Miorița - Romanian Folk Ballad

Nicolae Grigorescu's paintings

Miorița is a Romanian folk poem, spread over 1500 variants in all regions of Romania. Is a specific Romanian folk creation, not known to other nations . The song was conceived in Transylvania, based on a rite of initiation and interpreted in the form of carols during the holiday season. Turned into a ballad (in southern and eastern regions of the country) in this version is considered a consummate literary text in terms of layout and style. It was examined and commented on the most famous people of Romanian culture.

Mioritic reason was the inspiration for writers, composers and Romanian and foreign artists. It has been translated into over 20 languages. It is considered one of the four fundamental myths of Romanian literature  and is now a national cultural brand.

 MIORIȚA

Near a low foothill

At Heaven’s doorsill,

Where the trail’s descending

To the plain and ending,

Here three shepherds keep

Their three flocks of sheep,

One, Moldavian,

One, Transylvanian

And one, Vrancean.

Now, the Vrancean

And the Transylvanian

In their thoughts, conniving,

Have laid plans, contriving

At the close of day

To ambush and slay

The Moldavian;

He, the wealthier one,

Had more flocks to keep,

Handsome, long-horned sheep,

Horses, trained and sound,

And the fiercest hounds.

One small ewe-lamb, though,

Dappled gray as tow,

While three full days passed

Bleated loud and fast;

Would not touch the grass.

”Ewe-lamb, dapple-gray,

Muzzled black and gray,

While three full days passed

You bleat loud and fast;

Don’t you like this grass?

Are you too sick to eat,

Little lamb so sweet?”

”Oh my master dear,

Drive the flock out near

That field, dark to view,

Where the grass grows new,

Where there’s shade for you.

”Master, master dear,

Call a large hound near,

A fierce one and fearless,

Strong, loyal and peerless.

The Transylvanian

And the Vrancean

When the daylight’s through

Mean to murder you.”

”Lamb, my little ewe,

If this omen’s true,

If I’m doomed to death

On this tract of heath,

Tell the Vrancean

And Transylvanian

To let my bones lie

Somewhere here close by,

By the sheepfold here

So my flocks are near,

Back of my hut’s grounds

So I’ll hear my hounds.

Tell them what I say:

There, beside me lay

One small pipe of beech

With its soft, sweet speech,

One small pipe of bone

Whit its loving tone,

One of elder wood,

Fiery-tongued and good.

Then the winds that blow

Would play on them so

All my listening sheep

Would draw near and weep

Tears, no blood so deep.

How I met my death,

Tell them not a breath;

Say I could not tarry,

I have gone to marry

A princess – my bride

Is the whole world’s pride.

At my wedding, tell

How a bright star fell,

Sun and moon came down

To hold my bridal crown,

Firs and maple trees

Were my guests; my priests

Were the mountains high;

Fiddlers, birds that fly,

All birds of the sky;

Torchlights, stars on high.

But if you see there,

Should you meet somewhere,

My old mother, little,

With her white wool girdle,

Eyes with their tears flowing,

Over the plains going,

Asking one and all,

Saying to them all,

“Who has ever known,

Who has seen my own

Shepherd fine to see,

Slim as a willow tree,

With his dear face, bright

As the milk-foam, white,

His small moustache, right

As the young wheat’s ear,

With his hair so dear,

Like plumes of the crow

Little eyes that glow

Like the ripe black sloe?’

Ewe-lamb, small and pretty,

For her sake have pity,

Let it just be said

I have gone to wed

A princess most noble

There on Heaven’s doorsill.

To that mother, old,

Let it not be told

That a star fell, bright,

For my bridal night;

Firs and maple trees

Were my guests, priests

Were the mountains high;

Fiddlers, birds that fly,

All birds of the sky;

Torchlights, stars on high.”

 

The legend of Violet - the flower

Few flowers have symbolized the renewal of spring, and the triumphs and tribulations of love, as much as the violet. Blooming in the shade, these beautiful innocent bystanders of nature’s woodland paths hold a history of their own for their uses in medicine and popular culture.

