زمین‌های پر از روییدنی

Chapter eight

The Field of the Fullers

In the morning the priest said, ‘I will go and bless the sea because it was not calm last night.’ Monks, musicians and many other people went with him.

When the priest reached the beach he saw the young fisherman. He was dead in the water and the body of the little mermaid was in his arms. The priest frowned and said, ‘I will not bless the sea or anything in the sea. The young fisherman abandoned God for love, and the punishment of God killed him and his love. Now take his body and the body of the mermaid and bury them in the corner of the Field of the Fullers. Do not put any sign there.’

The people put the dead bodies in a deep hole in the corner of the Field of the Fullers. They covered the hole with earth. No sweet herbs grew there.

Three years later on a holy day, the priest went to the chapel to speak to the people about the anger of God.

When he went to the altar, he saw that there were strange flowers on the altar. Their strange beauty worried him and their perfume was sweet. He was particularly happy and he did not understand why he was so happy.

He wanted to speak to them about the anger of God. But the beauty of the white flowers worried him, and their perfume was sweet. He did not speak of the anger of God. He spoke of the love of God. And he did not know why he spoke like this.

When he finished speaking, the people cried, and his eyes were full of tears. He was in a dream, and he said to his deacons, ‘What are the flowers on the altar? Where do they come from?’

They answered him, ‘We do not know what kind of flowers they are, but they come from the corner of the Field of the Fullers.’ The priest trembled, and returned to his house and prayed.

Early the next morning he left his house with monks, musicians and many other people. He walked to the beach and blessed the sea, and all the wild things in it.

He also blessed the fauns, and the little things that dance in the forest. He blessed all things in the world of God, and the people were full of joy. But the people of the sea went to another part of the sea, and they never came back again.