Once Upon A Time

February, 2009

Many years ago, in the times when knights were wandering the land looking for adventures, fighting dragons, and saving princesses from imprisonment; when the world looked like a colorful quilt, patched out of tiny kingdoms; there was a country of beautiful rolling hills, sparkling clean rivers and deep woods with plenty of game in it. There were no wars in this country for centuries and people lived and worked together in peace. They preserved traditions, treated their elders with respect and looked after their offspring. It was a nice place to live, indeed.

One could say that this country was very much like any other back in those times, and that would be true except for one thing, which made this place very different from its neighbors. Here, people didn't know what they looked like for there was not a single mirror in the whole country; metal was so shiny, that a glance at it could blind; water was so clean that one looked straight through it. And this was the way people lived here. They knew what their bodies looked like, but there was no way they could see their own faces. For that same reason, they didn't pay nearly as much attention to themselves as they did to others and, rather than praising physical appearance, everybody glorified kindness, generosity, and justice. People, who lived here, fell in love with each other's humane qualities rather than with their looks.
A wise, kind and just king, who liked a good joke and tasty food, ruled over the country. His queen was a cheerful woman, who was as kind and wise as her husband; she got wrinkles around her eyes for she smiled and laughed a lot. The King and Queen were married for a long time and they seemed to be an example of a living “happily ever after”. The Royal couple had a young daughter, who was a cheerful, happy, kind, and curious pretty little thing. Everybody adored her and called her simply- Beauty, so charming was she.

Beauty liked to get up early in the morning, and go to the fields near the castle to pick wild flowers, which she gave to her parents as soon as they woke up. She loved to play with puppies in the garden; run after chickens; help taking care of animals. She wasn’t afraid of getting her hands dirty by helping to water and weed fruits and vegetables and she kept her room neat and clean. Princess had a lot of friends; some of them were of noble families and some of a common folk. They loved to run around the grounds and play “hide and seek” in the castle, so the royal residence was full of joy and laughs from dawn till dusk.

Everybody liked Beauty and knew that one day she would become a wonderful queen and wife to the lucky one who will win her heart.

When time came, noble families from all over started to pour into the castle to propose. Beauty felt like her head was spinning after all the dances she danced at all the balls given at the castle and all those names and titles she had to memorize.

One fine evening, Beauty was introduced to a Prince, who, in spite of his young age, was well known as a gifted scholar and an explorer of far-away lands and respected for mature decisions he made for his country. He was energetic, open-minded and treated everyone with equal respect. He yearned for knowledge and sought understanding of spiritual as well as physical nature of beings. To most people, he was known as Seeker for these six letters described his curious nature better than thousand words. He was the person Beauty fell in love with and whom she became engaged to.

According to the traditions of those times, the Prince had to finish his education before getting married and becoming a ruler of a country. So, he and Beauty had to part. They promised to write every day and keep each other in their minds and hearts at all times.

When the dreadful day, when Seeker had to be gone, arrived, Beauty did her best not to cry, to smile and wave her Seeker good bye. She kept her promise and wrote him every day. Her letters were full of love, longing and tenderness.

She especially loved to write in the evenings, in complete solitude. She made it a habit to walk alone at sunset and look for a nice spot, to sit down there and write; she thought about and talked to her beloved Prince in her thoughts, then. Once, Beauty went for a walk to grounds near the castle. She took off her shoes and felt warm and soft dust underneath her feet; she looked around at the milky-blue sunset sky and listened to birds singing. She sat down on a rock by a road to let her body rest, and breathed in the scent of wild flower growing along the road, soak in the warmth of a summer evening. As she was sitting, she noticed a weird looking man walking down the road. As he got closer, she saw that his outfit was of a strange color, sprinkled with spots of different colors; he carried a big bag on his shoulder and his messy hair was sticking out from underneath his hay hat. She also sensed a strange and strong scent, not unpleasant, which surrounded the man like a cloud.

“Good Evening.” – Beauty said as stranger got closer.

“Good Evening, young Princess.” - He answered politely.

“Where are you coming from and where are you going?”

“I came from over there, “- He pointed behind him. – “And I am going over there. “– He waved his hand toward the sunset. – “This is how much I know.”

“How long have you been traveling then?”

“I have been on a road since I was younger than you, Your Majesty.”

“And what is your profession?”

“I am a painter.” –The painter answered with a smile and a playful spark in his eyes.

Beauty has never heard of such an occupation before, but she didn’t want to seem rude and said nothing of it.

“You must be tired and hungry since you have been traveling for so long. Would you like to go to my father’s castle to get some food and rest?”

“I would be so grateful for it!” – The traveler, who was very tired and hungry, indeed, answered.

“Let’s go then! “–And Beauty led him to the castle.

The painter was greeted as an honored guest; he dined with the King and Queen and got to sleep on a bed, which was filled with soft goose down.
Next morning, the painter came to thank Princess before his departure.

