What is The Smeraldo Flower? Have you ever heard of a story named “La Città di Smeraldo” (meaning the emerald city)? In some ways, this story reminds me of Rapunzel, although I must confess it’s much more heartbreaking. „La Città di Smeraldo” dates from the 16th century, the events taking place in a small town in Italy.
The tale is about a hideous man who refused to show his face to the world
It is said that he was so ugly that people were terrified when they saw him. As a result, the man locked himself in his castle, and never left his property. Although he was living a miserable life, there was one thing that made him smile. He loved to plant flowers in the garden that surrounded the castle.
One day a beautiful woman broke into his garden and stole a flower
This made the man furious, and he decided to stay up all night long to make sure the woman doesn’t return. Unfortunately, he fell asleep and the woman came again and stole one more flower. After this, he changed his tactic. Instead of staying up all night, the man pretended to be asleep when the woman returned every single night. This incident repeated itself for a few days and as time passed by the man found himself intrigued by this mysterious woman.
He soon fell in love with her, even though she didn’t know of his existence
When one day he followed the woman to the town he found out something that left him speechless. The woman was stealing flowers from his garden in order to be able to earn some money. At that moment he knew he must do something to help her. Even though he wanted to help the woman, he wasn’t ready to show his face. So he decided to create a flower that didn’t exist on Earth. This way the woman would be able to sell it for an expensive price.
After many failed attempts, he managed to create The Smeraldo Flower, a flower that was never seen before
Although his garden was filled with this unique flower, the woman wasn’t coming back. The man waited for a long time, but in the end, he never saw the woman again. She passed away due to an illness and she couldn’t see the beautiful flower created especially for her.
Unfortunately, this is a heartbreaking story where the lovers don’t live happily ever after
Some of you might think that the man was selfish because he didn’t show himself to the woman who was in need of help. However, I believe that the man was afraid of rejection. He didn’t want the woman to be frightened by his appearance. He fell in love with the woman and tried to help her. Sadly, he never had the chance to do that.
What are your thoughts on this story?
