He stayed together with some other brothers on an old Roman estate, donated to their monastic order by a local widow, who wished the place to become a monastry.
They spent their days -as good monks do- in prayer and hard labour on the land. The task of maintaining the orchard and vegetable garden was assigned to the young monk, who was a farmer boy. And because of his hard work and dedication the gardens greatly flourished and there was an abundance of vegetables, herbs and fruits.
And it often happened that local countryfolk passed by and stopped for a while to overlook the orchard and garden, and they admired and praised the work of the gardener.
The humble monk felt very embarrassed with all those compliments bestowed upon him and said that he, simple gardener, was only the Almighty's instrument.
Amongst the many passers-by was sometimes a young girl of great beauty and noble birth.
She belonged to an old family of royal descent, and never went for a walk without her two ladies-in-waiting and an old guard.
Every time the young lady and her little party passed, the monk had to use some effort to keep his vow of chastity in mind, and he turned his face, so no one could see the guilty blush on his cheeks. Alas, what the poor man didn't knew was the horrible destiny of that little princess.
Her forefathers were maybe men of great power, respected and beloved kings. It was all past glory.
The girl's father could only dream of his ancestor's prestige, but all he had inherited was an old palace, a noble title and an empty purse. He was a weak man, lacking the brave character of his ancient and distinguised family.
His only concern was to find funds to keep up an appearance as a nobleman of great worth. As his lovely daughter had no lack of suitors, the old man thought that her beauty could solve the problem.
And he turned her life into a nightmare!
(To be continued)
No comments:
Post a Comment