Storybook Cruise - Birthday Camel Called Rose

When I was eleven I got a huge book of Eastern Fairy Tales from Mum and Dad for Christmas. I still have it and treasure it. This journey makes me pick it up again, flowers pressed in it's pages, carnations and rose petals and leaves. The first page introduces "The Caravan" that leads onto the other stories, all exciting in their own way, and oddly whimsical in the light of where I find myself now. Seems timely now to add something of the introduction here, being a special day and all:

On a Story Book Ride - Camel Rose

{The Caravan}

"Once upon a time, a mighty caravan was making its way across the desert.

The sound of camel bells and the chink of the horses' harness could be

heard from afar over the vast plain, where nothing was to be

seen but sand and sky. A thick cloud of dust rose before the caravan

and, when a breath of wind parted this, a watcher might have been dazzled

by the sight of glittering weapons and gorgeous clothing.

This was how the caravan appeared to the man who came riding up on a

magnificent Arab horse. Small silver bells hung from its crimson harness,

and a plume of heron's feathers waved on the horse's head. The rider

himself was a fine figure. On his head he had a white turban,

richly embroidered with gold, his coat and his wide trousers

were of scarlet, and he wore a curved sword by his side, its

hilt encrusted with jewels. His turban was set well down over his forehead.

This, together with his gleaming black eyes and bushy brows, and the

long beard flowing from under his hooked nose, gave him a wild

and adventurous look...."

(from Hauff's Fairy Tales, printed by Abbey Library London)

I loved these stories; they always appealed to the mind

traveller in me, and sent me off to places far

and wide, all from my imagination in my

room...

copyright Monika Roleff 2005.