Fitzgerald enterprise. (Fitzgerald, Ga.) 1895-1912, 1905-05-27
THE MIRROR OF FATE
a VENETIAN LEGEND OF THE DAYS
OF THE DOGES.
Story of the Beauty Who Was Intoxi-
Gated With the Vision of Her own
LOveIiness and the Statue In the
Church of San GiOrgis M8ggiOre.

Loveliness and the Statue In the
Church of San GiOrgis MsggiOre.
Here is a legend which L heard in
Venice | offer it to all among you
who are fond Of solitude and silence.
I offer it to you as | would offer a
flower which has blossomed amid SOM
Der shadows ON sleeping lagoon:
Ghita Gherardini was the niece of the
doge. Poets whose names we have Tor
gotten, but who were renowned at tllat
time, had composed imumerable songs
in her honor. They praised in them the
tresses of the young girl, black as night,
in which pearls cleaned like MiiK
white stars. They also sang about the
radiance of her dark violet eyes ana
about the two roses which formed her
Iips. In truth, Ghita Gherardini was
very beautiful. She had however lis
tened too earnestly to the passionate
words Of the singers, and an immense
p..i le took possession of her young sou.
enc night she heard beneath her VIM
dow the yearning sob of lutte. Stand
ing in IL motiOnless gOnlola, loveSick
page was singing to her. Tender was
the music, and the water and the dark
ness added something to the sweetness
of the strains and to the passion in the
voice of the singer. The young page
was clarifying her as the most radiant
among all women,
Ghita heard him, and a delightful
%h,.nI1pl lnp WithnI1f NyHlta
Ing % light the torches, which had gone
our, she took her mirror and ran to the
window, through which the moonlight
shone into her room. Thereupon i'll this
mysterious light she saw that she was
strangely beautiful; that her beauty
was indeed almost supernatural. The
moonlight revealed her pale and trang-
parent, Ike the princess of poem.
intoxicated with her Charms, she let
the seductive mirror slip from her
hand. and a sigh of admiration and Of
ecstasy escaped her as she cried:
II am beautiful. | am beautifulw
Thence forth Ghta Gherardini spent
al her time marycIng at hei OWL beau
ty. She did not desire to fall i'll love,
for she fancied that there was no man
living who was worthy of her. Those
song which had no words Of praise for
her eyes and her hair she treated with
contempt, and t. the mysteries of reli-
gon SIZE never gave Il thought.
She went to high mass solely for the
purpose of being seen by the people
and OF being fattered by them as they
whispered to one another about her.
The restless eyes were never turned
toward the altar.
she thought of nothing save her own
triumphant beauty and Of the jewels
which set it off in sumptuous fashion.
One day Ghita Gherardni slipped
little mirror beside the first page of
her mass book, which had been deli
cately Illuminated by piOuS artist.
And while her attitude OF devotion edi-
fed the multitude she studied her face
enslrincd in the book OF prayer
The doge's niece had forgotten that
the Creator alone IS worthy of Wor-
ship and not any Of his creatures. She
had also forgotten that pride is an
abominable sin-aye, perhaps the most
DcrilouS of all SinS-SinCe it was the
cause of the rebellion Of the archan-
gels and the downfall of Lucifer.
One day Gh!ta Ghcrardini was in.
tently studying her face in the little
mirror between the holy leaves of her
mass book. and suddenly she uttered
loud cry of terror. Through the large
building it rang, drowning the solemn
voice Of the priest, the responses of the
congregation and the sonorous muir
the doSes niece fell 10 the G@oUnd in
Il faint. She had seen reflected i'll the
guilty mirror, the sdc"!egious mirror,
not her own countCnaure, but that of
Death.
There is today in the Ch,:rch Of San
Giorsls M;;gg.Es;ore, where this miracle
was accomplished, the statue of Il Wo-
man. who is seated and looking at hCr-
self in mirror. Very beautiful is
this woman. as beautiful rs Ghita
GherardinI was formerly. Che story
goes that this statue Is the WQl; Of u
famous sculptor but the peoY.e le-
lieve-and their legends contain
good deal of trutll-that it w2s once
Ghita Gherardini herself &ud tat her
body was turned into stone t., tle ter
rible vision.
To all those who love the silence of
dead cities offer this legend | found
il Mt Venice as one occasionally finds 4
flower which has bioSSOmed ami:l SOM
Der shadows on Il sleeping lagoon
Helene de Iuylcn d2 Nyeve,t in Euro
pean Edition New York Herald.
The Onion.