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The amazing story of the Badia talisman Chapter 1. The royals This story begins in the year 1200 in a green and flat land crossed by a river whose waters flowed impetuous and full of fish. The river was called Badia, and the surrounding places “Valley of Badia”, but all of its inhabitants simply called it Badia. In the middle of the valley was a huge castle, of sharp geometry and high towers.
There lived a young princess, Armerina, with her family, consisting of the King Charles called “the Magnanimous” and Queen Consort Maria Chiara, called “the Lit”. It was a sunny morning of May.
That day the inhabitants of the Valley, who lived by fishing and of the fruits of the Earth made fertile by the river, saw hanging in the middle of the town square a large papyrus on which was engraved the following message: To the residents all of the Badia the King His Serene Highness Charles said “the Magnanimous” draws a greeting and directs an appeal: that on the date of the next two sunsets make presentia at the Castle
the magicians, astrologers and essays which are all called to unveil, interpret and declare the dream fatal shaking from seven nights the sleep of Our only daughter Princess beloved Armerina. This is given wide notitia et advertising yield. You can imagine the great excitement that this message threw among the Gentiles, which in fact talked about that all day long. It was almost a year that the Princess did not appear in public and most people feared she was ill. “Behold! “ the malignant said, “She is dying… “
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Chapter 2. The dream It was then, in the midst of this controversy, that the meeting with the sages took place in great secrecy. One by one, they were sent into the girl’s room; she was only fourteen years old. After each of them made the princess tell the dream again and again, they reunited in a room to decide what to do. Now, the dream was so long and complex that the little ink I have available would not be enough to describe it. Well, I’ll just use it as an excuse for another story that I will tell you some other day.
When they had finished consulting each other, the head of the wizards, Taruk-Al-Ameen, who came from the land of the Turks, turned to his most serene Majesty:
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“Sovereign, I have to report to you some fatal news. My estimated colleagues and I have long quibbled and queried our esoteric knowledge. However, as the dream of the Princess has a sense that cannot be misunderstood, our verdict is unanimous. It is a divinatory dream sent to you by Providence itself to warn you. An event will take place: a young man will come, that your Majesties will not know, and he will steal the Princess’s heart and leave her in an inconsolable sadness. Finally, taken from despair, she will flee and you will not see her ever again. “ This is how the chief of the magicians talked, leaving King and Queen mostly discouraged. “You cannot go against fate“ said the Queen, but the King did not agree, so he said: “We will do everything to avoid her dating anyone. She is young, she has her entire life ahead of her. We cannot allow someone to make her unhappy.“
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Chapter 3. The wizards Meanwhile, in the Valley the news had spread and everyone was very disappointed regarding what the dream had revealed. In fact, you must know that in the year one thousand and two hundred no one dared to question the Wizards, which at times laid down the law. In fact their powerful leader, Taruk-Al-Ameen, for long aimed to conquer the heart of the young Princess: he knew that if he succeeded to marry her, he could get his hands on one of the most immense treasures from across Europe, known as the “treasure of Badia’s crown”, a treasure that was fantasized a lot but of which nothing was known with certainty.
“I’m going to marry the little coquette“ said the terrible Taruk “and I'll be the most powerful man in the world. “ Taruk seemed kissed by the fortune since the King closed Princess Armerina in a tower of the Castle and forbade her to see anyone who wasn't 6
family. And so it was that the sadness prophesied by the dream became reality, but for a different reason than expected: inexperienced of the world Armerina was very alone and spent hours locked in her room, reading books that she secretly stole from the huge library of the Castle and sighing for the vicissitudes of love of which she read about.
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Chapter 4. The son of the alchemist
In a Kingdom far, far away from Badia, near the Alps, lived an alchemist and merchant of medicinal herbs. This merchant travelled around the towns selling his herbs at a high price, but he was not dishonest. He had traveled the world to get those herbs, and had long studied to learn about the medicinal properties of each. So he succeeded and he was so much wanted, that he had accumulated a great wealth over the years. The merchant had a son, named Andrew. Despite the good will of the father, Andrew was lazy and always absentminded. He did not want to study herbs, trade annoyed him, but he had a passion for books, which he bought secretly in a nearby monastery. It happened one day that, that during one of his pilgrimages to the monastery, Andrew found on the road a rather strange object. It was like a stone, but it was softer, and transparent, and almost blackened. It resembled a piece of amber, but the form was uneven and jagged. This item was stored in a mesh cloth on which there were affixed strange runes or letters. After an hour or so, he came to the conclusion that the letters were the following: YMMFWITAY. From his readings Andrew knew of magical objects that came from India, and recognizing it as such, immediately put it carefully in his bassoon. Back home he realized that it was very early in the morning and that his father would not return until dinner time. So he put on a colorful linen pajamas brought by his father from Turkey and began to play with the strange object that resembled amber. He fantasized about it: where it could come, what was its story and what its powers. While lost in these thoughts, Andrew was sitting in a large basket that his father used times ago to gather herbs. It happened that by chance he began to rub the mysterious object. An amazing thing happened: the basket began to fly.
