Post by Preethi on Jun 6, 2011 13:23:56 GMT -5
The greek tale of Europa rewritten.
Europa's Descent
They tell Europa that she must stay here, on the Beach. She looks at them, those pale Blue eyes barely visible beneath garlands and flowers, and the Beauty of her childish face steals their Breath but they tell her once again, You must stay here. She asks quietly Why, why must I remain? and they answer that it is because there is a Butterfly in the Meadow and they want to chase it.
You are much too young to come. Europa was much too young to run.
Enthroned in a pool of Orchids, Europa is patient, but her thoughts follow her brothers, and she wishes the Butterfly would come to her and Cadmus and Cilix and Thasus would come to her. She misses them, though she can see their good intentions out of the corner of her eye.
And then, in the same corner of her eye she sees a white Bull and she stands, hands reaching outwards. The petals fall from her frame and dance on the Wind.
The Beach is soft beneath his hooves as he moves towards her, and in a moment, she is caught between the Beauty of his purity and the danger that he poses. His breath threads through her fingers and she feels the warmth of his eyes and she knows that he means no harm.
He bows, acknowledging the Princess. She climbs onto his back.
But a tremor of Indecision envelops her while she is halfway onto his back and one hand is clutching an ivory Horn and she hesitates. Her brothers are still chasing the Butterfly and she wants dearly to be with them, to not be too young to run and the Bull breathes beneath her. He nudges her and she accepts and clambers up to the spot between his shoulder blades.
They move towards the boys and the Bull picks up speed, and Europa warns him to Please move Softly, there is no Hurry. But the Bull pays no heed and the Grass is crushed beneath his feet and Europa is suddenly homesick for the solid Ground, her solid ground that is rushing past her at a frightful speed. And then she is begging, begging the Bull to stop- her brothers are already far behind but the Bull still pays no heed.
She screams into the air and the stifling Wind swallows her scream as the Bull runs away with poor Europa on his back and one last time Cadmus looks back to his sister.
Cilix and Thasus also look up, and all three whisper Goodbye to their sister, who was once entombed in a graveyard of blossoms.
Now she is Free, they tell themselves, free on a white Bull who has now disappeared.
They chase the Butterfly and Europa is Free.
King Agenor is not happy when three return instead of four. Where is Europa? he demands and the tiles shake with his frustration and Cadmus quakes. Queen Telephassa crys and her solid Tears melt into the floor. King Agenor looks murderously at the three of them and speaks thunder Words. He tells them, Do not come back until Europa is found. I shall not see your faces until Europa is found!
The three brothers split ways and Cadmus finds himself Alone.
For the last time he parts with Tyre and becomes lost in the world. Searching across continents and through Lives- without a trace of Europa or the white Bull.
Time passes too quickly, and soon Cadmus finds himself forgetting
the Girl and her Flowers. His brothers have moved on and created Families, they are happy and they tell themselves that Europa is happy. She is Free, after all.
Queen Telephassa searches endlessly for her Little One until she turns old with ambition and desire consumes her tired body.
King Agenor, back in Tyre, sits on the same Throne, dust collecting about his worn frame. He is constantly watching the Threshold, waiting for the same faces from a thousand years ago, the ones he banished without a thought. He waits for Europa’s small feet and affectionate hand- the perpetual stray flower in her hair.
But no one comes because Europa is Nowhere to be found.
Cadmus begins to realize that Europa is always miles away and never Here. She is behind the stars and in the reflections in pools of water and Cadmus can never catch her. He settles down and from his words emerges Thebes-the greatest of all cities on Cadmus’s Earth. Times spirals and clouds about Cadmus but now he can never find time for Europa, he never has time for the forgotten sister who has forgotten him.
Cadmus marries and King Agenor dies and the brothers are separate like always. Cadmus’s nameless wife is like Europa and in his aging mind they are suddenly interchangeable and Cadmus is happy again. He begins to see not his wife but Europa in his home and perhaps his father’s last words were fulfilled by this wonderful girl.
He has found his sister again, maybe. There is no white Bull and no Butterfly but he has found Europa.
But then his false world is cracked when his wife displays to him a necklace that she has kept in some dusty drawer or another, away from prying eyes.
What a pretty necklace, she exclaims holding it up the light and twirling it in front of her husband.
Cadmus amuses her like he would amuse Europa. He asks politely, where did you get that, wife? Who gave you that beautiful necklace?
She answers without hesitation that she received this beautiful necklace from a beautiful child- one who had been seated among the lilies that Cadmus held dear. Cadmus throat constricts as he thinks of those lilies- the same ones Europa had endlessly presented him with a hundred years ago.
Who was this child? Urgency crowds his words out and his wife is surprised, but continues.
She is said to be forever young. She is said to ride a white Bull and capture Butterflies and run after young boys as they leave her to wait on the beach. She is said to bring to life even the most dead of blossoms and bring gifts to the faithful.
Cadmus sees his wife suddenly as his wife and not Europa. He remembers his quest and the last wish of his father and that day on the Beach when they never caught the Butterfly. The same beach where Europa was carelessly abandoned and where she exchanged love for freedom and flowers for a white Bull.
The last trace of Europa was passed on as a necklace through the generations after Cadmus and his nameless wife died. She was never Found, she was always lost and became a legend like the white Bull that had whisked her away under that aged Sun.
Europa was Free somewhere and everywhere, but not Here.
She had only wanted to chase the Butterfly, she told the Bull. She didn’t want to be left behind and she didn’t want to be too young to run with her brothers but now here she was.