Scientific name: Viola odorata
Family: Violaceae
Common Names: Hearts Ease~ ~Bird's Eye~ ~Bullweed~ ~Pink-eyed John~ ~Pink-of-my-Joan~ ~Godfathers~ ~Godmothers~ ~Wild Pansy~ ~Love-lies-bleeding~ ~Love-in idleness~ ~Love Idol~ ~Cuddle Me~ ~Call-me-to-you~ ~Meet-me-in-the-entry~ ~Kit-run-in-the-fields~ ~Three-faces-under-a-hood~ ~Jack-jump-up-and-kiss-me~ ~Kiss-me-at-the-garden-gate~ ~Kiss-her-in-the-buttery~

Violas have over 200 common names, a large number of them relating to sex and love. The name Violet is said to be from "Vias"  meaning wayside.

Violets

According to one legend it was Venus who made the violet blue. She had been disputing with her son Cupid as to which was more beautiful... herself or a bevy of girls, and Cupid, with no fear of his mother, declared for the girls. This sent Venus into such a rage that she beat her rivals till they turned blue and turned into violets.

Called the "Flower of Modesty" because it hides its flowers in the heart-shaped leaves. Also called "Our Lady's Modesty" because it was said to have blossomed when Mary said to the Angel Gabriel, who had come to tell her she was to bear the Son of God, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord." The monks of the Middle Ages called "Viola tricolor," common in Europe, the "Herb of the Trinity" ("herba trinitatis" )  because they saw the symbol of the trinity in their three colors. The name "Heartsease" stemmed from its old use as a medicine to treat heart disease. People believed God gave the plant heart-shaped leaves for that use. The name may also come from its ancient use as an aphrodisiac and a love potion. The deep purple"Viola odorata" native of the Mediterranean region, is so sweet that an oil from it is used in the perfume industry.

The Role of Violets in the Ancient World

In ancient Greece, the playwright Aristophanes referred to Athens as the “Violet-Crowned City,” because Ion, the legendary founder of Athens who was crowned there, was an exact match of “ion,” the Greek word for violet. According to legend, Ion was leading his people to Attica and was welcomed by water nymphs, who gave him violets as signs of their good wishes. Thus violets became the city's emblem, and no Athenian home, altar or wedding was complete without them. Persephone, the daughter of the Earth Mother Demeter, was picking violets when Pluto kidnapped her to live with him in the underworld. Violets grew where Orpheus slept, and it was Venus who made violets blue. Disputing with her son Cupid over who was more beautiful, herself or a group of young maidens, Cupid favored the maidens. Venus flew into such a rage that she beat her competitors till they turned blue and became violets. Their connection to Venus made violets a popular love potion and aphrodisiac.

Both Greeks and Romans associated violets with funerals and death. Violets were routinely scattered around tombs, and, as symbols of innocence and modesty, children’s graves were routinely so blanketed with violets that the grave was completely covered.

White Violet

The Ancients' name for violets was “Iona”; they believed that Zeus, the king of the gods, originated violets in the meadows where Io used to wander. Zeus had fallen in love with the lovely nymph, Io, and changed her into a white heifer to protect her from his wife’s wrath. When Lo wept over the taste of the coarse grass she was forced to eat, Zeus changed her tears into sweet-smelling violets that only she was permitted to eat. The Athenians revered the violet, decorated their houses with it, and wore crowns of violets at their feasts and on festive occasions.

Persians and Greeks used the plants to help induce sleep, to calm anger, and to heal the heart and the head. Violet flowers steeped in hot water helped to ease a broken heart.

Romans made wine from violet blossoms, and decorated banquet tables with them believing that the flowers could prevent drunkenness. On the mornings after their festivities, Romans wore violet wreaths to relieve hangovers. Pliny documented the medicinal properties of violets, prescribing them for gout and spleen disorders.

