Folklore: Love is Blind (story)

Subject: RE: Irish folklore: Why Love is Blind (story)
From: Joe Offer
Date: 17 Mar 03 - 05:47 AM

Hey, I actually found it! The source is rather unusual - MTV India??? (click).
-Joe Offer-

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Why Love Is Blind
Author Unknown

A long time ago, before the world was created and humans set foot on it for the first time, virtues and vices wandered bored, not knowing what to do.

One day, they were all gathered and bored more than ever when Ingenious had an idea: Why don't we play hide and seek?

All of them liked the idea, and immediately the mad Madness shouted: I want to count, I want to count and since no one else was crazy about seeking Madness, Madness leaned on a tree and started to count, 1, 2, 3.

And as Madness counted, the vices and virtues went hiding.

Tenderness hung on the horn of the moon; Treason in a pile of garbage; Fondness curled up between the clouds; Lie said he would hide under a stone but he lied and hid at the bottom of the lake; Passion went to the center of the earth; Avarice entered a sack that he ended up breaking.

And Madness continued to count, 79,80, 81,82.

All the vices and virtues were already hidden by then, except for Love, whom as undecided as he is, did not know where to hide. And this should not surprise us because we all know how difficult it is to hide Love.

And Madness was already at 95, 96,97.

And just at the moment when she arrived at hundred, Love jumped into a rosebush and there he hid out.

And Madness shouted "I'm coming! I'm coming!" and as she turned,the first one she saw was Laziness, thrown to her feet because he didn't have any energy to hide. Then she saw Tenderness in the horn of the Moon, and Lie at the bottom of the lake, and Passion in the center of the earth...

Discovering them one by one, finding all of them but one. Madness was getting desperate, unable to find the last missing one, until Envy, envious for not having been discovered, whispered to Madness:

"You are lacking Love, and he is hiding in the rosebush."

And Madness took a wooden pitchfork, and stabbed at the rosebush, and stabbed and stabbed, till a heartbreaking shout made her stop.

And, after the shout, Love came out covering his face with his hands, and from between his fingers run two threads of blood, out of his eyes. Madness anxious to find Love had taken out Love's eyes with the pitchfork.

"What have I done? What have I done?" she shouted, "I have left you blind! How can I repair it?"

And Love answered, "You can't restore my eyes. But if you want to do something for me, you could be my guide."

From that day on, Love is blind and is always accompanied by Madness.

Subject: Love is Blind
From: GUEST
Date: 17 Mar 03 - 01:14 AM

I was wondering if anyone new the Irish story that told of human characteristics playing hid and seek. Love was hiding in the bushes and another characteristic poked her w/ a pitchfork, so she became blind, therefore Love is blind, and everywhere love goes _________follows it. I can't remember, but I loved this story!! anyone know the story I'm talking about?