by Sara Dagan
Princess Maya and the Crystal Ball
A Fairy Tale for Grownups and Children at Heart
by Sara Dagan
Translation: Susan Rosenfeld
Copyright © 2011 by Sara Dagan
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Contents
Chapter One – Morning of Gold
Chapter Two – Another Gray Morning
Chapter Three – Forgetting
Chapter Four – In the Heat of the Day
Chapter Five – Purple Dusk
Chapter Six – White Night
Chapter Seven – Remembering
Chapter 1
Morning of Gold
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”This world-appearance is a confusion, even as the blueness of the sky is an optical illusion.” -- from Yoga Vasistha - Supreme Yoga / Swami Venkatesananda
Princess Maya rubbed her eyes in wonder.
She had just woken up from a night’s gilded sleep. Sitting up in her gold bed, she was surprised to see a golden package tied with a golden ribbon lying at the foot of the bed. “Just like the package I received in my dream,” she murmured confused. “What’s going on here?"
She leaned over to pick up the package, and saw that a note was attached to it with a gold thread. She looked at her gold watch: it was Friday, the date 11.11.11 (the year 2011), the hour 10:10:10 in the morning. The princess liked to sleep late (one of her weaknesses...), although she was very punctual and liked to break records - like the record number of seconds she could hold her breath, or stand on her head. Thus she was always searching for the latest innovations in timekeeping – inventions that were accurate to the thousandth of a second or more.
The princess stretched, yawned a great yawn, and began to read: “My beloved princess, please do not forget that you are a princess, or the family you come from! Have a good trip and a successful journey. With great love, Prince Karma."
“I must still be dreaming,” she mumbled, and with delicate hands opened the package. Inside was concealed another package, and inside that another package, and another... and yet another.
Princess Maya began to lose her temper. “What’s the meaning of this? Somebody must be playing a prank...” But just as she was about to throw the package into the waste basket, she spotted a little crystal ball. Since she was a spoiled princess, and accustomed to receiving gifts, she was at first indifferent to this gift. She had already been given everything a princess could dream of - precious jewelry, clothes by the best fashion designers in the world, even a flying saucer. Once, when she was a little girl, she had received a robo-doll that acted according to its mistress’s mood: it could be a baby, or a child, or at times, a friend. It had even played the part of an annoying little sister whom she used to call “Luna”.
The princess was the only child of her parents, the king and queen of the Land of the Gold Coast, who had been childless for many years, and for whom the birth of their daughter was a great miracle. She was the apple of their eye, and they were so protective that she often needed a brother or sister to play with - and sometimes to fight with - but that’s not the subject of our story. She pinched herself to be sure she wasn’t dreaming. “Who is Prince Karma?” she asked herself, confused. “I don’t remember having ever met a prince of that name.” Our princess had a remarkable memory, and although she met many princes (many of whom fell in love with her at first sight and tried to ask for her hand), she remembered all their names. Prince Karma was not one of them.
What journey is he talking about? she wondered. And how could I forget I’m a princess – ha, ha! Princess Maya had another weakness: she was very arrogant, which was hardly surprising considering her great talent, intelligence and beauty, and her perfect manners. Not only was she charming, but she excelled at all she put her hand to. Her parents were constantly seeking teachers from far-away lands who could quench her thirst for knowledge – because the teachers in her country, the Land of the Gold Coast, no longer had anything to teach her. She had read all the books in the kingdom long ago. Every month emissaries were sent on urgent missions to search the world for new books. But no matter how big the pile of books they gathered, by the end of the month the princess had read them all.
"This must be another one of the court jester’s jokes,” said the scornful princess to herself. She was about to order her morning coffee, when she noticed a faint noise coming from the crystal ball. She turned her head in indifference – her attention was already focused on the fine Jamaica Blue Mountain coffee that was specially ground for her every morning, the moment she gave the order. She was enjoying its aroma as if it had already been served to her on the stylish gold breakfast tray.
However, the princess’s sharp sight and hearing joined forces to overcome her sense of smell and taste, and she found herself once again looking at the little crystal ball, spellbound. Inside the ball a beautiful colored butterfly was flitting about. The butterfly looked desperate inside its transparent little prison. How could I not have noticed it before? Wondered the confused princess to herself. She was known for her rare ability to notice small details – even from a great distance.
She drew the ball closer and pressed her nose to the cool glass. She couldn’t believe her ears: a gentle voice was coming from within the crystal ball: “Woe is me, I have lost the thing most important to me. Woe is me, I have lost the thing most important to me. Woe is me... I have lost the thing most important to me. Woe is me, I have lost the thing most important to me. Woe is me... I have lost the thing most important to me. Woe is me, I have lost the thing most important to me. Woe is me... I have lost the thing most important to me. Woe is me, I have lost the thing most important to me. Woe is me..."
