The Weeping Maiden
Nov 29, 2022 8:22:35 GMT -5
Post by Radrook Admin on Nov 29, 2022 8:22:35 GMT -5
The Weeping Maiden
by
Radrook
by
Radrook
The young girl, known as the Golden, Weeping Maiden, had been born of peasant parents in small village in Vermdois France in the year of our Lord 1352, on a day when the Aurora Borealis had briefly manifested itself above her small village.
She was blessed with thick, wavy, blond hair that flowed to her waist. But she came to be called the Golden Weeping Wench, not just because of her golden hair, but because some of her tears were composed of actual gold. Of course, her parents had attempted to keep it a secret, but it was soon discovered as they suddenly were noticed to be in possession of items that peasants were not normally able to buy.
There had recently been bloody battle fought in the area, and some superstitious peasants believed that heaven was expressing its disapproval through her. But it wasn’t such beliefs that led them to declare her a national treasure. Had her tears indeed been normal, then she would have been spared all the attention.
But for some inexplicably reason, her tears were of silver, gold, and sometimes, if her emotions were intense enough, they slowly emerged as tiny tear-shaped diamonds. It all depended on the severity of the emotion that had provoked her weeping. The stronger the reason for her weeping, the more precious were the tears she produced. Of course, the medieval city-government officials took note, and an investigation was ordered and the truth about her parents' prosperity was revealed. Soon after, the local church authorities had also been dutifully informed.
“Praise the Lord!" the priest who had an uncanny resemblance to a vulture, and was referred to as such by the irreligious among the peasants, said to his parish from the church pulpit on that unusually cold Sunday morning.
“The blessed Wench actually weeps gold and silver and sometimes even diamonds!” he declared effusively while energetically wiping the profuse perspiration from his narrow, palid brow. Soon the priest was requesting and then vehemently demanding that she weep a weekly amount of precious tears in order to keep the church coffers full. It was her duty as a Christian member of his church, he had piously said.
The king, who was famous for his extreme obesity, and his excesses with food, had also taken notice and immediately perceived the potential for profit, and immediately declared himself the Weeping Wench's godfather and guardian. From then on, she found herself weeping because she was forced to while being taught that it was her destiny and sacred duty for the prosperity of both kingdom and holy church.
. Of course, in order to maximize profit, both priest the king needed to know which emotions produced what type of tears. So she was subjected to many experiments by both to determine which elicited what. Whenever she expressed reluctance or refused, to weep on demand, she was severely chastised by being told sad stories or reminded of bitter events such as the death of her dear mother or of a good friend. But when all other efforts had failed, the frustrated priest strangled her pet puppy in her presence in order to get the desired response-a copious effusion of small liquid diamond tears that quickly solidified soon after droppping from her eyes as the priest praised the Lord for the miracle.
When she refused to satisfy their lust for profit by weeping, and such psychological severe efforts to stir her emotions began to fail, then physical pain was inflicted so that she would weep profusely for hours on end. Then they would gleefully reap the bountiful reward for their efforts. Curiously, the precious tears were carefully collected by the sanctimonious old, black-garmented nuns whom the priest had assigned for what he cunningly described as the holiest of tasks. Under that policy, the King and church, coffers, were brimming.
To assure himself even more authority over her, the king pompously declared the Golden Weeping Wench to be his adopted daughter and paraded her around beore the nobility while attired royally, and always had her seated next to his throne on special occasions so that he would be given credit for the kingdom's increasing prosperity.
People would reverently bow before her as she passed by, and many a noble knight had often sought her hand in marriage, but would be quickly discouraged by the very stern royal frown of disapproval. If that failed, then the threat of a drawn sword from the royal guard who had been instructed to slay any man who dared to touch even a single strand of her hair, had proven more than suffice. Or else, the priest would hire some assassin to remove the threat to church prosperity.
During all this time, she was often observed late at night gazing up the full moon, or at the setting sun as at it slowly disappeared behind distant, the moss-covered hills as if longing to be as distant from her village as they were. Also, during tempests, and thunderstorms, she would be heard uttering words in an unintelligible tongue. The nuns had reported it to the priest who had patiently explained it away as the gift of Pentecost as manifested during the first century in Jerusalem, but many others thought otherwise.
Her weeping during those moments was especially treasured since the tears she produced were of very refined gold and sometimes exceptionally tiny tear-shaped diamonds. The nuns who had been assigned to keep her under constant watch had been provided with small metal pots in order to collect the treasures as they emerged slowly and painfully from the Golden Weeping Maiden's sad hazel eyes.
Then it happened. Once during a storm, it is rumored that her eyes had emanated a fluorescent emerald light causing the superstitious to grow fearful. These had always been uneasy about her miraculous ability of exuding tear-shaped diamonds and tear-shaped gold and this only served to further their suspicions of her being a devil-possessed witch.
Eventually, as the malicious gossip grew, the whole town was in a religious frenzied turmoil and demands for her execution began to grow in number and intensity. By this time, her tears had become normal. The king had tried for two years to force a weeping of silver, gold or diamonds gold once more but without success. The priest had held special services where prayers of supplications were uttered and penances performed in order to restore the former blessing, but to no avail.
Finally, both the king and the priest grew weary of protecting her without profit, and she was declared a burden to the state. So when the witchcraft accusations arose, the king handed her over to the priest who then promptly secluded her in the church dungeon in preparation for her execution. Through it all, the Golden Weeping Maiden remained silent.
“Daughter you must defend yourself! You must relinquish this stubborn, deep silence and tell us why your eyes were glowing-in that way during that turbulent night! If not!," the father sighed deeply as if with tired resignation, and with a downcast expression on his weasle-like face, “I will not be able to save you from the crowd who are demanding your execution as a witch! At the least, please, just produce gold and diamonds once more so that the king will come to your rescue! Don’t you wish to live?”
At that question she only looked at him with eyes of compassion and shook her head in the negative.
“But why daughter? Why? You were blessed with a wonderful gift. Yes! True, we were often perhaps too eager to collect your tears and you were sometimes in our eagerness we prompted you to weep. But weeping is far better than agonizing death!”
She only gazed at him as one would gaze at an ignorant child. Or perhaps at the mindless antics of a dog, and smiling benevolently, she suddenly vanished leaving the priest alone in the gloom and darkness of the dungeon cell groping for an explanation to provide the king and the murderous, superstitious, peasant crowds to prevent them from accusing him of having aided her escape.
He found no believable explanation. After being tortured on the wrack by the king's henchmen in order to force his confession of complicity, he was finally led kicking and screaming and blaspheming to be executed as had been planned for the Golden Weeping Maiden. During his last moments, it is said that he wept as he had never wept before, but to no avail.