One evening of the fairy congress was devoted to story-telling, in which the fairies competed with each other to see which tale was the most interesting.
After one fairy had told the story of the fleur-de-lys, which was only “e pluribus unum”—as Horace said of a salad—that is, one out of many, another fairy rose up to tell the story of the opal. This precious stone carries in its bosom the colors of the Belgian flag, black, yellow, and red.
Thus the fairy began:
“It was long before Cæsar’s day, when the first princess of the united Belgian tribes was to be married. Then the fairies came to her and asked her what she wished them to do, to adorn her head-dress for the wedding.
“This was her answer:
“ ‘My desire is for a jewel to wear on my forehead. I hope to get one that shall show the three colors; the first, to stand for loyalty to my king-father; the second, to represent my willing obedience to the law of the commonwealth; and the third, to express the freedom of my countrymen from the slavery of enemies.
“ ‘These colors must be first, black; to signify that the king must face, without fear, every storm, and whatever is dark or difficult. The second must be yellow, to show how law protects gold, which is the symbol of property, as the result of human labor; the third must be red, representing blood, the life of the nation, and which, from their own veins, our brave men must, when necessary, shed for us all.
“ ‘Be sure to get me a perfect black, for everybody knows, that, in the heraldry of kings and nobles, sable, or black, denotes constancy, wisdom and prudence. If you can, bring me a precious stone that contains these three hues. They are my colors and my people love them. Yet, if a gem, and not something else, it must have them all, for I can wear but one stone.’
“Three fairies, with strong wings, were immediately sent to fly out over the forests and into the mountains, where the pretty gems are found. They hunted among the rocks, and in the beds of streams. They called on the kabouters to help them to make search in the dark caves. Happily, each one was successful beyond the highest hopes.
“After choice from many fine specimens, the three fairies returned, each one bearing a glistening jewel in her hand.
“The first proffered the princess a pure, hard, black stone. It was well named the diamond, meaning ‘the invincible.’ Rare indeed is a black, or colored diamond, but there it was.
“The second stone was the topaz, of a deep yellow. It reminded one of the gains of commerce, and the toil of millions, bringing comfort and wealth.
“The third stone was the ruby, deeply, darkly, beautifully red. Besides being hard, brilliant and permanent in tint, it was not easily scratched or broken.
“Joyfully the princess bound these three upon her forehead and looked into the mirror. She was delighted with all the gems, for each was beautiful and spoke its own language.
“Yet, as each fairy thought the one, which she had found in the mountains, and selected out of many, was that which the princess ought to prefer and to wear, the king’s daughter could not decide, by herself at least, lest she be deemed selfish or partial.
“So she went to her father, and asked his advice.
“He looked at each jewel, admiring them all, yet thinking in his heart all the while that his own daughter excelled each and every one. He then made answer:
“ ‘In the Walloon language, my daughter “l’union fait la force” (unity makes strength). Suppose you ask the fairies to join the three gems in one, making a single stone. Then, see what will come of it.’
“The princess at once called to her aid the king of kabouters, and bade him make of the three jewels one.
“Down into the earth among his forges and fires, the master-fairy disappeared. He spent days and nights over the task. In a crucible, over a roaring fire, he fused the three gems into one. Then with a lapidist’s skill, and a jeweler’s craft, he set the jewel in an exceedingly beautiful coronet.
“Within one week, the kabouter king came back, holding in his hand a velvet-lined box which the three fairies had made with their delicate fingers. On the outside, were the three colors, black, yellow and red, in vertical bands.
“The chief kabouter proffered the casket to the Princess. On her opening it, there flashed and sparkled a gem, such as she had never seen before. Within its fiery heart, were, not one color, but, three of them, black, yellow, and red.
“This shining stone was not cut in facets, or little faces, as were most crown jewels, for it did not need to be so treated to show its glories; nor did it require a foil or glittering metal leaf beneath it, as do some stones, to make sure of its maintaining its permanent hue; but it was set with a smooth round surface, like a hemisphere, or half a globe. This shape helped to reveal the precious stone’s full splendor.
“Right well was it worthy of its general name ‘gem,’ which means a ‘bud’; for it had colors, as varied as are the three in a moss rose,—sepal, petal and fringe, while yet in a unity of splendor.
“No words could do justice to the beauty of the gem. Some thought of a rainbow; some of the harlequin, who joins many colors in his costume; some of volcano fires. The Princess named it ‘opal,’ after the precious stone in the Sanskrit fairy tale. At the wedding, she wore it in the centre of her golden coronet.
“With even more enthusiasm, the people gathered from all parts of their land, every province sending its delegates to Brussels, the central city of the central province, in which Brabo was the hero, and whose story was known to all boys and girls. From him was named Brabant, whose inhabitants had already adopted as their motto ‘La Union fait Force,’ that is, ‘In union there is strength,’ which is struck on all coins.
“Although there were many provinces, and, notwithstanding, that all the tribes and people were not interested each in the same things, yet they saw the wisdom of union for defense and growth. So, feeling that they must have a flag, to express their loyalty to the king, their regard for law, and their fixed resolution to be free, they voted to have one standard, containing the colors of Brabant. So, when the tricolor, black, yellow and red, was raised high in the air, before all the freemen, they clanged their swords on their shields and shouted ‘Long live the King, forever be law, eternal our independence.’ So these became the national colors of Belgium.
“Centuries afterwards, when William the Silent, whose statue stands today in Brussels, led the Netherlanders against the tyrant, there was embroidered, on his banners, the figure of a pelican feeding her young with blood from her own bosom, with the Latin motto, ‘Pro rege, pro lege, pro grege’ (for the king, for the law, for the commonwealth). And when in 1830 the national hymn, The Brabançonne (The Brabanter) was composed, which every Belgian sings, the three-fold theme and burden of the throbbing lines was what the tricolor and the precious stone suggest. Black was for steadfastness, wisdom and prudence in the king; yellow for law, which protects industry; and red, for Belgium’s unconquerable liberty, secured by the blood of her sons. Oh! how they sang it, and never with more meaning and spirit than, during the four years of the ‘nation’s Calvary,’—1914–1918.”
Forthwith, the people of Belgic Land, having heard the stories of the Fleur-de-lys, and of the opal, there was formed by them a Society to Make Fairy Tales Come True, and for generations they, and their children have lived up to their name.
The story-teller has often said that nothing that fairies can do, or ever have done, can excel what he has seen in the wonders wrought in the soil, and on the Belgian and Dutch landscapes.
As a youth, he saw many square miles of worthless heath land, as sandy as a desert, on which even rabbits could not find food to live upon. Or, two of them might fight for one blade of grass.
In later life, the story-teller went into the same places. What magic! There were villages, farms, schools, churches, happy homes, barns stored with grain, and many signs of joyous abundance, cows, sheep, orchards and fields.
What did it mean?
The story of “The Marriage of the Fairies,” explains in part how it came to pass. Water, brought in canals; that is, irrigation, wrought wonders; but, most of all, human continuance of toil, in unity of heart and will! Today the industry and perseverance of men and women have made Belgium as one of the wonders of the world.
“By concord little things become great.” So, they sing in the national hymn, and under their flag, of black, yellow and red, which stand for king, law and liberty:
“Let us work; our labor increases
The fruitfulness of our fields
And the splendor of our industry crowns
King, Law and Liberty.”
THE END