“You were very kind and generous to me. I am very thankful. Would you let me paint your portrait as a sign of my gratitude?”
And then, Princess had to confess that she didn’t have any idea of what he meant. The painter smiled and explained that he was going to use special tools and paint to make Princess be able to see herself.

“The only thing I will ask from you is to sit still for a while.”

Beauty didn’t find anything unlawful or inappropriate about it and willingly agreed to pose. The painter got out a canvas, his brushes, and jars with paint, which were the source of the smell, which Princess scented the day before, from his bag and got to work.

Beauty was very patient. She set by a window; golden rays of sun pouring over her, not moving, for as long as it took the painter to finish her portrait. When he was done, he put his tools back in the bag he was carrying and his hay hat on his head.

“You are very beautiful.” – He said, smiled and left, leaving Princess alone with a canvas covered with an old rug.

Finally, Beauty got enough courage to walk to the painting to look at it. As soon as she pulled down the fabric, she froze in awe. There was a girl of a magnificent, stunning beauty looking back at her. A mysterious smile showed her pearly-white teeth; her lips were a hue of a scarlet rose in her father’s garden; her skin was radiant and as smooth as silk, her eyes of a deep and intense color looked tenderly from underneath long black eyelashes; her thick hair ran down her shoulders and framed a perfectly shaped face, which seemed to be carved out of white marble with a splash of pink on her cheeks.

“This is the most beautiful thing I have seen in my entire life!” –The princess exclaimed. – “This is the most beautiful girl in the whole kingdom! Oh… Is this me? Is this what I really look like?”

And as soon as she realized that it was she, whom she was starring at, a warm wave of pleasure came over her and covered her entire body, from head to toes. She was this stunning beauty and there was nobody who was as beautiful as she was; not even close!
Later the same day, at the dinner, she told her parents about the painter’s gift. She spent the whole evening talking about sparkles in her eyes, softness of her hair, and radiance of her skin. That night, she went to bed far after midnight and even then, she couldn’t fall asleep for the painting was standing in front of her eyes, even though they were shut, disturbing her mind and heart.

The next morning, she got up as early as usual, but, rather than rushing out of her room, as she used to do, she locked the door to make sure that nobody was going to disturb her, and moved her portrait closer to the window for she wanted to see the way morning light reflects from its face, and gets lost in its hair.

After a while, Beauty stopped bringing flowers to her parents; she didn’t bother to help around the castle for she was afraid of getting her beautiful hands dirty; she didn’t play with the puppies any more for she was terrified of getting her tender skin scratched; she limited her letters to Prince to a short message once in a while for writing took too much time away from her portrait, which she got obsessed with. She spend days all alone, standing in front of the canvas and praising perfections of the person it belonged to and finding new qualities to get fascinated about. The more she looked at it, the more she fell in love with it.

Months passed and Prince, who finished his education, came to see his beloved princess. As soon as he stepped over the threshold of the castle, Beauty came running to him, put her tiny finger against his lips and went on and on about her portrait. She talked for hours; he listened. He was very much surprised at the change, which took place for, though Beauty looked as gorgeous as ever, her behavior was so radically different. She seemed not to care for anyone except herself. Late that night, Seeker left. He couldn’t explain the transformation and decided to come back the next day hoping that there was a simple explanation to everything; that the matter could be worked out, and soon it all would be back to normal. So, he came back the next day, and day after next, and day after it until he realized that the change was permanent. A few months ago, he got engaged to a kind, cheerful, and good-hearten girl and now he was about to get married to a cold, selfish, and shallow creature. He thought everything over and made a decision to withdraw his proposal.

“But why?” - Beauty asked surprised. – “I am so beautiful, you know. You will never find anyone who is as beautiful as me!”

“You are absolutely right, Princess.” –Prince answered. – “You are the most gorgeous woman I have ever seen, but it was you I loved and beauty was only a part of you, then now, there is nothing left but the beauty.” –Seeker said and left.

“Oh, he is just jealous!” – Thought the princess and went back to her room. – “And, actually, he doesn’t deserve to be my husband. He is not that handsome himself. Don’t you think so?” - She asked the portrait.

Since that day, Beauty started to live her life pretty much on her own. Nobody wanted to be around her because she became mean and spiteful, as well as she didn’t want to see anybody for people weren’t beautiful enough for her to rest her eyes on them. She stopped eating, as well, for she thought that everyone was jealous of her and wanted to poison her. She spent all of the time locked up in her room next to the portrait, which she talked to and treated it as if it was alive.

One evening, a little bird set on a branch of a tree next to Princess’ window. It started to sing a simple song about that quiet and warm summer evening; about the moon and stars in the sky; about pink and blue sunset and silver lining of the clouds.

And this was a day when Beauty died.

© Copyright by Lyubov Lyalko-Busch