Tuesday, April 8, 2014

G is for Green, and some mysterious princesses

This post will be short and sweet, since I just tumbled home from a road trip down south to Tennessee. To honor the fact that I have seen green for the FIRST TIME IN FOREVER, G is for Green today.

First off, we have yet another one of the Seven Princesses to visit: The Tartar princess of the Green Pavilion. This princess tells Bahram Gur a story about a scholar whose only joy in life was his daily walk in the park; other than that hour or so, he spent all his time studying and reading, and was too busy even to take a wife and start a family. But one day on his walk a woman passed by him, and as a breeze lifted her veil he caught a glance at her face, and instantly fell in love. He spent weeks searching for the mysterious woman, but never saw her again. In his desperation he decided to take a pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
When it was time for him to leave the holy city, a local scholar persuaded him not to wait for the caravan, but rather set out with him as a guide through the desert. As anyone can suspect, this proved to be a very bad idea. The scholar got completely lost, and after a few days tumbled into a well and died. Our man finally made his way home and went seeking the scholar's house to give the bad news to the family. And guess who opened the door... That's right.
Sometimes even these princess stories have a happy ending.

Another green story is a Hungarian folktale titled Green Peter. I have included it in my book on superpowers under "Heightened Senses" because it tells about a princess who could see through walls and as far as she wished. Green Peter, the tale's male hero, is challenged to hide from this princess in order to win her hand in marriage. Obviously this is no easy task, as anyone could testify who ever attempted to play hide and seek with Superman. Just when Peter starts to get desperate, magical things come to his help... and of course, all is well in the end, just for the single reason that super sight does not help you notice things that are too close to you.
I am sad to say for this theme, the story never actually reveals why he is called Green Peter. If you would like to see a colorful cartoon version of this tale, click here.

For a great (folk?)tale collection of Irish stories, read The Green Hero by Bernard Evslin.

21 comments:

  1. Enjoying this series tremendously :) I am always 'for' the happy endings, so am happy that the scholar found his love after all that hardship!

    Beauty Interprets, Expresses, Manifests the Eternal

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  2. I like green with it's happy endings :). Two chaps who got their gals and all is well.
    Tasha
    Tasha's Thinkings - AtoZ (Vampires)
    FB3X - AtoZ (Erotic Drabbles)

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  3. Hi Zalka
    Like Beloo, I love happy endings too :)

    Best wishes
    ServicefromHeart.blogspot.com
    #AtoZChallenge 2014 participant

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  4. Loved it. Thanks

    Came by from
    http://talesofthereborncrafter.blogspot.com

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  5. I like the first one because I'm a sucker for the happy ending—especially when it happens with a twist.

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  6. Fun stories! Although I love folktales, both these are new to me. Thanks for sharing.

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  7. Oh! I love those. I'm so glad I stumbled across your blog. I could spend all day here reading. =)

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  8. The story of the scholar started sad and was heading toward tragic, but I'm glad it had a happy ending. I really liked that story. :)

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  9. I have a book with stories of strong, powerful girls rather than the usual "rescue me" female characters. I love what you're doing here. So good to show multiple sides and three dimensionality!

    So glad I came today -- Happy Happy A to Z!

    Julie Jordan Scott
    The Bold Writer from A to Z

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  10. A pair of happy green endings, one due to fate, the other to magic - great :)
    Sophie
    Sophie's Thoughts & Fumbles - A to Z Ghosts
    Fantasy Boys XXX - A to Z Drabblerotic

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  11. Fun to read! Visiting from the A-Z!

    Kathy
    http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com

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  12. Good story, loving your color scheme :)

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  13. Green and giddy... smiling ! great #a2zchallenge post ,my G is GOURD and some are green at http://4covert2overt.blogspot.com/

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  14. Sounds like great reading! Green is my favorite color, so I might have to put these novels on my goodreads list! Thanks for sharing...Happy A to Z!

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  15. Really enjoying your weaving of stories and colors - thanks for it!

    Pam from Story Crossings (www.storycrossing.com/blog/)

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  16. But wait was the woman the scholar's wife? daughter? I kinda end up feeling sorry for that guy instead of happy for the happy ending of the other.

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  17. Actually in the story it turns out she was the wife, but she did not like her husband who was abusive (?) so she was happy to marry the hero in the end.

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  18. Great stories. And Happy Spring. :)

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  19. Happy endings are cool!
    I'll visit again tomorrow, when I have some time...
    Great posts!

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