Emperor’s daughter transformed into a bird. Legend of the lark (lullula)

Long ago, when fleas shod themselves with nine iron gooses and leapt to the sky to bring us stories, somewhere, in a corner of the world, there lived an emperor’s daughter. Lia. And so proud and beautiful was our girl that the news went out to the whole world, with lads coming from all over the mountains and hills and valleys to wean her. But as they came, so they went, because Lia didn’t want any of them. Not because they weren’t God-helpful, but because the girl’s desire was different.

The nights were of mourning and anguish for poor Lie, whose heart was only enlivened at dawn, when she could look lovingly from the window at the proud Sun. Wild, burning with fire, in his chariot of fire, chasing his jade bivouacs, on the heavenly vault, towards the West.

She sat like this, at the window, day after day, month after month, from St. Mary’s Day until St. Elijah’s Day, when, struck by a thought, she gathered a few things in a little ball, took her long iron shoes and went away. Oh, and they searched the kingdom for her for nothing. In vain have they searched the forests, the waters, the glades and the skies. Our girl was nowhere to be found. He went to look for the Sun.

Nine seas and nine countries, deserts, oceans and strange worlds she travelled across the beautiful Lie until, with her shoes shredded and more dead than alive, she reached the gates of the kingdom of the Sun. What happened there we don’t really know. But I found out from a bee that the Sun has fallen hard for the girl.

Then darkness fell over the land…

That’s not because he had any quarrel with the people and diarrhea here. Caught tightly in Lia’s pale hair and big, blue eyes, he forgot the chariot and the horses, and the East and the West, not caring that at his feet the whole world was withering to death.

But they were not all as insensitive to the fate of the people up there in the kingdom of the Sun, because the mother of the star was more concerned. And out of love for the world and for all here, he took the girl by the hand and, uttering a curse, threw her down from heaven back to earth. Lia, however, did not die and become one with the earth, as we might think, because the curse turned her into a bird.

And so, from that summer day that brought the sun back to the sky and light to the earth, through meadows, forests and wheat fields a tiny bird appeared. A lark. One that has never found peace since then, and that year after year flies high into the sky towards the Sun, to fall from the clouds back to earth.

…and this little bird in love with the sun, the Latin language named it Lullula…