Not Here but lost and half-remembered by the ghosts of her brothers.
Europa was Free.
Europa's Descent
They tell Europa that she must stay here, on the Beach. She looks at them, those pale Blue eyes barely visible beneath garlands and flowers, and the Beauty of her childish face steals their Breath but they tell her once again, You must stay here. She asks quietly Why, why must I remain? and they answer that it is because there is a Butterfly in the Meadow and they want to chase it.
You are much too young to come. Europa was much too young to run.
Enthroned in a pool of Orchids, Europa is patient, but her thoughts follow her brothers, and she wishes the Butterfly would come to her and Cadmus and Cilix and Thasus would come to her. She misses them, though she can see their good intentions out of the corner of her eye.
And then, in the same corner of her eye she sees a white Bull and she stands, hands reaching outwards. The petals fall from her frame and dance on the Wind.
The Beach is soft beneath his hooves as he moves towards her, and in a moment, she is caught between the Beauty of his purity and the danger that he poses. His breath threads through her fingers and she feels the warmth of his eyes and she knows that he means no harm.
He bows, acknowledging the Princess. She climbs onto his back.
But a tremor of Indecision envelops her while she is halfway onto his back and one hand is clutching an ivory Horn and she hesitates. Her brothers are still chasing the Butterfly and she wants dearly to be with them, to not be too young to run and the Bull breathes beneath her. He nudges her and she accepts and clambers up to the spot between his shoulder blades.
They move towards the boys and the Bull picks up speed, and Europa warns him to Please move Softly, there is no Hurry. But the Bull pays no heed and the Grass is crushed beneath his feet and Europa is suddenly homesick for the solid Ground, her solid ground that is rushing past her at a frightful speed. And then she is begging, begging the Bull to stop- her brothers are already far behind but the Bull still pays no heed.
She screams into the air and the stifling Wind swallows her scream as the Bull runs away with poor Europa on his back and one last time Cadmus looks back to his sister.
Cilix and Thasus also look up, and all three whisper Goodbye to their sister, who was once entombed in a graveyard of blossoms.
Now she is Free, they tell themselves, free on a white Bull who has now disappeared.
They chase the Butterfly and Europa is Free.
King Agenor is not happy when three return instead of four. Where is Europa? he demands and the tiles shake with his frustration and Cadmus quakes. Queen Telephassa crys and her solid Tears melt into the floor. King Agenor looks murderously at the three of them and speaks thunder Words. He tells them, Do not come back until Europa is found. I shall not see your faces until Europa is found!
The three brothers split ways and Cadmus finds himself Alone.
For the last time he parts with Tyre and becomes lost in the world. Searching across continents and through Lives- without a trace of Europa or the white Bull.
Time passes too quickly, and soon Cadmus finds himself forgetting
the Girl and her Flowers. His brothers have moved on and created Families, they are happy and they tell themselves that Europa is happy. She is Free, after all.
Queen Telephassa searches endlessly for her Little One until she turns old with ambition and desire consumes her tired body.
King Agenor, back in Tyre, sits on the same Throne, dust collecting about his worn frame. He is constantly watching the Threshold, waiting for the same faces from a thousand years ago, the ones he banished without a thought. He waits for Europa’s small feet and affectionate hand- the perpetual stray flower in her hair.
But no one comes because Europa is Nowhere to be found.
Cadmus begins to realize that Europa is always miles away and never Here. She is behind the stars and in the reflections in pools of water and Cadmus can never catch her. He settles down and from his words emerges Thebes-the greatest of all cities on Cadmus’s Earth. Times spirals and clouds about Cadmus but now he can never find time for Europa, he never has time for the forgotten sister who has forgotten him.
Cadmus marries and King Agenor dies and the brothers are separate like always. Cadmus’s nameless wife is like Europa and in his aging mind they are suddenly interchangeable and Cadmus is happy again. He begins to see not his wife but Europa in his home and perhaps his father’s last words were fulfilled by this wonderful girl.
He has found his sister again, maybe. There is no white Bull and no Butterfly but he has found Europa.
But then his false world is cracked when his wife displays to him a necklace that she has kept in some dusty drawer or another, away from prying eyes.
What a pretty necklace, she exclaims holding it up the light and twirling it in front of her husband.
Cadmus amuses her like he would amuse Europa. He asks politely, where did you get that, wife? Who gave you that beautiful necklace?
She answers without hesitation that she received this beautiful necklace from a beautiful child- one who had been seated among the lilies that Cadmus held dear. Cadmus throat constricts as he thinks of those lilies- the same ones Europa had endlessly presented him with a hundred years ago.
Who was this child? Urgency crowds his words out and his wife is surprised, but continues.
She is said to be forever young. She is said to ride a white Bull and capture Butterflies and run after young boys as they leave her to wait on the beach. She is said to bring to life even the most dead of blossoms and bring gifts to the faithful.
Cadmus sees his wife suddenly as his wife and not Europa. He remembers his quest and the last wish of his father and that day on the Beach when they never caught the Butterfly. The same beach where Europa was carelessly abandoned and where she exchanged love for freedom and flowers for a white Bull.
The last trace of Europa was passed on as a necklace through the generations after Cadmus and his nameless wife died. She was never Found, she was always lost and became a legend like the white Bull that had whisked her away under that aged Sun.
Europa was Free somewhere and everywhere, but not Here.
She had only wanted to chase the Butterfly, she told the Bull. She didn’t want to be left behind and she didn’t want to be too young to run with her brothers but now here she was.
Not Here but lost and half-remembered by the ghosts of her brothers.
Europa was Free.