Story of a flower

ASTRA

Aster - aster means "star" in the language of the ancient Romans. At dusk, when the thin and sharp light of bright constellations sways in the sky, the aster seems to send greetings from the earth to her distant sisters, who are so similar to her. The Oneida Indians have such a tradition. The young hunter fell in love with the girl, and she was indifferent to him. - If I knock down a star from the sky, will you become mine? he asked the proud beauty. No one else from their tribe could make the bride happy with such a gift, and the girl, thinking that the hunter was just a braggart, agreed. When the Indians from the neighboring wigwams found out about this, they began to laugh at the young man. But the hunter stood his ground. “Come to the big meadow in the evening,” he said. When bright stars flashed in the evening in the sky, all the men from the Oneida tribe gathered to see if the young hunter could fulfill his promise. The young man raised his bow, pulled the string and sent an arrow up. And a moment later, high in the sky, a silver star shattered into small sparks - it was struck by a hunter's well-aimed arrow. Only the desired happiness was bypassed. God got angry at a mere mortal who dared to shoot down the stars from the sky. After all, if other lovers also follow his example, then there will be no stars left in the sky at all, and the moon will hardly survive ... And he sent a terrible storm to the earth. For three days and three nights a fierce hurricane raged, everything on earth was shrouded in thick darkness, the sea overflowed its banks, and where there was an ocean before, dry land formed, and trees fell with a groan into the water, a steep wave carried away Indian huts, turned over fragile pirogues, on which people tried to escape ... When the storm subsided, no one could find the daredevil who knocked down a star from the sky. He turned into a small silver flower, which the Indians gave a name - a shooting star.

MAGNOLIA

According to Chinese legend, in ancient times, evil Honghuzi attacked a peaceful Chinese village, killed men, old people and children, took cattle, destroyed rice crops, and tied up one hundred of the most beautiful girls and left them in the square. Ninety-nine days and nights the invaders had fun, and every morning they killed one of the captives. When the time came to die last, she hugged the ground on which the dead bodies of her friends lay, and began to lament bitterly: “Native land! You raised our fathers and mothers, you saw death and our torment. Do not allow decay to devastate our young bodies. Don't let us disappear forever!" And when the drunken hunghuses woke up the next morning, there was not a single girl in the square, only a large beautiful tree grew there, and a hundred beautiful white and pink buds were ready to open on it in all their splendor. The robbers in wild anger cut the tree into pieces and scattered it on fast horses over the steppes and foothills. But where a part of the magic tree fell, a new plant appeared in that place, on which a hundred tender buds, a hundred resurrected girlish hearts, bloomed every spring. This tree was a magnolia.

TULIP

A long time ago, human happiness was hidden in tightly compressed tulip buds. And no one by force or cunning could get to him. One day a beggar woman with a golden-haired child was walking through the meadow. She did not even think of getting to the heart of the tulip and taking her happiness from there. But the baby escaped from her hands and, laughing, rushed to the marvelous flower. The tulip, seeing the purity of the child's feelings, opened its petals. Now, in early spring, these delicate flowers readily open their hearts to us and give happiness to anyone who yearns for it.

VASILEK

An ancient Russian legend: One day the sky reproached the grain field with ingratitude. “Everything that inhabits the earth thanks me. Flowers send me their fragrances, forests - their mysterious whispers, birds - their singing, and only you do not express gratitude and stubbornly remain silent, although it is no one else, but it is I who fill the roots of cereals with rainwater and make the golden ears ripen. “I am grateful to you,” answered the field. “I decorate the arable land with vibrant greenery in spring, and in autumn I cover it with gold. There is no other way I can express my gratitude to you. I have no way to ascend to you; give it, and I will shower you with caresses and talk about love for you. Help me". "Heaven well agreed, - if you cannot ascend to me, then I will descend to you." And he ordered the earth to grow magnificent blue flowers among the ears, pieces of himself. Since then, the ears of cereals, with every breath of the breeze, bow to the messengers of heaven - cornflowers, and whisper tender words of love to them.