Sentiment & Symbolism

Greek legend tells of a nymph named Io, who was beloved by Zeus. To hide her from Hera, his wife, Zeus changed Io into a white cow. When Io wept over the taste and texture of the coarse grass, Zeus changed her tears into dainty, sweet-smelling violets only she was permitted to eat. Roman myth tells a different story, one of lovely maids of antiquity who became the victims of Venus' wrath when Cupid judged them more beautiful than her. In her jealous fury, Venus beat the maidens until they became blue, and thus turned into violets.

In Christian art, the violet symbolizes the Virgin Mary’s humility. One ancient tale states that violets were in fact white until Mary was filled with anguish from watching her son, Christ, suffer upon the Cross. At this moment all the white violets turned purple to echo her mourning. Perhaps this is a reason why purple remains a color associated with mourning. In Renaissance paintings, Mary, while holding the baby Jesus, is often depicted with violets to symbolize her humility or perhaps as a premonition of Jesus’ death, as in this early painting "Madonna Benois", or "Madonna and Child with Flowers" (c. 1475-1478) by Leonardo da Vinci. And the viewer can make out tiny violets in the foreground of this painting by Sienese artist Giovanni Paolo aptly named "Madonna of Humility"(1435).




To dream of violets is a promise of advancement in life. It is said that a garland of violets worn about the head prevents dizziness. They are considered a good luck gift to any woman in any season, but where violets bloom in autumn, epidemics will follow within the year.

The Middle Ages

Violets were awarded as prizes to French troubadours in poetry contests. In Germany, folk dancers celebrated the first violets of Spring. A 10th Century English herbal claimed that violet blossoms could repel evil spirits and Britons and Celts used the flowers in salves and beauty lotions. Monks called violets the Herb of the Trinity because they saw the symbol of the holy trinity in its three leaves. Medieval Christians believed violets were once strong, upright flowers until the day of the crucifixion, when the shadow of the cross fell upon them, causing them to bow their heads in shame for Christ’s persecution.

From the 16th Century, the violet's use as a pain reliever was extensive, since it is among the few plants to contain salicylic acid, the chief ingredient in aspirin.

Color Messages

Violets are a symbol of faithfulness, a symbol of purity and charm against evil. Blue violets says "I'll always be true" and signify constancy; white violets depict modesty, or the desire to "take a chance on happiness"; and yellow violets convey modest worth, and the White violets - depict modesty and the desire to "take a chance on happiness" 

Corporal Violet

Legend has it that while Napoleon was in exile on the island of Elba, he confided to his partisans that he would return to France with the appearance of the violets in the spring, earning him the code name Corporal Violet. To determine a loyal supporter, a stranger was asked, “Do you like violets?” If the reply was “Yes” (Oui) or “No” (Non), it revealed one who did not know of the plot. If the answer was “Eh bien,” it confirmed the person’s loyalty.

Viorica - Romanian Violet

Once upon of time there was a girl called Violet. Her step mother didn’t like her, so one day she decided to get rid of the little girl. She took her over the forest and left her  there in the cold winter.  Not knowing how to get out of the forest in short time she fell  asleep and froze to death.

But she didn’t die. She mannaged to transform herself into a little violet flower which we call Viorica (Violet). And from that moment on, Violets blossum in spring before the snow melts.

Aesop's myths

Fables

The various collections that go under the rubric "Aesop's Fables" are still taught as moral lessons and used as subjects for various entertainments, especially children's plays and cartoons.

Aesop

Most of what are known as Aesopic fables is a compilation of tales from various sources, many of which originated with authors who lived long before Aesop.

Aesop himself is said to have composed many fables, which were passed down by oral tradition. Socrates was thought to have spent his time turning Aesop’s fables into verse while he was in prison. Demetrius Phalereus, another Greek philosopher, made the first collection of these fables around 300 BC. This was later translated into Latin by Phaedrus, a slave himself, around 25 BC. The fables from these two collections were soon brought together and were eventually re-translated into Greek by Babrius around A.D. 230. Many additional fables were included, and the collection was in turn translated to Arabic and Hebrew, further enriched by additional fables from these cultures.

