Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1907-04-18
TIE AZ IIR Islse) e q IS TIE
ENETlAN LEG END OF THE DAYS
OF Iii pOaEs. .a.E.

4 starry q the beauty who was Intoxi-
s Gated With the Vision of Her own
sSSES Lovelin-ss and the statue In the
Church Of san Giorgis Maggiore.
Here is a legend which heard in
3 Venice. offer 1T to all among you
who are fond of solitude and silence.
] offer It to you as / would offer a
4 flower which has blossemed amid som
Der shadows on a sleeping lagoon:
Ghita Gherardini was the niece Of the
doge. Poets whose names have for
]. gotten, but who were renowned at that
+ time, had composed innumerable songs
In her honor They praised in them the
] tresses OF the young girl. black. as night,
Il IN which pearls cleaned like milk
white stars. They also sang about the
radiance Of her dark violet eyes and
about the two roses which formed her
lips In truth, Ghita Gherardini was
very beautiful. She had, however, lis
tened too earnestly to the passionate
words Of the singers, and an immense
pride took possession Of her young soul.
- One night she heard beneath her win
dow the yearning sob of a Lutte Stand
ing In q motionless gondola, a 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 delightful
tremor ran through her. Without wait
ing to light the torches, which had gone
out, she took her mirror and ran to the
window, through which the moonlight
Sahone into her room. Thereupon III this
mysterious light she saw that she was
strangely beautiful; that her beauty
was indeed almost supernatural. The
moonlight revealed her pale and trans
parent, like the princess of poem
Intoxicated with her charms, she let
the seductive mirror slip from her
hand, and q sigh of admiration and of
ecstasy escaped her as she cried:
Il am beautiful! am, beautiful!'
Thenceforth Ghita Gherardini spent
all her time maryeling at her own beau
ty. She did not desire to fall in love,
for she fancied that there was no man
living who was worthy of her. Those
songs which had no words Of praise for
her eyes aud her hair she treated with
scontennt t. and to the mysteries Of reli-
gion she never gave thought.
M 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 'Gherardini slipped a
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-
ned the multitude she studied her face
ensh n In the book OF prayer.
Ehe doge's niece had forgotten that
me Creator alone is worthy of wor-
ship and not any Of his creatures. She
had also forgotten that pride is an
abominable sin we, perhaps the most
perilous of all sins since 1t was the
cause Of the rebellion of the archan-
gels and the downfall Of Lucifer.
One day Ghita Gherardini was in
tently studying her face in the little
mirror between the holy leaves of her
mass book, and suddenly she. uttered a 4
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
muir OF the organ. And straightway
the doge's niece fell to the ground In
\ faint. She had seen reflected in the
guiity mirror, the sacrilegious mirror,
not her own ountenance, but that Of
Death.
There is today In the Church Of San
Giorgis Maggiore, where this miracle
sses accomp lished, the statue of a wo-
man, who Is seated and looking at her.
self in mirror. Very beautiful is
this woman, as beautiful as Ghita
Gherardini was formerly The story
SSS SAAaA1 tAAAS q ma rs Lie SNSOEh OIL "a
famous sculptor, but the people be-
leve- and their legends contain a
GOOD deal OF truth that it was once
Ghita Gherardini herself and that her
bod was turned into stone by the ter
Iible vision.
To- all those who love the silence OF
dead cities I offer this legend found
e u Venice MS one occas ionally finds a
d0wer which has blossomed amid som
her shadows on q sleeping lago
Helena de Auylen de Nyevelt in Euro
psan Edition New York Herald.
IN = Rose and It's Thorns.
M q y Is the old legend Of how the
toseS came Sby Its thorns One day IN
paraS1t Cupid was wing over d gar.
len 6f roses Blossoming there was q n
bsa1tiful pink rose. Cupid bent to 4
kiss it when q bee hidden In the dow
: stung him on the lip. Crying with
pain Cupid fed to n enus, his mother,
1enaand ling vengeance Venus, 10 pact
nim, gave him d bow strung With
eaptiye bees and set the stem of the