Lo Scricciolo E-Book

alastair macleod

• Herausgeber: BookRix
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

When in ancient times the Queen of the Sila forest in Calabria  alloted her forest to her two daughters little did she realise what would ensue. A tale of nymphs and talking birds and the magic of the trees. A hapless hero wanders in to this mysterious realm and, pursuing love, finds himself bound over to protect the trees.

Leseprobe

Alastair Macleod

Lo Scricciolo

To the forest of Sila in Calabria , may its trees and all its creatures flourish.BookRix GmbH & Co. KG81371 Munich

Lo Scricciolo

There once ruled in Calabria, a queen, Melissa, whose lands consisted of a huge flourishing forest, full of giant trees, rocky mountains, rivers and bears, wolves, lynx and other animals. Her people, few though they were, worked for her in her forests, bringing to her castle timber for firewood, deer, wild boar and game birds pheasants and partridges for the pot, nuts and berries and honey for eating, and fish for the table.

The forest provided shade in the hot summers, and the people made sweet smelling cosmetics from the resins. The forest rang with the song of birds; thrushes, sparrows, nightingales, hoopoe and doves. There were also woodpeckers rattling on the boles of trees, ravens calling harshly on the crags and, soaring high above the pines, hawks with their piercing krii. At night, owls hooted softly.

From the timber of selected trees the people crafted fine furniture and musical instruments.

Queen Melissa had a handsome king for a husband and two slender daughters, Alsea and Orea; twins they were but very different in looks and temperament. One was red headed, cheerful and gay, loved life and nature. The other was dark haired, moody and craved things; jewels and furs, and gold.

Queen Melissa often went into the forest alone and no one knew what she did there until one day the joyful sister secretly followed her.

She watched as the queen spoke to a tiny wren which seemed to talk and talk and talk in a language the sister did not understand.

In the great feasting hall of the queen’s castle instead of stag’s heads on the walls there were carvings on the roof beams of bears, wolves, foxes, squirrels, wild boar and pine marten and even a dormouse or two. An eagle carving graced a side table and an owl looked on from on high.

Tucked in a corner was the wren carved in oak.

On the stairs, the newel posts were topped with finials of acorns and ivy leaves twined on the paneling.

Sadly just as her two daughters came of age her handsome husband died of a fever. The daughters began to quarrel and fight so much that the queen decided they should have kingdoms of their own. She had no energy left to instruct as she knew she should as a mother and a queen and as steward of the forest.

And so Orea, the dark and moody one asked for the part of the forest where there were mountains full of precious gems and gold so there she built her castle; she adorned her great hall with precious stones, gems and diamonds gold ornaments and steel axes.

The other daughter, Alsea, the joyful one, was happy to have the part of the forest that was full of life, and animals and birds; she built her castle and adorned the interior just as her mother’s castle had been, her great hall full of carvings of forest animals.

The queen, still much saddened with grief at the death of her husband , then left on a long journey for another land to visit a holy shrine.