Life

The place of Aesop's birth was and still is disputed: Thrace, Phrygia, Egypt, Ethiopia, Samos, Athens, Sardis and Amorium all claimed the honor. It has been argued by modern writers that he may have been of African origin: the scholar Richard Lobban has argued that his name is likely derived from "Aethiopian", a word used by the Greeks to refer mostly to dark-skinned people of the African interior. He continues by pointing out that the stories are populated by animals present in Africa, many of the creatures being quite foreign to Greece and Europe.

There is also a possible link to Islam.Often confused with Aesop, and having lived several centuries earlier, Aesop's fables may be derived from the works of Lokman.

The life of Aesop himself is shrouded in obscurity. He is said to have lived as a slave in Samos around 550 B.C. An ancient account of his life is found in The Book of Xanthus the Philosopher and His Slave Aesop.

According to the sparse information gathered about him from references to him in several Greek works (he was mentioned by Aristophanes, Plato, Xenophon and Aristotle), Aesop was a slave for someone called Xanthus (Ξανθος), who resided on the island of Samos. Aesop must have been freed, for he conducted the public defense of a certain Samian demagogue (Aristotle, Rhetoric, ii. 20). He subsequently lived at the court of Croesus, where he met Solon, and dined in the company of the Seven Sages of Greece with Periander at Corinth. During the reign of Peisistratus he was said to have visited Athens, where he told the fable of The Frogs Who Desired a King to dissuade the citizens from attempting to depose Peisistratus for another ruler. A contrary story, however, said that Aesop spoke up for the common people against tyranny through his fables, which incensed Peisistratus, who was against free speech.

The following is only 40 titles from the whole work of Aesop, which is estimated to be 135 Myths

   
        1. The north wind and the sun
        2. The hard-working and the drone
        3. The child who was stealing and his mother
        4. The kingfisher
        5. The lion and the mouse
        6. The dog, the rooster and the fox
        7. The lion in love and the farmer
        8. The viper and water snake
        9. The daw and the Pigeons
        10. The mosquito and the lion
        11. The shepherd that was joking
        12. The Lion, the fox, and deer
        13. The fox and the monkey
        14. The two beetles
        15. The farmer and his dogs
        16. The woodcutter and Hermes
        17. The Manage and the fox
        18. The wild cat and a rooster
        19. The eagle and the foxes
        20. The robbers and raspberry tree
        21. The cat and the mice
        22. The wolf and the goat
        23. The old lady and the lion
        24. The goat and the donkey
        25. The old lady and the doctor
        26. The imprisoned lion and the hunters
        27. The wolf and the grazing
        28. The man and the foxes
        29. The wife and chores
        30. The farmer and the iced snake
        31. The goat and the goat shepherd
        32. The wolf and lamb
        33. The robbers and the rooster
        34. The daw and the birds
        35. The wolf and the old lady
        36. The old man and death
        37. The bird and the bat
        38. The wild cat and hens
        39. The tone and dolphins
        40. The mouse and the frog

SOME OF THE CLASSIC TREASURY OF AESOP'S FABLE

The cicada and the ants

 It was raining for a whole day and night and the soil turned into mud and water and ran through the anthill. Ants’ food was soaked. The next day the rain stopped and the sun shined in the sky.  There weather was good for a whole week. When the soil dried, the ants carried all their food out from the hill so it could be dried from the sun. The ants will have food to eat until the next summer. A cicada, which was hiding from the rain appeared and started searching for food. Cicadas eat leaves from the trees. Unfortunately the trees didn’t have leaves and the cicada didn’t have anything to eat. It went to the ants and told them.

-    Can you give me some food?
-    Why? the ants asked. Don’t you have any food?
-    No, the cicada answered.
-    What did you do at the previous summer?
-    Summer was very nice and I was singing.
-    Well, if you were singing at summer, now in winter it is a good idea to dance, answered the ants.