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Andrew was first taken by terror, then tried and tried again: every time he would rub that sort of amber, the basket would fly, and when he would rub the amber again the basket would softly land. He was taken by such a surprise and wonder that he forgot even to write a farewell letter to his father, because in less than no time, he found himself flying high and far from his home.
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Chapter 5. Meeting the Princess Andrew, holding the magic talisman in his hands, flew farther and higher. He came to touch the clouds and then even higher, above those clouds where the skies are cobalt and their surface seems made of soft white wool. Then he dived back into them and lower. Sometimes he encountered heavy rain and storms, but it was enough to climb above the clouds to find the warm and reassuring sunlight. Finally, driven by hunger, Andrew decided to land and that happened precisely in Badia. His appearance was an indescribable event: people ran crazy and terrified but also intrigued. Someone said: “The God of the Turks fell from the skies“, because of his strange attire.
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The young man was amused by all this and decided to play along being careful to hide his talisman. He went into a tavern seeking something to eat: nothing was denied to him, and indeed he was treated just like a deity. While he was serving some hot dishes, the innkeeper said to him: “ You know, here in Badia a tragic event ruined our days. The Royal family is sad as if in mourning. The young Princess has been predicted to be unhappy because of the appearance of a young man, so now she is locked in a tower and she cannot see anyone. “ Andrew, curious by nature, promised that he would do something about it and he was showed the way to the Castle. “You can't be wrong“ the innkeeper replied “the Castle towers are the highest peaks in the Kingdom“.
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So Andrew began traveling in his basket wheel and when he reached the Castle, he entered through the window of the tallest Tower. It was the room of Princess Armerina, who was sleeping in her bed. She was so beautiful and so sweet that he couldn't help but kiss her. The Princess woke up frightened. “Who are you? “ she asked him. “ They say I am the God of the Turks“ explained Andrew “So what? “ And then he rubbed the talisman, and the basket soon lift off. “I beg your pardon, Mr. God of the Turks“ said Armerina “but you got me very scared! “ “Oh, you mustn't be scared your Highness“ Andrew said, and began to tell her wonderful stories. He told stories in which her face was a valley of snow, and her eyes were dark and beautiful lakes. He told that the fish that lived there called themselves Thoughts, and that the wave that was moving her lips called himself Poetry. Needless to say , Armerina fell madly in love with young Andrew, and he too lost his head for the sweet Princess. In short, they decided to get married.
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Chapter 6. Rumours “You must come and see me next week, Mr. God, so that I may introduce you to my parents. They will be so happy that I'm marrying the God of the Turks! “ and so she greeted him with a long kiss and Andrew disappeared the way he had come: flying out the window on the basket of medicinal herbs. Before going to sleep, Andrew decided to take a walk in town to hear about the latest rumors. So he hid himself behind a bush, took off his colorful linen pajamas and put on some normal clothes that he was careful to remember to take with him that morning. Finally, with those new clothes, he was able to go by the streets unnoticed and listen to what people was saying.
They were ecstatic and the God of Turks was the topic on all mouths.
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“I saw him“ said a mustache guy with a scimitar “at least three meters tall, and with flaming eyes“ “He flies on a magic carpet“ made eco another “ and his clothes are filled with rubies and diamonds“ “He has a beard“ said a lady “colored like the blue water of the sea and his skin is olive! “ Oh, there were saying so many things to fill another book but as you already know, my ink is in short supply. But then it came a day when Andrew had to return to the Castle. Aboard his basket, he entered through the stained glass windows at the reception room, causing immeasurable wonder to the Royal House inhabitants. Even his beautiful Turkish pajamas, I must admit, made its effect. He landed next to the Princess, who looked at him with eyes full of love. He was offered some tea and then they all began to chat about this and that. Soon the climate became confidential and even the Queen spoke with him in very relaxed ways for a Queen. “And now, Andrew, why not tell us a beautiful fairy tale? “ Armerina said “You are very good at that! “ And so Andrew began to tell a story.
