The Valentine Story that is Stirring the Hearts of the World

[sulochanosho]

A Valentine Fantasy, By Carolyn Haywood:

Once there was a boy named Valentine. At his birth, his uncle, a
famous goldsmith, gave Valentine a beautiful bow
and made a set of gold-tipped arrows for it. Valentine was indeed a
fortunate child. As he grew up, he went to live with his uncle
and learn his art. His uncle also taught him how to use the bow and
arrows, and he became a fine marksman.

They set up a target and practiced shooting at it over and over
again.

Valentine, however, never shot any of the birds or animals of the
forest, for they were his friends. And, of all the creatures he saw

around him, the bluebirds were his special friends. His uncle had told
him about the rarest of all birds, the golden bluebird,
believed to have a heart of gold, and Valentine always hoped to find
it.

One day, when Valentine was still a little boy, he wandered deep into
the forest. Without realizing, he went farther than ever
before, and suddenly he saw before him a fold-flecked bluebird that
seemed to shimmer in the sunshine.

"It is the golden bluebird!" he breathed aloud. Then, to his
amazement, the bird came to him and perched on his shoulder.

Valentine spoke lovingly to the bird, and, to Valentine's greater
surprise, the bird replied in speech that Valentine understood.

Now a king reigned over the land where Valentine lived, but there was
no queen. In time, however, the king met the beautiful
princess of a nearby kingdom and feel deeply in love with her. He
longed to make her his queen, and soon he told her of his desire.
In reply, she said, "you must bring me a token of your love." "What
do you wish as a token?" the king asked.
"I have been told that deep in the forest there lives a very rare
bluebird called the golden bluebird because it has a heart of gold.
Bring me the heart of this bluebird, and I shall marry you."

The King went back to his kingdom perplexed, for he had no idea how he
could get a bluebird's golden heart.

Still, he called in his wise man and told him of his problem. The wise
man looked through all his books and at last found the
page that described the golden bluebird. It said, "The very rare
golden bluebird has a heart of gold. This golden heart can be
obtained only by the hunter with the golden arrows."

The wise man closed the book and said, "We must find the hunter with
the golden arrows."

"Exactly!" said the king. "And be quick about it. I must have the
golden heart."

The wise man called all of the king's messengers together and told
them of the king's demand.

"You must find a hunter," said the wise man, "who shoots with a set of
golden arrows."

The messengers ran off in all directions.

One of them went into the forest, and there he met Valentine, carrying
his beautiful bow and arrows.

"What good fortune," said the messenger. "I see you have golden
arrows. The King wishes you to shoot the rare golden bluebird,
as his beloved will marry him only when he gives her the golden heart
of such a bluebird."

"But I have never shot the birds or animals of the forest," said
Valentine. "I can't shoot the bluebird."

"you must," said the messenger. "The king demands it."

"It would break my heart to shoot any bird," said Valentine.

"Better your heart broken than the king's," said the messenger. "Take
me to the golden bluebird."

Valentine's heart was heavy as he led the way deeper into the forest.

He hoped that his friend, the golden bluebird, would not appear, but
late in the day he saw it fly into a tree.

"There it is!" cried the messenger. "Quick, shoot it, so that I may
get the heart."

"I will not shoot the bluebird," said Valentine. "Not even for the
king."

"Then I must take you to the palace dungeon," replied the king's
messenger. Valentine was dragged off to the dungeon.
On the way he lost his bow and arrows. The dungeon was dark and cold;
there was no bed. Valentine had to sleep on a pile of
straw with no pillow for his head. During the night Valentine was very
restless. Once he thought he heard the fluttering of winds.

"Surely," said Valentine to himself, "there are no birds in this
place." Then, through his troubled sleep, He heard someone
calling, "Valentine! Valentine!"

He opened his eyes, and again he heard the flutter of wings. "Who's
there?" Valentine asked.

A tiny voice replied, "Your friend, the bluebird. I've come to save
you."

"No one can save me," said Valentine. "The king is angry with me,
because I would not shoot you for your golden heart.
Now I have lost my bow, my arrows, and my happiness."

"You saved my life," said the bluebird, "and I shall save yours. You
have not lost your happiness, for I have brought you a golden

heart."

Valentine was astonished. He sat up. "Oh, bluebird!" he cried. "How
can you have brought me a golden heart!
Surely your heart is still untouched and safe!"

"It is not my heart," said the bluebird, "but it is exactly the same.
Look, it is very beautiful."

The bird lowered his head, and a chain on which a golden heart hung
slipped from his neck and fell into Valentine's hands.

"It is indeed beautiful!" said Valentine. "How can I ever thank you?"

"And there is your bow and the rest of the arrows," said the bluebird.
He dropped them from his claws to the floor beside Valentine.

"I found your bow and arrows near the castle, and I knew you were in
trouble," said the bluebird. "So I flew to your uncle, the

goldsmith, and from one of the arrows he fashioned a heart for you."

"Oh, how happy I am," cried Valentine. "Now the king will surely be
satisfied."

When the keeper of the dungeon appeared, Valentine showed him the
golden heart. Immediately the doors were opened,
and Valentine was set free. He hurried to the king's chambers and gave
the heart to the wise man, who gave it to the king and
told him of Valentine.

"It is very beautiful," said the king, "but I hope the princess will
not be disappointed when she learns that it is not really the heart
of

the bluebird."

"Let us find out, Your Majesty," said the wise man. "I think that the
princess will be delighted with this golden heart."

So the king called for his fastest horse. Carrying the golden heart in
a red velvet box, He rode off at great speed. The sky was
brilliant with the setting sun when the king reached the palace where
the princess lived. He found her sitting in the garden
feeding the birds, and he fell upon his knee.

Holding out his gift, he said, "My beloved, here is my token."
The princess took the box and opened it. When she saw the golden
heart, she cried, "How beautiful! Is it really the heart of the
golden bluebird?"

"No, my love," said the king, "but it is fashioned like the golden
bluebird's heart. I hope it pleased you."

"It does, indeed," the princess replied. "I have been watching the
birds feeding. Among them was a beautiful bluebird,
and it saddened me to think that I had asked you to bring me the heart
of the golden bluebird. I wept for shame,
but now my happiness has returned and I shall be your queen."

Overjoyed, the king told the princess the story of Valentine.

"This is a very important day!" said the princess. "We should remember
it in some special way."

The king held up his hand. "It shall be so," he said. "From now on,
the fourteenth of February shall be known as Valentine's Day.
All lovers shall give a heart, fashioned in any manner, to their
beloved, and it shall be called a valentine."

When Valentine heard of the king's announcement, he was deeply moved,
for now his name would bring happiness to many.
He came as an honored guest to the king's wedding, and flocks of
bluebirds, with the golden bluebird at their head, appeared to
circle around the king and his beautiful queen.

And so it is that, on the fourteenth day of February, lovers declare
themselves with valentines adorned with hearts.

In this way, they say, "I love you."