The girl with the longest hair

The other day, I was reminded of an old Armenian folk tale. (In a period of ancient Armenian days, it is said that the girls with the longest hair were hailed as the most beautiful and were married off to the wealthiest of families.)

The tale is of a girl with long, raven hair. Her hair is the longest of all the girls in the village, though she is not the prettiest of all girls. She is teased by the villagers that the combination of her long hair and her lack of beauty is ridiculous and a laughable mistake by God.

Tired of being made a fool of, the girl goes to the river, dips her hair in the water and soaks up all the river water, leaving the village to dry without their water source. When the villagers realizes this, they beg her to return the river, but she refuses.

As the village is dying of drought, a young man seeks her for water to save his family and the village. He finds her in despair, sad that the people only see her as water. The man tells her that only the most beautiful would be blessed to raise the river from the ground, but the ugliest would never return it and leave the ground to dry.

It is said that her smile to him was the most beautiful in the world.

The girl returns the river to the village and is never seen again. The people rejoice and the village thrives once more, but the people remained curious of the single pomegranate tree that suddenly grew by the river, the very place the girl last stood.

*~*~*

I don't know what reminded me of the story, but I had the strongest urge to draw.