Welcome to the 2022 A to Z Blogging Challenge! My theme this year is Gemstone Folklore. Because I love stories about shiny things. Read the introduction to the project here.
EMERALD
Emeralds, the green variety of beryl, have been popular since ancient times. They appear in many folktales and legends, so it was hard to pick just one. In the end, I picked one that I find endearing.
The Emerald Lizard
Guatemala
This story features a kind-hearted monk, Perdo San Joseph de Bethancourt. He cared for the poor, fed the needy, and established a hospital for the sick. One day a poor man came to him to ask for money to buy medicine for his dying wife. Hermano Pedro did not have any money, so he picked up a small lizard from the ground and handed it to the man.
A miracle happened: the lizard turned into an emerald! The poor man sold it, and with the money he managed to save his wife and turn his fortune around. Later on, as a wealthy man, he bought back the emerald lizard, and returned it to Hermano Pedro as a gift of gratitude. The monk placed the lizard gently on the ground... and it ran away.
(Hermano Pedro lived in the 17th century, and is one of the patron saints of Guatemala.)
Sources:
You can read the story here or here. There is also a version in this book, where the lizard turns into gold.
A Mexican version of the same tale features a bejeweled scorpion instead of a lizard.
Other stories:
The tale of Princess Pepperina from India features an emerald amulet, in the shape of a green pepper, that always calls out the truth. Another tale from India talks about an Emerald Mountain, with an Emerald City on top. In a Scottish legend we find a magic emerald goblet that belongs to the faeries. In a tale from Afghanistan, a girl cries emeralds and laughs flowers.
Do you like emeralds?
What images, memories, feelings do they conjure up for you?
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