In a distant kingdom, the sovereign had only one son, Prince Igor, a handsome, intelligent boy, loved by all his subjects. In the neighboring kingdom there were two princesses, daughters of the king who ruled and was a widower: Sâmia, the youngest and Mileia, from her first marriage. Both were raised by their father with a lot of love and affection; this one showed no more attention to either one or the other. Both received the same affectionate treatment.
The two sovereigns had agreed that Prince Igor and Princess Milea would marry when they reached the right age, but the two young men were never aware of this arrangement. One day, Princess Samia and her ladies-in-waiting rode through the fields and, ignoring the limits of the kingdom, crossed the river that separated the two sovereigns' domains. Upon seeing the group of Amazons, Prince Igor called his knights and they went to meet them and, in a way, kind and cordial, he addressed the princess asking her about the reasons that brought her to the territory of his father.
Enchanted by the young man's beauty and education, the princess could only answer that she had not realized that she had crossed territorial limits and, therefore, apologized for the mistake.
The prince, kindly, offered to accompany her on the way back. And so they walked side by side, talking animatedly, until they reached the riverbank, where they mounted their respective animals.
They knew they were in love and could not deny or disguise this fact. They arranged a new meeting there, at the bend in the river, in that flowery corner of the plain that stretched out to the foot of the mountain.
Upon learning of what had happened, the king sends Prince Igor on a long and lengthy mission to a distant country. And immediately communicates the fact to the sovereign, father of Princess Sâmia, who thanks him, but conveys nothing to his daughter.
But one of Princess Samia's ladies-in-waiting, who had heard and understood the king's conversation, decides to interfere. He calls one of the palace guards and asks him to kidnap Princess Mileia and hide her in a distant valley, explaining to him that he was saving his life, for a terrible conspiracy to overthrow his father's government was being plotted.
Prince Igor returns from his mission and, to save time, his father gives him another equally important task. And, on the same day, the two kings decide to arrange the wedding of Prince Igor and Princess Milea for when he returns. Princess Mileia's disappearance is being kept confidential by her father.
But, through one of his knights, Prince Igor learns of his father's plan and also of Princess Mileia's disappearance, not commented on by her father. That night he sets off at a gallop to sneak up on Princess Samia, who goes to wait for him at the bend in the river.
When he finds himself in front of his beloved, he explains the plan of the two sovereigns. They agree to meet on the other side of the great sea, on top of the mountain, as he is responsible for leading a people on an expedition to conquer and occupy that still little-known region. They say goodbye and return to their respective palaces.
But Prince Igor's plan is discovered by his father, who calls him and informs him that his mission will be postponed until early next year. And unbeknownst to the prince, the expedition left that night, under the command of one of the king's nephews. Princess Sâmia, animated by the hope of being happy with her lover, leaves in secret and, in disguise, crosses the great sea. After intense difficulties she reaches the great mountain and, at the top, comes across a village.
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She is received with great joy and surprise by the natives, who celebrate and sing to celebrate her arrival. Used to living practically naked in direct contact with Nature, they are admired by the beauty of the young white woman, her clothes and her long blond hair. They cannot understand that a person can have hair that color and only in sunlight do they find an element of comparison. And so, they start to consider her a goddess and call her Guaraciaba, “hair of the Sun”. They build her a simple and cozy hut on a small rise a few meters from the entrance to the village; and they satisfy with immense pleasure all her pleasures and whims. She adapts quickly to that way of life; he transmits to them some of the habits of his people and, at night, always before the fire, he tells them fantastic stories about the world they do not know.
She narrates the events that took her to that region and declares that representatives of her people are about to arrive and her fiance, whom she will marry, is in charge.
All rejoice with this news and start watching every day in the hope of seeing the long-awaited visitors soon. Many months go by without news of the adventurers. The messengers only report that white men arrived in large canoes and settled at various points along the coast and on the plateau.
The princess is impatient with the lack of news. She can't imagine what might have happened and lets herself be overwhelmed by sadness.
But one afternoon, white men approach the village on a reconnaissance expedition. The natives rush to meet them, to lead them to the princess. Surprised by the festive reception, they let themselves be taken to the hut of the goddess Guaraciaba. They are more surprised when they recognize her. As they knew of her involvement with Prince Igor, they narrate the facts they are aware of. They inform that the prince had married Princess Mileia, by order of her father, who claimed to have Princess Sâmia disappeared. Her father had discovered that Princess Mileia had been kidnapped by one of her ladies-in-waiting and had been, by one of the guards, hidden at the top of the mountain. By threatening to have the lady-in-waiting and guard hanged, the two sovereigns managed to convince Prince Igor to accept the marriage.
The princess despairs. All her dreams of happiness fade away in that moment. In the distressing anguish of seeing all her hopes lost, she runs off down the mountain, crying madly. Nobody could contain his despair.
The next day, very early, the natives decide to go looking for him. They split into groups and go in different directions. They find, and get to know, countless waterfalls whose existence they ignored and, in their simplicity, attribute the origin of the waterfalls to the copious tears that the goddess had shed.
Saddened, they continue their search for days and weeks. Each new waterfall found confirms the certainty that the goddess passed through the place. But she would never be found. They kept in memory the beautiful image of the white-haired goddess of the Sun, starting to worship her in her rituals. And to this day they call the region of Mantiqueira, “the mountain that cries”.
Tale taken from the book "PROSE AND POETRY - On the slopes of the mountain that cries"
by João Cândido da Silva Neto, still unedited.
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