a river of Heaven and a spring in Aquitaine

[sergebroom]

My highlights of April 2008's issue of Realms of Fantasy…

The latest installment of the magazine's folkroot column is by Midori Snyder, who talks about the Swan Maiden. It's quite interesting to see who, depending on the century and/or the culture, is depicted sympathetically, the maiden or the man who forces her into marrying him.

Among the issue's stories, I especially enjoyed Richard Parks's On the Banks of the River of Heaven.

Long ago Kaiboshi was given the responsibility of keeping an eye on the Celestial Ox, who grazes by the banks of the River of Heaven - known to mortals as the Milky Way. His other task is to catch and release the River's Fish. Such was decreed by the Master of Heaven, and Kaiboshi dutifully acquits himself of his responsibilities. But he is very sad because the Master also keeps Kaiboshi and his wife the Divine Weaver apart on opposite banks of the River. They are allowed to meet only on the seventh day of the seventh month, which is when birds come swooping down and form a bridge. For the last few years though it has been raining so hard on that day that the bridge collapses before Kaiboshi can cross over, and he despairs that his wife will forget about him.

"Oh, if only we could be together always, things would be so much simpler."

"I doubt that," Otter said. "It is my understanding that, when you lived with Asago-hime, both of you shamefully neglected your duties. The Celestial Ox wandered where it would, including the gardens of any god foolish enough to live on this side of the river. And your lady wife avoided her weaving to the point that the gods were becoming rather threadbare. Is this not why you were separated in the first place?"

One day though, Kaiboshi does Otter a favor and…

My other favorite tale is Delia Sherman's Gift from a Spring.

Desdemona wants to become a painter, but, while she is technically competent, she feels too literal-minded to be truly talented. Not knowing what to do with her life, she takes an administrative job at La Source, in Aquitaine. There, retired ballerina Ondine Delarivière runs a summer performance camp for kids. Things should be idyllic at La Source, but something isn't right between Ondine and Collingsworth, her husband, who refuses to let the modern convenience of a washing machine intrude upon their home. Instead he makes everybody do their laundry in a secluded pool that, as a result, is filled with soap scum and duckweed, much to Ondine's disgust. Desdemona tries to find a solution, going so far as to overcome her fears and doubts about her own talents by showing what the pool would look like if it were left alone.

The sketches weren't bad. Literal-minded as ever, but lively enough. (…) The painting, on the other hand, was dreadful: a muddy, incomprehensible, unreadable, ugly mess. I'd overworked it. The thing to do was let it go, start over on a clean canvas once I'd thought a little more clearly about what I wanted it to say about La Source.