Red Roses of Nectar – How Red Roses First Came
Red Roses of Nectar – How Red Roses First Came
“At first Roses were all white. This is how they came red: –
Cupid loved the White Roses and played amongst them in the meadows of the earth, where they grew large and fragrant. Sometimes he wreathed them into garlands for his head, sometimes he chased the butterflies that alighted on their petals, and sometimes he curled himself up to sleep in the heart of a big open Rose. Yes, Cupid loved the White Roses better than any other flowers.
Now it happened one day that all the Dwellers-on-Mount-Olympus were feasting together, and Cupid was carrying Jupiter’s golden cup filled with fragrant red Nectar. The naughty boy held up the cup so carelessly that he spilled a few drops. They fell on some White Roses, and the flowers immediately foamed up in wreaths of bright Red Roses.
That is how Red Roses first came.”
Red Roses of Nectar by Milo Winter
This extract ‘Red Roses of Nectar’ is taken from The Wonder Garden – Illustrated by Milo Winter. Written by Frances Jenkins Olcott, this is a wonderful collection of over 150 nature myths and tales from all parts of the world. It’s 500 pages provide a vast array of tales, including tales of flowers, fairies, dragons, talking birds, magic waters and enchanted forests, that children can revel and delight in.
Red Roses of Nectar appears in the chapter titled ‘Adventures of Cupid Among the Roses – From Anacreon, Moschus, Lucian and other sources’.
The Wonder Garden – Illustrated by Milo Winter