CAMOMILE

There was a girl in the world, and she had a favorite - Roman, who made gifts for her with his own hands, turned every day of the girl's life into a holiday! Once Roman went to bed - and he dreamed of a simple flower - a yellow core and white rays that diverged to the sides from the core. When he woke up, he saw a flower next to him and gave it to his girlfriend. And the girl wanted all people to have such a flower. Then Roman went in search of this flower and found it in the country of Eternal Dreams, but the king of this country did not give the flower just like that. The ruler told Roman that the people would get a whole field of chamomile if the young man stayed in his country. The girl waited for her beloved for a very long time, but one morning she woke up and saw a huge white-yellow field outside the window. Then the girl realized that her Roman would never return and named the flower in honor of her beloved - Chamomile! Now the girls are guessing on a camomile - "Loves does not love!"

CHRYSANTHEM

In the East, this flower, which is already 2,500 years old, has been raised to an unattainable height. Chrysanthemum was given the status of a national symbol. In Japan, this flower is present on the national emblem of the country, on documents of national importance, on the highest Japanese order, which is called the "Order of Chrysanthemums". There is a national holiday of chrysanthemums, which is celebrated in October. Still arguing about whether China or Japan is the birthplace of chrysanthemums? In both countries, these flowers are loved and bred. But this is what one legend has preserved for us. Once upon a time, many centuries ago, a mighty emperor ruled in China. He was not afraid of anything in the world, except for old age, and he thought of only one thing: to rule and live as long as possible. And so he called his chief physician and ordered to prepare a drug that would prolong his youth. The cunning physician bowed low before the emperor: “Oh, mighty lord,” he said. - I could prepare such an elixir, but for this you need to get wonderful flowers that grow in the east, on distant islands ... - I will order those flowers to be delivered immediately! cried the emperor. “Oh, if only it were that easy,” the doctor sighed. - The whole secret is that a person with a pure heart should pick them - only then the plant will give its miraculous power . .. The emperor thought: he knew that neither he nor his courtiers were fit to fulfill this condition. And then he decided to send 300 boys and 300 girls to the islands: surely among them there are many people with a pure heart! They did just that - they equipped many ships and sent them, led by the imperial doctor, to the islands - to where Japan is now located. On one of them they found a beautiful flower - a chrysanthemum and could not stop admiring it! “I don’t know if this flower is suitable for an elixir,” exclaimed the healer, “but, without a doubt, it pleases the heart and rejuvenates the soul!” The wise doctor knew well the insidious and cruel disposition of his emperor. “Surely,” he thought, “the emperor will think that my companions and I were the first to try the elixir, and will order us all to be executed as soon as he receives the drug.” And then everyone decided not to go back. They stayed on the islands and founded a new state there. It is not known whether they have prepared a wonderful elixir or not, but the chrysanthemum has become their favorite flower. ..

GLADIOLUUS

Romans considered gladiolus the flower of gladiators. According to legend, the cruel Roman commander captured the Thracian warriors and ordered them to be turned into gladiators, and the commander ordered the most beautiful, brave, dexterous and loyal friends Sevtus and Teresa to fight each other first, promising that the winner would receive the hand of his daughter and be released to freedom. Many curious townspeople converged to look at this spectacle. However, they did not see what they wanted: when the war trumpets blew, calling the brave warriors to battle, Sevt and Teres stuck their swords into the ground and rushed to each other with open arms. The crowd roared indignantly. The trumpets sounded again, demanding a duel, and when the soldiers again did not satisfy the expectations of the bloodthirsty Romans, they were put to death. But as soon as the bodies of the defeated touched the ground, blooming gladioli grew from the hilts of their swords, which to this day are considered a symbol of friendship, loyalty, memory and nobility.

DAISY

The flower got its name "daisy" from the Greek word margarites - "pearl". This flower has a very beautiful legend about its origin. When, having learned the good news from the Archangel Gabriel, the Blessed Virgin went to Elizabeth, everywhere where the foot of the future Mother of God stepped, small white flowers grew. White, in the form of radiance, the petals spoke of the glory of God, and the golden mean - of the sacred fire that burned in the heart of Mary. There is another legend about the origin of daisies. The Blessed Virgin, while still a child, looked at the sky at night, and She wished that the wonderful stars would become earthly flowers. Then the stars were reflected in brilliant drops of dew, and in the morning the earth was strewn with white flowers. And since the buds of daisies look like stars, people to this day believe that these flowers keep the secret of human happiness, and ask about it, counting their petals. Romantic knights, for whom the Virgin Mary served as an ideal, chose the humble daisy as their flower. According to custom, a knight in love brought a bouquet of daisies to the lady of the heart. If the lady dared to answer "yes", she chose the largest daisy from the bouquet and gave it to the man. From that moment on, he was allowed to draw a daisy on his shield - a sign of mutual love. But if the lady was indecisive, she wove a wreath of daisies and gave it to the knight. Such a gesture was not considered a categorical refusal, and sometimes, until the end of his life, the owner of a wreath of daisies waited for the favor of a cruel lady.

