MYTH*ING LINKS
An Annotated & Illustrated Collection of Worldwide
Links to Mythologies,
Fairy Tales & Folklore, Sacred Arts & Sacred
Traditions
by Kathleen Jenks, Ph.D.
RUSSIAN FOLKLORE
The Stone Flower
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Re-told by Kathleen Jenks, Ph.D.
Tradestone
International
...In
the outside world, winter had turned to spring, then summer, and finally
autumn while Katya grieved for her husband. Her parents and friends all
urged her to forget Danila and marry someone else, but she refused. At
last, to get away from their nagging voices, she went to stay wiith Prokopitch,
helping him polish his stone boxes, selling them for him in the village
market, and preparing his meals. The old man rarely spoke, and this suited
Katya's own sorrowful mood. She never went up to the pastures anymore.
A neighbor's child tended the old man's sheep and goats, but the child
had his meals with his own family and Katya rarely saw him.
CBSCO
...One
evening, while Prokopitch was carving, Katya was brushing her hair in front
of a mirror. She stared dreamily into the mirror, mesmerized by the movement
of her golden hair in the candlelight. Suddenly, the surface of the mirror
trembled and clouded over. Startled, Katya leaned closer and watched as
Danila appeared before her eyes! She saw him in a cavern with jewels glistening
from the walls, but these were nothing compared with the beauty of the
translucent green flower he was carving. "Danila!" she cried, and it almost
seemed as if he heard her, for he dropped his chisel, and looked around.
She reached out to touch him, but her fingers met only her mirror.
Then a second figure appeared -- the dark woman she thought she had
seen turn into a lizard when she had wandered heartbroken through the upper
pastures a year earlier. The woman reached out for Danila and he moved
willingly into her arms. "No," Katya sobbed, "no." The vision vanished.
Katya went the next day to seek the advice of the village
elder, a wise man, older than anyone in living memory. He listened with
half shut eyes. "It's Her," he said at last. "That's who you saw. Danila
asked about Her the night of your wedding. I told him it was only a story
but he must have guessed the truth."
"Her? Who do you mean, 'Her'?" Katya demanded. When she learned what
the elder knew, little though it was, she decided to follow Danila into
the high mountains. Goddess or not, she determined, she and Danila belonged
together and she wanted him back.
By Pichugina / Tradestone
International
...The
first snows were starting to fall when Katya kissed Prokopitch goodbye,
told him not to worry, and set off. She was warmly dressed and carried
enough food to last for several days, or longer, if she were careful. The
elder had not known how long she might have to walk and she wanted to be
prepared.
The storm worsened as she climbed higher. Trees reached out to catch
at her clothing, roots sprang up to trip her, the wind tore at her braids,
tangling them in the branches, and a tree uprooted itself before her eyes
and nearly crushed her. Several times she thought she heard tiny bells
and someone laughing, and once she glimpsed the dark lizard-woman, but
a moment later there was nothing. "Maybe she's watching me, maybe she's
not," Katya muttered aloud. "I don't care. She can't stop me." Katya had
great courage. She trusted that even her otherworldly rival would be unable
to defeat the strength of Katya's love for Danila. The dangers she might
have to face on the way were small compared to the treasure she sought.
Author's Collection
....Danila's
work on the Stone Flower was nearing completion. He was awed that the stone
had allowed him to shape its music into such beauty. The petals seemed
to breathe, lit by an inner radiance. The stone has given me the secret
of giving form to its soul, he thought. Sometimes he wondered if the stone's
soul and his own weren't the same, so closely were they intertwined. He
stepped back now, gazing upwards at the luminous petals.
...The
goddess suddenly appeared at his side, her silken green robes swirling
around her. Danila barely glanced at her. Frowning, she read his thoughts.
He's restless, she thought, and irritable. He thinks he's accomplished
what he came for but he's wrong. I've been able to awaken his artistic
soul but not his human heart. Without both, one day he'll abuse what now
has the power to awe him. He's flawed, like a jewel with no warmth. It's
better that he die here. Unless...
She blurred her form into a wind, leaving the caverns far behind,
and a moment later she was swirling high above the pines, searching for
a hungry, exhausted woman lost in the mountains.
Katya could not permit herself to recognize that she was
hopelessly lost, starving, her feet swollen, her clothes torn, her body
frozen and numb. It would be so good, she thought, just to sit and rest
for a moment, to lie in the snow, to fall asleep, and never wake. "No,"
she muttered grimly. "Never. I'll keep searching as long as I have any
strength left." She closed her eyes tightly and tried to summon the visions
that had once came to her so readily. But nothing happened. She opened
them and stumbled on. "Danila, Danila," she murmured, finding strength
in his name.
Tradestone
International
...
Hours
later, not knowing nor caring how she got there, Katya found herself in
a mountain pass facing a towering expanse of rock. It looked impassable,
yet scattered birch leaves marked a path towards something glowing at the
base of the dark rock, inviting her to draw nearer. When she did, she discovered
a secret entrance -- and steps leading down into a cavern shining with
light. Cautiously, she entered.
