my be-
traycr, bc turned into ncttlc bush,
aud may that weed, the fiery. forever
burn thine eyes whcrcsocver thou may
est bC, that thou muycst weep forever
remembering thy fathers death. but
10 my loyal son, who kept his fathers
command. | make this hcqucst: That
he shall bc the bird beloved which
dwcls aud sings In gardens and amid
shady groves FOR the JOY Of happy pco-
pie, for the consolation of those who
weep. the nightingale
And from that day forth the Russian
people have called the meadow orchid
"thc cuckoos tears" I II is also known
as "thc cuckoo's slippers" Isabel f..
II "a, N,,,. N,rls POST