PION

One day the goddess Flora was going on a long journey and during her absence she decided to choose a replacement for herself. She informed the flowers about her decision and gave them 48 hours to consider a candidate for such an honorary post. At the appointed hour, everyone gathered in the forest clearing. The flowers were dressed in their brightest outfits, shone with freshness and were fragrant with various aromas. However, no one had any doubt that only a beautiful rose could replace Flora. It has no equal in beauty, aroma and grace of a flower. One peony thought otherwise. He puffed up as much as possible to outdo the rose with the pomp and size of the flower. He looked at everyone with pride and contempt, no doubt that it was he who was worthy to be the rival of the rose. And when Flora crowned the rose with her wreath, he alone shouted: "I do not agree!" The goddess got angry. "Stupid flower," she told him. For your self-satisfaction, always remain so swollen and fat. May butterflies and bees never visit you. You will be a symbol of pride, conceit and swagger. Peony blushed with shame at these words.

FORGET-ON

An ancient Roman legend tells how the forget-me-not got its name. One day, the goddess of vegetation, Flora, descended to earth and began to bestow names on flowers. She named all the flowers and was about to leave, but suddenly she heard a weak voice: - Do not forget about me, Flora! Give me a name too! With difficulty, the goddess saw a small blue flower in the forbs. - Well, - the goddess took pity, - be Forget-me-not. Together with the name, I endow you with wonderful power: you will return the memory to those people who begin to forget their homeland or their loved ones.

GINSENG

A long time ago, no one remembers when, two ancient Chinese families Xi Liadnji and Liang Seer lived next door. In the family of Xi Lianji, a fearless warrior named Ginseng was famous. He was brave and kind, defended the weak, helped the poor. These qualities passed to him from his ancestors, who descended from the king of forest animals - the tiger. Warrior Song Shiho - a representative of the Liang Seer clan - unlike Ginseng, was insidious, evil, cruel and rude, but very handsome and stately. One day a terrible monster attacked the country - a yellow dragon. All the men rose to fight the monster, and only Song Shiho went over to the camp of the enemy and became the yellow dragon's faithful assistant. Ginseng, on the other hand, volunteered to fight the dragon one on one. Desperately fought with the dragon Ginseng. The monster spewed flames at him, scratched him with claws, but Ginseng survived. And not only survived, but also threw the enemy to the ground. And the traitor Song Shi-ho Ginseng captured and tied to a rock, so that later he could be judged by the court of the people. But the captured Song Shiho was seen by Ginseng's sister, the beautiful Liu La, and fell in love at first sight. At night, she crept up to the rock, cut the rope that the captive was tied to, helped deceive the vigilant guards, and rode away with Song Shiho. Ginseng rushed in pursuit of the fugitives and overtook them. Nearer and nearer came the sound of his horse's hooves. And now Liu La, in fright, hid behind a rock, and the soldiers, dismounting, began the duel. They fought for a long time, but Ginseng was a more experienced and courageous warrior: he began to win. Here he raised his sword for the last fatal blow. Liu La screamed in horror. Ginseng shuddered (after all, his sister was screaming), looked around and then received a treacherous blow in the back. Song Shiho was ready to celebrate victory, but, mortally wounded, Ginseng straightened up and plunged his sword into the traitor's chest up to the hilt. And then life left him. Liu La bitterly mourned the death of her brother and beloved. Then she gathered her strength and buried them, but did not leave this terrible place, but spent the night nearby. And the next morning, at the burial place of Ginseng, she saw a plant that had never been seen before, which grew there overnight (the plant grew only on the grave of the hero Ginseng, the grave of the traitor Song Shiho was overgrown with grass). So people called this amazing plant ginseng, in memory of the hero from the Xi Liangji clan.

