The Prince's Valentine (again)

The Prince's Valentine

Author Unknown
    (based upon an old Indian story, thanks to apples4theteacher.com)

 

(Yes, I know I posted this story last year, but everyone seems to enjoy it so much, I'm reposting it today.)

Once upon a time there was a little Prince, and he wanted to give a valentine to a little Princess who lived in a neighboring kingdom. She was a very beautiful little Princess indeed, for her smile was as bright as her golden hair, and her love for her subjects was as deep as the blue of her eyes.

"What kind of a valentine shall I get for the Princess?" the Prince asked.

"A heart, your Highness; nothing but a heart will do!" said the Court Wise Man.

"A beautiful heart, your Highness; nothing but a beautiful heart will do!" said the Court Ladies.

"A priceless heart, your Highness; nothing but a priceless heart will do!" said the Court Chancellor.

So the Prince started out to get a heart valentine for the little Princess that would be both beautiful and beyond price, and he did not know where to find it.

Before long, though, he came to a jeweller's shop that was full of pretty, costly things to wear. There were pins, and bracelets, and necklaces made of silver and gold, and set with rubies, and sapphires, and emeralds, and diamonds.

"This is the place to find a valentine for the little Princess," thought the Prince, and he selected a diamond heart hung on a gold chain as thin as a thread for the little Princess to wear about her neck.

The Prince gave the jeweller his bag of gold and started out of the shop with the diamond heart in his hand. But he stopped at the door, looking at the heart. It was dull, and no longer shining. What was the matter with it, he wondered. Then he remembered. It was not the right valentine for the little Princess because it had been bought with his bag of gold. So the Prince gave the diamond heart back to the jeweller, and went on again.

After the Prince had gone quite a distance he came to a pastry shop. It was full of delicious things to eat, jam tarts, and little strawberry pies, thickly frosted cakes, and plum buns. In the window of the pastry shop was a huge cake baked in the shape of a heart. It was rich with sugar and spices, and the icing on the top was almost as thick as the cake itself.

"This is the place to find the valentine for the little Princess!" thought the Prince, and he pointed to the great heart cake in the window. "How much must I pay for that cake?" he asked of the pastry cook.

"Oh, you could not buy that cake!" the pastry cook replied. "I made it as a decoration for the shop for Valentine's Day. But I will give it to you, your Highness."

So the Prince thanked the pastry cook, and started out of the shop with the great cake in his arms.

"This must surely be the valentine for the little Princess, because I could not buy it," he thought.

Then the Prince almost dropped the cake. It had suddenly grown too heavy for him to carry. What was the matter with the rich, huge cake, he wondered. Then he remembered. It was not the right valentine for the little Princess because something rich to eat is not beautiful. So the Prince gave the cake back to the pastry cook, and went on again.

Now he went a long, long way, and he came to a bird seller beside the road. He had little gold birds, and bright-colored ones in green basket cages. They were all singing as if their throats would burst, but the Prince could hear one soft note above the others, because it was so clear and sweet. It was the cooing of a little dove who sat in her cage apart from the others. The Prince thought he had never seen such a beautiful little dove, as white as snow, and with rose red feet.

"Why does she sing so much more sweetly than the others?" the Prince asked, pointing to the little white dove.

The bird seller smiled.

"She sings because of her heart," he said. "The other birds sing in the sunshine, but look"—he held up the dove's cage, and the Prince saw that the little white dove had closed, blind eyes. "She sings in the dark because of her happy heart," the bird seller said.

"May I buy her," the Prince asked, "to give as a valentine to a little Princess?"

"Oh, I will give her to you," the bird seller said. "Very few people want to take care of a blind bird."

But the little Princess did. She liked the white dove better than any of her other valentines. She hung her cage in a pink rose tree in the sunniest part of the garden, and she often invited the Prince to sit with her under the tree and listen to the dove's sweet song.

A True Love Story

You know, we're getting close to Valentines Day, and it makes me think about love stories.  I read a true love story in the Readers Digest many years ago that I have never forgotten.  It's not your typical love story, but I'll tell you, it's one of the best.

There was a couple who met, fell in love, and got married in a short time.  They were very much in love, and very happy.  Then a terrible thing happened.  They were in a horrific car accident.  The husband was hurt, but he recovered.  The wife, on the other hand, had multiple broken bones and injuries, including to her brain.  When she finally recovered consciousness they discovered that she had a rare form of amnesia.  She could remember her childhood and adolescence, but she had lost the last year of her life.  She didn't remember ever meeting, falling in love with, or marrying her husband.  To her, he was a complete stranger.

This didn't bother him at first, he was just so happy that his wife was alive.  He figured she would eventually get her memory back, and if not they still had their whole life ahead of them.  He just wanted her to get well and be able to walk again.  There was a lot of physical therapy that she needed to do to regain her mobility and strength, but it was very painful.  The husband encouraged and pushed her, knowing it would help her to get better, but all she knew was that a complete stranger was forcing her to do things that hurt, and she resented him.   In fact, as time went on she began to really hate him.  She had no fond memories, no love, no reason to even want this man around her.

The couple had both been raised as very strong Christians with a deep respect for the sanctity of marriage.  Although many people thought there was no logical reason for them to stay together, the wife didn't even remember their marriage, neither of them believed in divorce.  They believed that if you made vows, promises, and commitments to someone you honored them, regardless the circumstances. 

Eventually the husband realized that because his wife didn't have any memory of their love, of course she didn't love him.  But he could try to make her fall in love with him now.  He started over at the beginning, courting her, bringing her flowers, showering her with love and affection, and she did fall in love with him all over again.  He asked her to marry him, again, and they had another wedding, renewing the vows they had made so that the wife would have a memory of her wedding day, too. 

I love that story.  It's real, not just a fairy tale, like life.  True life doesn't necessarily have a happy ending.   In fact, as it says in the movie The Last Unicorn, there are no happy endings, because nothing ever ends.  Life goes on, even after we get married.  The trick is to live happily ever after, and that takes commitment more than love.  But it is the true love story.