[Darkwood-SCA] Baroness' Masked Ball - tickets still available

[Laurie Hupman]

Well, I'm embarrassed to say that it took me a while to figure out I'd  
dropped off the Darkwood yahoo group, so I apologize to any of you who  
haven't seen that I do still have tickets for the Baroness' Masked  
Ball on September 27.

The site is the Santa Cruz Masonic Hall, 828 N. Branciforte Ave.  The  
hall opens at noon, site fee is $5 ($8 for nonmembers) and feast is $10.

Please contact me to reserve your tickets, and in the meantime, here's  
another Russian fairy tale:

Sadko
In the ancient city of Novgorod lived a poor musician named Sadko who  
played the played the gusli (a dulcimer-like instrument). Sadko was an  
orphan and made a little bit of money playing his instrument and  
singing songs at feasts and celebrations. One day, when he hadn't been  
invited to any celebration and was feeling down, he sat at the shore  
of Lake Ilmen, singing many wonderful songs. When he had finished, the  
Water Elf, rose out of the lake and said: "Thank you Sadko, gusli  
player. Today I had a big feast and all my guests were very pleased by  
your songs. I want to reward you by telling you a great secret."

The next day, there was a big feast at a merchant's house. The guests  
all began to engage in the traditional ritual of boasting about their  
wealth and possessions. They asked Sadko to join them. He replied  
modestly that he was not a wealthy man, but he knew one secret - there  
was a magic, golden fish in Lake Ilmen. Whoever ate it would become  
young again.

Nobody believed him. Finally the guests wagered that if Sadko could  
catch that fish they would give him all their goods. To everyone's  
astonishment he caught the golden fish and became one of the richest  
men in Novgorod. He built a big palace, married a lovely girl named  
Lubava, and became a prosperous merchant.

One day his fleet of ships was on the way home with a cargo of goods  
from other countries. But it happened that his ships were becalmed and  
could make no headway. Then Sadko realized the powerful Tsar of the  
Sea - Tsar Morskoy - wanted him to make an offering. From the ships  
they threw gold into the water hoping to appease the Tsar, but it  
didn't help.

Sadko then decided to sacrifice himself and jumped into the water. He  
found himself at Tsar Morskoy's palace deep in the sea. Tsar Morskoy  
invited him to play for his feast, and when he did, the guests and  
Tsar Morskoy started to dance. The Water Elf approached Sadko and  
whispered in his ear to stop playing because the dance was causing an  
awful storm on the sea above and ships were sinking, people were  
dying. When Sadko realized this, he began to pluck off strings of his  
gusli one by one until he couldn't play anymore. He told the Tsar he  
didn't have any extra strings.

The Water Elf told Sadko that Tsar Morskoy wanted the musician to stay  
in his sea kingdom to marry one of his girls. The Water Elf told Sadko  
to choose the last girl in the line because she was his sister and  
could help Sadko return home. Sadko did as he was advised and picked  
the last girl, the River Volkva. She comforted him and he fell asleep.  
When he woke up, he found himself at the river shore near Novgorod. He  
came home and was met by his wife Lubava, who was overjoyed at seeing  
him again. Everybody else was very surprised to see Sadko alive and  
well. Sadko and Lubava lived happily ever that.