Poems and Tales from Romania

by Simona Sumanaru; Michael Hart

Thus you can see that this story is populated by very young people . . .and such people do not often leave much of a mark on society, other than in stories. . .such as The Little Boy At The Dike, such as The Boy Who Cried Wolf [which may or may not be true] and other such stories of this nature.

But this story centers around a girl, and not a girl who has magic inflicted upon her, as in The Red Shoes, but a girl who rather has inflicted her magic upon society, and then chooses preservation of self or preservation of society, when her magic proves very strong . . .very strong, indeed. . .only it may not have been magic. . .

This story takes place in Europe, before Columbus, but not so long before. . .and it may be the reason that ice-skating is dated back to the time it is. . . .

This is also the ballet, Les Patinagees, from the same story, with various changes, as is usually the case with ballets.

This is not solely a side-comment as this kind of artistic licence . . .as it were. . .is the true subject of our story.

Whether Lake Dimbovitsa is really named after the main character— or vice versa—has been argued by historians, inteligensia and the literati of generations. . .I'm not taking sides. . . .

***

Dimbovitsa was a lovely girl, in an neighborhood of where the girls were usually lovely. . .and she was no exception. . .at least for a decade or so. . .but then came a series of long winters. . .not the harsh kind that fill us with cold and fear of winter, but just long . . .starting with some early freezes in October, nothing that kept the crops from being harvested or brought to market, in fact a good many said those years produced some of the finest fall crops of all time. . .and the most beautiful fall colours.

These winters also held on an extra month before letting go into an awe-inspiring set of springs, as well. The ice not melting from an assortment of shaded ponds until well into May. . .but again. . .it was not enough to keep the fields from being plowed and planted and the Springs of that decade also must admittedly go down as a lovely addition to the nicest and most beautiful springs of all history.

The summers, though perhaps a bit shorter, were also lacking in the heat and dust that make summers sometimes unbearable, and. . .as it happened, all in all, these were among the finest years ever.