Orchid

A long time ago, long before the appearance of people, the only visible parts of the earth were the snow-capped peaks of high mountains. From time to time the sun thawed the snow, thus causing the water to descend from the mountains in a stormy stream, forming amazing waterfalls. Those, in turn, rushed towards the seas and oceans with seething foam, after which, evaporating, they formed curly clouds. These clouds, in the end, completely blocked the view of the earth from the sun. Once the sun wanted to pierce this impenetrable cover. There was heavy tropical rain. After him, a huge rainbow formed, embracing the entire sky. Fascinated by the hitherto unseen spectacle, the immortal spirits, then the only inhabitants of the earth, began to flock to the rainbow from all, even the most remote, edges. Everyone wanted to grab a place on the colorful bridge. They pushed and fought. But then everyone sat down on the rainbow and sang in unison. Little by little, the rainbow sagged under their weight, until, finally, it collapsed to the ground, crumbling into a myriad of small multi-colored sparks. Immortal spirits, who had never seen anything like it before, watched the fantastic colorful rain with bated breath. Every particle of the earth gratefully accepted the fragments of the heavenly bridge. Those that were caught by the trees turned into orchids. From this began the triumphal procession of orchids across the earth. There were more and more multi-colored lanterns, and not a single flower dared to challenge the right of an orchid to be called the queen of the flower kingdom.

LILY

In ancient Germanic mythology, the thunder god Thor was always depicted holding a lightning bolt in his right hand, and a scepter crowned with a lily in his left. She also adorned the brow of the ancient inhabitants of Pomerania during the festivities in honor of the goddess of spring, and her fragrant aureole served in the German fairy-tale world as a magic wand for Oberon and the home of small fairy-tale creatures - elves. According to these legends, each lily had its own elf, who was born with her and died with her. Corollas of these flowers served as these tiny creatures, bells, and shaking them, they called their pious brethren to prayer. Prayer meetings usually took place in the late evening hour, when everything in the gardens calmed down and plunged into a deep sleep. Then one of the elves ran to the flexible stem of the lily and began to shake it. Lily bells rang and woke up sweetly sleeping elves with their silvery ringing. The tiny creatures woke up, crawled out of their soft beds, and silently and solemnly went to the lily corollas, which served them at the same time as chapels. Here they bowed their knees, folded their hands piously and thanked the Creator in fervent prayer for the blessings sent to them. Having prayed, they just as silently hurried back to their flower cradles and soon fell asleep again in a deep, carefree sleep...

LILY OF THE VALLEY

When lilies of the valley bloom, it seems that the very air in the forest is infused with their fragrance. No wonder there is a saying among the people: "Lilies of the valley - breathe!". The lily of the valley will fade, and a large red berry appears in place of the crumbled petals. The ancient Germans assured that this was not a berry at all, but burning tears with which the lily of the valley mourns her parting with Spring. Spring, though loved the lily of the valley, but not for long. Forever young and restless, Spring does not find peace for herself and, scattering caresses to everyone, does not happen to anyone for a long time. In passing, she caressed the lily of the valley. He blossomed with happiness, reached out to Spring, but she left the poor thing in the middle of a hot forest. The lily-of-the-valley drooped with grief, its flowers fell off, and a tear-drop of blood rolled out of the stalk.

SNOWDROP

There are still snowdrifts, and on the thawed patches you can already see flowers blue as the sky - small, quiet, delicately smelling. And it begins to seem that it was them, tiny, but brave, that the winter was frightened and surrendered. Snowdrops are freezing in a cruel wind, they are lonely, uncomfortable and unaware, probably that it is from them that the last snow is about to start running away . .. A long time ago, when life was just beginning on earth and everything around was covered with snow, one snowflake, they say, as if she risked turning into a flower in order to warm the earth with her warmth. There was no one else to do it. And she became a flower - a snowdrop, and the delicate flower warmed the earth, and life appeared on it.

References:

1. Krasikov S.P. Flower legends. - M., 1990.
2. Babenko V.G. Myths and plants. - M., 2004.
3. McCallister R. Everything about plants in legends and myths. – SPb., M., 2007.

Site material:

1. http://www.florets.ru/
2. http://www.pgpb.ru/cd/primor/zap_prim/legend/l7. htm
3. flowers.forum2x2.ru
4. kvetky.net›category/istoriya-i-legendyi-o-tsvetah/