A RUSSIAN LEGEND

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 499, 31 October 1928, Page 6

A RUSSIAN LEGEND

A Rnssian legend tells of a disobedient angel who, because she refused to come down to sing for a peasant girl, had to leave Heaven and come to Earth as a little child. On Earth she forgot about her former life, even forgot her heavenly name. Yet something seemed to linger. She wondered why names were not sweetscented like flowers. To have a- fragrant name would make her happy, she said. One who loved her went over the world to find a name which, being spoken, would give a perfume like scented flowers. Pie sought in vain until, returning from his quest, he passed a cottage door where an old man stood. The old man said he knew' of such a name, at least his grandchild did. for once in a dream an angel had come to sing to her. When sne left she promised that a still more beautiful angel would come, and when she spoke the angel’s name the room had been filled as with the perfume of flowers. The girl, however, had unfortunately fqrgotten the name. The seeker told his friend of the clue, and she went and sang for the old man’s grandchild. It was as if the girl’s dream had come true, and in her joy she remembered the angel’s name. As she spoke it the cottage was filled with fragrance. Then the other understood. It was the name she had been seeking; her own heavenly name; and she had found it in a sick room in a humble cottage.