That will do! thought the impatient princess to herself. For a moment she forgot that the whole situation was absolutely unreal, and that she was reacting in earnest to a completely impossible situation. The butterfly continued to flutter back and forth inside the little ball, banging its gorgeous wings against the sides. But something else appeared to bother it more, as it continued its plaint while flapping its wings: “Woe is me... woe is me…"
“What have you lost?” she asked cautiously, and, a little embarrassed, pressed her nose to the ball again. The butterfly halted its flood of tears and weeping for a moment and turned to her. “Well, what do you think is the most important thing you can lose?“
With a gentle frown, the princess bit her red lips and pondered: Indeed, what is the most important thing you can lose? Anything I have ever lost has been replaced with a new, even better one almost immediately. Anything could be replaced – that’s what she had learned from her teachers and parents, who loved her so much.
“Hmmmm...” she mumbled, uncertain. “I’ve lost my self-awareness” cried the butterfly in despair. “I don’t know who I am!"
The princess opened her mouth to reply, but the butterfly went on: “You see, last night I dreamed I was a human. I woke up this morning and discovered that I am a butterfly. How can I be sure I am a butterfly who dreamed he was human, and not a human dreaming right now that he is a butterfly? How? Can you answer that, golden princess?” And the butterfly carried on flitting about the crystal ball crying, “Woe is me…"
Wow... this sounds just like the words of the Chinese sage Chuang Tzu, only the opposite, she thought to herself. “It’s very simple.” Princess Maya smiled one of her especially charming smiles, the kind that showed off the dimples that adorned her pink cheeks. “I am awake now, I see you, and I say you are a
beautiful, colorful butterfly."
“Ahhh... if I’m a butterfly,” the butterfly challenged her, “how is that I am speaking?"
Furrows appeared in the princess’s brow ... It looks like a butterfly, she thought, but it reminds me more of a rabbit, like the one in the story about Alice in Wonderland. “Well then,” she said with skepticism, “you are inside a crystal ball – no? You must be an enchanted butterfly”.
“If I am enchanted,” he mocked her, forgetting for a moment his tears and doubts, “if I am enchanted, then I am not a butterfly... and if I am not a butterfly – then what am I? Woe is me... I have lost what is dearest to me.” The princess, who was able to solve the most complicated mathematical problems, was at a loss when faced with the question in simple logic presented to her by... a butterfly. Ahem...I need my morning coffee, thought the princess. Apparently I’m not quite awake yet, and I’m still daydreaming.
The butterfly read her thoughts: “Aside from that, how can you know if you’re asleep or awake? Eh? It’s easy for you to see things from that angle when you’re outside the ball, but the moment you come inside, I guarantee you, things will look different.” He forgot his tears and signaled her with one of his antennae to come closer.
“Ha, ha, ha!” laughed the princess, “how could I get inside such a little ball?” “Oh, it’s very easy,” said the butterfly, fluttering his wings and pointing with the left one to a certain point on the ball. “You can enter through this crack.” “No chance,” she laughed, and went back to imagining the smell of her morning coffee.
“Oh? Well, how do you think I got in here? All you have to do is blow seven times into the crack and whisper three times: I am Maya! Maya is me! All is Maya."
She ordered her coffee, stretched again, got out of bed, took a deep sniff of the aromatic rose that had been picked this morning and placed in a gold vase on her chest of drawers, and said in amusement: “Hmmm... so you say that if I breathe seven times into this tiny crack and say three times... all right, we’ll try... it will be a nice, brief exercise until my coffee arrives..."
The princess blew hard into the crack, 7 times. She then closed her eyes, placed her hands on her hips, and whispered, “I am Maya! Maya is me! All is Maya.” That’s once, she counted to herself and again whispered, “I am Maya! Maya is me! All is Maya.” Twice. She filled her lungs with air and said for the third time: “I am Maya! Maya is me! All is Maya.” At that moment the room was filled with the wonderful aroma of coffee, which had been delivered in a gold jug, along with an almond butter pastry – but the princess had vanished!
Chapter 2
Another Gray Morning
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“Wow, what’s happening to me... is this for real…? No, it can’t be for real.” Princess Maya was sucked into the ball with dizzying speed, like a tornado. “Where am I being taken? I didn’t bring a change of clothes…"
As she spun faster and faster, the room grew ever larger before her dimming eyes. “Why don’t I feel that I’m getting smaller – like in the story I once read about...” Before she had time to complete her thought, she shrank to the size of a little seed. The spinning weakened, and just before she lost consciousness, Princess Maya, whose strength had been sapped by this hopeless struggle, felt the gentle flap of wings on her forehead and above her upper lip. A soft, caressing voice whispered provisions for the journey: “Good luck on your journey, beloved. We’ll meet at home, and don’t forget that you are a princess!”
* * * *
“Are you asleep on the job again?”
Princess Maya opened her eyes in alarm. Before her stood a strong man in his thirties, a red beret on his head, an iron baton in his hand and a handgun strapped to his waist. The man, who looked like one of the soldiers of the guard in her parents’ kingdom, leaned over her threateningly and struck her with his coarse voice: “This is the second time this month it’s happened. Do you remember what the rules of our corporation state? Three times – and you’re out! Take the pail and the mop, and go clean Pandora’s room. Octopus, the head of production, spilled coffee on her table. All the papers and the floor are wet, not to mention the boss’s clothes – and I suggest you watch your step, because she is furious.”
The princess, still not completely awake, rubbed her eyes. She couldn’t believe her ears.