And the cicada understood how foolishly he reacted. He should have collected food when it was still summer instead of entertaining himself.

The two mice

Once upon a time a mouse that lived in a city decided to go for a walk in the countryside. There he meet a mouse that lived in the fields and they became friends. The mouse that lived in the fields offered the city mouse fruit and other vegetables.  They ate, and then the city mouse told his friend to come in the city to see how it was and to eat food there too. So, a week later the two mice went to a cellar of an old city house. When the mouse from the fields saw all this food, that he didn’t  know existed, he was very excited.

-    All this food is for us, my friend! ,said the city mouse. Let’s eat.

Cheese, fruit, honey, potatoes and many other things. All of them were delicious. Suddenly, footsteps were heard.

-    We must hide! said the city mouse to his friend. The owner of the house is coming and if she sees us she will catch us.

They hid behind a box. The owner left and the two mice went out again.

-    Taste the honey said the city mouse.

There is nothing more delicious.

-    Wow! said his friend. I am jealous of you because you live in the city and you eat so many delicious things.

But suddenly footsteps were heard again. The two mice saw the owner with her cat coming.

-    Here, my cat. These awful mice are hiding in the cellar.

She left living the cat in the cellar. The two mice were very frightened so they stayed hidden. Luckily, the cat found a cup with milk and started drinking. So, the two mice ran quickly to their nest.

-    We escaped! said the city mouse to his friend . Tomorrow night we will come again.
-    Are you sure that the cat won’t come?
-    I am not sure at all but what can I do? Stay in my nest and have nothing to eat?
-    Does this happen every night?
-    Some nights nobody disturbs me. Well, calm down and tomorrow we will eat new and tastier food.
-    No, my friend, told the mouse of the fields. I will return to the countryside. I can’t stand being scared every night. I prefer eating fruit and vegetables and live in peace and quiet rather than eating honey and meat and being afraid of the cat. Goodbye and thank you for your hospitality.

And the mice of the fields run quickly to return to the countryside.

The lion which was afraid of a mouse and a fox

Once upon a time, a lion was sleeping in its cave. All night over  it was hunting, it had eaten a lot and it wasn’t hungry anymore so it was having a deep nap and was snoring. All the other wild animals which were living in the same area were listening to the lion’s snore and were  running away because even if it was asleep it was still frightening.

Only a fox passing by the cave, listened to  the snore and stayed to watch the king of the animals sleeping. Then  a mouse which  was already in the cave, wanted to leave so it creeped over the lion’s body, because there was no other way of escape. The lion woke up immediately, frightened, looking for what was creeping over it. The fox started laughing and making fun of it.

-I had never imagined that you, the king of the animals, will be scared of  a little mouse.

-Of course I wasn’t scared of it, answered the lion. I was taken aback that there is an animal which can walk over a sleeping lion’s body!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The bird and the bat

There was a bird which was enclosed into its cage that was next to the window. It was spring, the window was left opened and the bird was thinking of its life at forest, where it could fly free, and was singing.  All over the day when its owners were awake and were walking around the house, the bird was frightened so it wasn’t singing.

But when it was night and its owners were sleeping, the enclosed bird wasn’t afraid anymore so it was singing about its sadness. A bat, whose cave was near the bird’s cage, and was out for hunting the night, noticed the bird. A night flew over the bird’s cage and asked it:

-Can you tell me the reason why you are silent all day and start singing at night?
-Because I am afraid when its morning, explained the bird.  I was singing all day only when I was living in the forest. Then I was caught by people and enclosed in this tight "prison". Since then, I realized that it is better singing only at night.
-Now it is quite late, said the bat. You should have been more careful of people, when you were free. Now even if you are careful, there is actually no reason since you are already captured.

 The farmer and the frozen snake

On a winter’s morning, a farmer who went at his fields, came across to a snake , frozen by the cold. The farmer was very sensitive and felt sorry for it.

-Oh, pour snake! he was speaking alone.