It was warm inside. She found a steaming, hissing pool of mineral
waters where she knelt and drank. She felt the warmth coursing through
her body, restoring her. Beyond the pool was a tunnel leading into larger
caverns. "Danila!" she called as the path drew her downwards.
Tradestone
International
...The
Malachite Lady stood at Danila's side and reached out to touch his cheek.
He pulled away. "No," he said shortly. "Not now -- forgive me, Holy Lady,
but the stone flower is finished now. I need to leave -- I need to show
others what I can do. I miss the pastures, the forests. I miss --" and
his voice caught in a half-sob, "I miss Katya. I've been down here too
long." As he turned, she reached out to hold him back but he tore away
and rushed toward one of the tunnels leading out of the cavern.
Abruptly, a sheet of rock fell into place, sealing it off.
Frightened, Danila ran towards another opening, trying to hurtle through
it before she could act. But another sheet of rock was already crashing
into place. Her tinkling laughter rang through the air. "You see, you can't
leave me if I don't wish it."
From a distance Danila heard someone calling his name and he froze,
dazed, as the name echoed through the vast network of caves. Slowly, the
voice came nearer until finally he recognized it. "Katya!" he cried, springing
towards the last opening. "Katya! Katya!" He leaped through the passage
and into the next cavern, still shouting, rushing over the uneven ground.
Katya, guided by his voice, now suddenly appeared at the other end of the
same cavern and ran towards him as if her feet were winged. They met for
a moment in a tearful, joyous embrace. Then Danila broke free. "Come,"
he whispered urgently, "I must get you out of here before it's too late!"
By Tikhomirov / Russian Sunbirds
The laughter of a thousand tiny bells filled the cavern and the Mistress
of Copper Mountain towered above them. "Quick!" Danila said, "get behind
me." He tried to pull her to safety, but Katya was too fast. She stepped
forward, boldly confronting the goddess. "You've kept him long enough,"
she shouted. "Now it's my turn! -- I want him back!" The towering figure
blurred and coiled itself into a woman in rainbow robes who was now only
slightly taller than Katya herself. Katya stared into her dark, fathomless
eyes. "I know you've cared well for him," she said more gently, "but no
one could love him as much as I do -- please, please, Holy Lady, let him
go."
The goddess shifted her gaze to Danila. "And you, Danila?" she asked
softly. "What is in your heart?"
Danila could not speak. He moved forward, placing one arm protectively
around Katya. Tears streamed down his face as he felt his heart bursting
within him. The Malachite Lady read his heart. Yes, she thought, we've
succeeded at last.
Author's Collection
...Turning
back to Katya, she reached into her flowing sleeves and pulled out a malachite
box. "I entrust it to you, Katya. Danila has already discovered the
secret of the Stone Flower, but to you, I give of my own essence."
Katya opened the box and gasped. It was filled with stones and jewels
in all the colors of the rainbow. She picked up a plain stone of polished
granite and saw the goddess blur into a spirit of grey mists and fog with
a laughter as rich as summer thunder. Then a piece of amber, and the mists
swirled downward and turned into a small woman in golden robes embroidered
with pine needles. A ruby, and the goddess grew tall, dressed in snapping
flames. Lapis Luzuli, and she turned into a cosmic mother whose robes were
the night sky scattered with stars.
She smiled at Katya. "Back in your world, you'll no longer see me
as you just have, but the power remains coiled in each stone, responsive
to a heart wise enough to understand." Then she vanished.
By Kurbatov / Tradestone
International
...The
ending is simply told: Katya and Danila found their way back into the world,
where it was springtime. The villagers welcomed them with joy. Danila soon
became famous for his wonderful stone flowers and people came from as far
away as the Czar's court to admire them. Katya and Danila had many children
and Danila patiently taught them the secrets of his craft.
But Katya taught them the most important thing of
all -- respect for the inner wealth and unseen powers lying in the trees,
lizards, stones, rocks, and streams all around them.
Tradestone
International
Text copyright ©1998
and 2007 by Kathleen Jenks
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Text and Design:
Copyright 2007 by Kathleen Jenks, Ph.D.
Re-formatted 4-5 October 2007 since, alas, the original
21 April 2000 Sunbirds page is long dead; I've added much new Russian
art.
10 October 2007: finished tweeking & then split
file into 3 connecting pages
because I discovered I had nearly 1000 KB when I tried
to upload the original single page.
11&12 October 2007: a few re-edits and art additions/replacements.
RELATED LINKS:
For a different "Stone Flower" excerpt
from my currently inactive Pegasus project, click
here.
For the science and history of malachite as well as
its use in art, see: Myth*ing
Links' Minerals: Malachite
For further data on Russian lore, see: Myth*ing
Links' Russian Folklore
For the Wayback Machine's unillustrated
version of my original 1998 "Stone Flower" text, click
here.