“How dare you speak to me like that?"
“What cheek! Who do you think you are?"
“What do you mean? I am Princess Maya, and you”...
“Princess? Maybe the princess of the moon? You’re a princess, like I’m a butterfly... hee, hee, hee…”
You really are a butter– Maya opened her mouth to answer.
“May I remind you that we are on Earth! Hello…?”
“Excuse me?"
The security officer laughed again, and began pacing energetically up and down the room while fixing threatening eyes on the closed circuit TV screen that hung beside the entrance. “I see! You aren’t awake yet! You’re lucky I’m in a forgiving mood today... You had a dream, Maya, do you understand? A dream! Remember? – you are personal secretary to Pandora, CEO of Javon, the biggest cosmetics corporation in the world. But you won’t be for long, because lately you have been negligent in carrying out your duties!”
“World? What world...” She looked around and found herself seated at a cherry wood veneer desk, a computer to her left, a telephone to her right, and shouts all around her! No trace of the gold kingdom, the silk sheets, the crystal ball, the butterfly. No trace of princessdom – even her clothes were unfamiliar: she was wearing a short, tight, black skirt, a white shirt with starched collar, and alas! even her golden hair that always played freely about her shoulders - was carefully gathered into a knot at the nape of her neck.
Only the strong aroma of coffee that penetrated her delicate nostrils was somewhat familiar. Jamaica Blue Mountain? Princess Maya breathed the aroma into her lungs. Hmmm... yes... but not from the choice harvest always reserved for her.
“I must be dreaming,” mumbled the princess, shaking her head in the hope of waking up from this most troublesome reality.
“Maya!” Kerberos was approaching her in a threatening way.
She reluctantly got up from her chair, took the pail and the mop from Kerberos and, with a slight wobble, strode towards the door beside her desk.
“And I’m warning you not to be late again tomorrow!”
What a golem! The princess gritted her teeth in anger. I am never late! She hesitantly opened the heavy mahogany door. Kerberos’s expression as he watched the door close was one of anger mixed with pity.
"Princess!" he grumbled to himself in scornful disgust, tucked his official gray shirt into his black pants, straightened his red tie, and checked his mobile phone for messages. She doesn’t know it, but if she doesn’t get a grip soon and undergo “repair 42” with our Mummy, she won’t last here much longer.
"Princess!" Kerberos spat in disgust into his perfectly-ironed black handkerchief.
And I dreamed last night that I was a butterfly in a crystal ball... Ha!
Chapter 3
Forgetting
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“Hello, sleeping beauty – thank you for doing us the favor of waking up and honoring us with your presence…"
Princess Maya was used to hearing a similar greeting every morning in her country, the Land of the Gold Coast. This was the traditional greeting that welcomed her to a new morning along with the pot of steaming coffee and a fresh rose flecked with drops of golden dew.
Maya noticed with irritation that this strange morning greeting was accompanied by a hostile, threatening tone she was not at all accustomed to. An impeccably groomed and made-up figure was looking at her out of icy turquoise eyes. Her thin lips, painted with brilliant orange lipstick, were pursed into a thin, straight line. Princess Maya, who looked at all she met with a penetrating gaze – ”examiner of kidneys and hearts” everyone called her – found herself for the f
irst time she could remember, lowering her eyes in embarrassment to the black marble floor.
“What are you waiting for? Clean up already!” shot Pandora in a dry burst towards Maya. “Have you forgotten how to clean? Lay out the papers to dry, wipe the floor, and don’t forget to send my clothes to the dry cleaner’s – I want to see them on my desk tomorrow perfectly ironed – is that clear? And now bring us fresh coffee. Move”!
Humiliated and trembling with fear and angry frustration, Maya put the mop back in the bucket, knelt meekly at Pandora’s feet, picked up the dirty clothes and hurried toward the exit. Just as she reached the doorway, she slipped on the shiny marble floor and barely managed to grab the big J-shaped door handle in time to steady herself. She hurried to close the door behind her.
“She’s neglecting her duties,” complained Pandora in revulsion, turning to Octopus. “Why am I so merciful? I should have thrown her out long ago - she’s hopeless. Aside from which, she’s no longer young, and the rubbish she has in her head – I’m telling you, Octopus, my patience is running out.”
“You can’t forget her devotion over the years, her endless ability to learn, her unconditional loyalty,” Octopus tried to soften Pandora’s heart.
“Are you clinging to the past again, Octopus?” Pandora rebuked him. “The moment we start curling up in the warm lap of nostalgia, we’re in danger of losing our status as the leading firm, the one that sets the tone in the beauty industry, particular in cosmetics. The past is meaningless, Octopus! And the sooner you grasp that, the better! “What interests Javon is the here and now, while planning future strategies. All the facts show that Maya is wasting away. And if that’s not enough, lately she’s taken to this madness of the evergreen movement, those weirdoes' – she’s against creams, plastic surgery and meta-mutation, and in favor of all sorts of dangerous social ideas. Instead of maturing, she is becoming more and more infantile. May I remind you, Octopus, that we are a business, not a philanthropy – and I suggest you not forget that!"