It is frozen and it may be dead. But if not, it is possible to get well by the warm of my house. But how can somebody make a snake feel warm? He thought to return home but it was quite far away and he had to finish his work.

-Lets put it in my coat, he thought. It’s really warm in here.

So the snake came back to life quickly, felt happy that it was alive, and bit the farmer on his chest. The pour farmer died immediately because of the poison.

-I deserved it just because I felt sorry about an unthankful … murmured the farmer leaving his last breath!!!!

Moral: Learn from my fate not to take pity on a scoundrel. The greatest kindness will not bind the ungrateful.

The wayfarers and the axe

Once upon a time, two friends began for some work and walked discussing. Where they walked, in the forest, the one of them saw that something burnished between the grasses.  He bent to see and he lifted an brand new axe.

- We found an axe! shouted cheerful his companion.

The one however, that had found the axe was upset and it says:

-You do not say we only found a axe, you say: you found a axe.

But, while they advanced, meet three-four lumberjacks, that had lost their new axe and searched they find him. When they saw the two wayfarers, that the one kept to them the axe, they fell above angry.

- We were lost! shouted the one that had found kept him in his hands.

Turns then his friend and says to him:

- Do not say we were lost, you say: I was lost! Neither when you found the axe you wanted me for your companion, neither now that to you him will take and eat also timber want me you will have my companion!


The story shows that if people are not allowed to share in your good fortune, they will not stand by you in times of trouble.

The north wind and the sun
 

Once upon a time, the Sun and the North wind touched a big discussion for whom of the two was the strongest.

- Me, said the Sun.
- No, Me, said the North wind.

And they had so much tenacity, because none of them wanted to recede. So it was no conclusion, neither is come out never, so much stubborn that were also their two.

- I propose to You a bet! said end the North wind.
- Which bet? asked the Sun.
- We choose in the chance a person and that from the two us does accomplish and undress, is the strongest.
- Hmmmm, I accept the bet! said the Sun.

In a short time, appeared in the plain a person, that was alone. Began then, the North wind, to blow hard. The pedestrian bent his head and crossed his hands, on t o breast, in order to it is protected from air. Did the north wind blow more hard and the pedestrian, clasped his clothes and because the North wind you strengthen his blow, so the poor person  removed a woolen blanket, that carried with him in a poke, and wrapped with it, in order not to freeze. As long as more hard it blew the North wind, so much more tight was wrapped in the blanket him the pedestrian. In the end, the North wind bored and was ceased it blows. It in sunlight turned to also it said him:

- Your line now you try to undress him.

The sun appeared in the sky, as soon as it stopped blows the North wind, and immediately the pedestrian removed from on his blanket and put him in the poke. Strengthened the glare of the Sun and the passer clasped of the garment.

But the Sun  strengthen always more a lot his shine and the pedestrian, that had begun to sweat, it began to remove one by one his clothes, until, in the end he remain undressed  and looked at right and left, if there was a tree in order to go and lay down in shadow. Because however he did not find tree, it fall in the river, that passed there near and it remained in water, until the Sun, slowly-slowly, dwindled his shine.

- You  are the strongest! admitted the North wind, bidding farewell to Helium.

MORAL: Persuasion is better than force, and a kind and gentle manner will get quicker results than threats.

The legends of bee and of the spider

Once upon a time there was a woman and she had two children: a boy and a girl. They set out for the world to earn their living. The boy became an apprentice at a cloth weaver and the girl carried stons for a waller. When she felt her end was near the mother called her children by her side. The girl came immediately but the boy didn't want to. His mother forgave him but, after her death, the girl turned into a bee and the boy into a spider. The spider has lived alone ever since, without any brothers or sisters, without parents. He hides from light and forever weaves his web in dark corners. He is sad and people always tear his web and kill him. Where as the bee is happy all day long, flying from flower to flower and lives with her huge family, brothers and sisters together in a hive. Everybody loves her because she is industrions and her honey is sweet and healing and we all benefit from her work.