– Ogden, UT, Lovell Home

Fri., January 3, 2020, 7:00pm-8:30pm featuring Julie Barnson – West Jordan, UT, Hedman Home

--------------------More Details for December 12, 2019 and January 3, 2020

RIVERTON SENIOR CENTER

SOUTH JORDAN COMMUNITY CENTER

A poor boy named Francisco fished every day to help feed his mother and to sell in the marketplace.  They lived on the islands of the Azores and lived happily despite their circumstances. Though lacking in money, the girls of the parish thought him so handsome, especially when he turned 16. He paid the girls no mind and concentrated in providing a nice living for his mother.  One night, the boy decided to fish and told his mother, "The moonlight calls to me."  The mother was worried as he never had fished at night before and knew evil could come upon him at that time.  He assured his mother that there was plenty of light from the moon and took off.

The rocking of the boat, however, lulled the boy to sleep.  The moon shone on his golden hair.  This caught the attention of a water-nymph.  By day, she was invisible to humans.  She could not take her eyes away from that handsome boy.  She was excited for the boy to see her, as she was no longer invisible.  She arranged her hair and many pearls decorated the strands and around her neck. The boy was fast asleep.  Yet, the water-nymph could see that the boat was headed towards dangerous rocks.  Fearing the boat--and the boy--would be dashed to pieces, she decided to carry the boy away without waking him to her palace.

Francisco's boat was found the next morning.  The mother feared the worst but waited by the shore. Her boy was not around to catch and feed her fish, though she had no appetite due to her grief.  One of the villagers encouraged the woman to see the Wiseman of the Sea and share her worries.  It was a long journey, but she longed for comfort.  She took the boat and reached the island where the Wiseman of the Sea lived.  When she saw the Wiseman, he was tall with a long white beard and his skin was covered in fish scales.  The Wiseman listened to the woman's story.  He said, "Francisco is with a water-nymph who carried him away to her castle."  The woman wanted to know if her son was happy.  The Wiseman nodded and said, "Yes, but the water-nymph gave him a philtre to forget his past life."  The woman thought long and hard.  "Will I ever see him again?  Will he ever remember his mother?"

The Wiseman was quiet for a long time.  "You have cried for your son, but he will cry if you bring him back." When the woman said she could not bare to be parted any longer, the Wiseman said, "If you cry into the ocean and just one of those tears, by chance, falls on your son's heart, then he will remember his past."  The woman cried right then and there.

Meanwhile, Francisco was happy in that palace with the water-nymph.  The water-nymph took him to the gardens and wove flowers in his golden curls.  She gave him a big fish that was large enough to carry him like a horse.  The fish was embroidered with pearls.  The water-nymph that Francisco could ride anytime he was tired of the castle.  The young man thought it strange that anyone who find this mother-of-pearl castle as tiring.  For a long time, Francisco was content.  Then one night, he had a dream about his mother.  His mother had cried so much in the ocean that finally a tear did reach his heart.  He ran to the big fish with pearls and urged the fish to swim as fast as possible.  He knew that his mother was in great sorrow over him.  Within in a hour, Francisco was home and hugged his mother.  The mother asked her son to promise to never fish again.  From that time on, Francisco hunted rather than fished.  He was of marrying age and all the maidens looked his way as he carried his spears into the woods.

Eventually, the daughter of a rich man caught Francisco's eye.  As he was poor, he could only give gifts of birds that he had killed.  The father laughed and said no such boy should marry his daughter.  She would only marry whomever gives her a rich gift.  Francisco knew it would never happen and cried.

The water-nymph was nearby and the Francisco's tears reached her in the water.  She came to the shore often, always hoping to see him.  When she saw his sorrow, her heart broke.  She understood why he grieved.

The next day, Francisco carved a new spear, but found a necklace of pearls near his tools.  It was a gift from the water-nymph.  Yet, when his mother's tears had touched his heart, he had forgotten her.  He took the gift to the rich man and never knew the sacrifice of the water-nymph.