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Chapter 7. The story
Once upon a time, there was a small sole called Billa. She was very curious and loved wandering the sea and freedom. One day she happened to know Ruffle the Truffle. He was an ugly and old sea-fruit, always attached to his rock, mostly introverted. “Beautiful youth! “ Ruffle said sarcastically to Billa. “Oh, I did not see you, Mr. Ruffle. Good morning! “ said Billa in an educated manner. “ All the same, you young people, always in a hurry! And you never try to understand life, you never ask yourselves any question“ observed the truffle, muttering. “You surprise me, Mr. Ruffle, do you really believe I should stop myself and start thinking about life? “ “Of course not, dear girl! Why then? You have a very comfortable life, after all. Have you ever wondered why you swim? Why do you coarsely rejoice in the sand? “ “No! I never thought about that. I do that because I feel like doing it, because the water is so fresh, the sand so soft: I swim, I get covered with the sand, shortly: I am living. I feel a force in myself, a great happiness, a new, real joy ... “ “You lucky, there is nothing to say “ “ But I am less lucky than you, Mr. Ruffle, you have such a big brain, which allows such deep thoughts! You will see, sooner or later you will amaze the world“ “Who cares about the world, pretty little girl? I close myself in the shell and who cares about the rest. The world does not even touch me, there are just me and my shell, and that’s all I need“ and so saying, without even saying goodbye, he shut himself up in the shell and disappeared. 15
Billa was for a bit speechless, then gave a shot with the fin and dive herself again into the sand. And when she was finally in the sand she thought: “Life is very sad for poor Mr. Rufo! “ So the sea story ends with sole Billa playing in the sand and if an end we must invent: Rufus for Billa is not a worth boyfriend And if a moral you want me to append well, I’m not here for that, and please do not offend!
“Oh, that's so touching a story“ the Queen said with tears in her eyes. 16
“ It is a really deep story“ said Armerina. “It is a story not without a certain irony“ added the King. It was then decided to establish the wedding date and the King and the Queen let the two lovers alone, with only one last recommendation: “Andrew, do not forget to make a spectacular flight entrance, when you arrive for the wedding: our political opponents will remain speechless! “ Finally alone, Andrew took Armerina aside and told her that he loved her. With those words the Princess felt happy as she had never been before. She said: “I will never ever leave you! “ But the moment of goodbye soon arrived and Armerina decided to keep with her at least a small remembrance of his love to have with her while waiting for the wedding day when she would finally see him again. Thus, poking in Andrew’s pockets, she found the talisman and took it with herself secretly. Andrew did not notice anything, but he had as an omen and said: “I hope that nothing will tear us apart. “ Outside the Castle, he walked towards the hostel where he was staying. Once there, with the basket under the arm, he said: “And now I’m flying to my father, to invite him to the wedding. “
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In vain he searched his pockets for the talisman, he couldn’t find it. And without it, the basket would not flew! How could he marry Armerina now? he asked himself in panic. Not to mention the King, who was waiting for his spectacular entrance to the Palace. What a disgrace!
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Chapter 8. The wedding day
The wedding day came and he did not show up. All the citizens were decked out in their Sunday best, everyone waiting for the exceptional event. The King had invited dignitaries from the Courts of the most important countries in the world, the Queen had invited noblewomen from all across Europe. It was a resounding failure. At midnight, the guests began to leave and Armerina was locked in her bedroom, in part because it was late, in part because of the anger. Unfortunately nobody knows with certainty how things exactly went. You just have to know that the next morning, Armerina was no longer found in her room. Only a strange, soft amber-like stone, was found left on the bed, next to a message: "This is the talisman YMMFWITAY, architect of all my happiness and all my misfortune". A lot of efforts were made, but nothing was ever knew about Armerina. And the same for the self-styled God of the Turks, the young Andrew. The head of the wizards, Taruk-Al-Ameen, after a period of understandable euphoria, was caught with his hands in the bag while trying to steal the silver cutlery and executed on the square two days later. People of the Badia slowly forgot, but still nowadays strange stories are heard about a young man who allegedly kidnapped the Princess one night, and that, together, the two had fled to an island in the middle of the sea, where they are living their days happily ever after. As for the talisman, you must know that it became part of the fabulous treasure of Badia’s crown. It was later stolen by none other than Napoleon in person.
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However, not the entire treasure was stolen, but only the pieces that the Emperor Napoleon judged most interesting. The talisman, not being a precious stone, was relegated to a corner and forgotten. It was an ancestor of mine to pick it up once, and put it in the silk case where it is currently stored, with the words: "YMMFWITAY, or talisman of the The Badia".
The evening has come, the ink is finished and the story as well. As I am writing, the famous talisman is here, right in front of my eyes. No matter how much I have tried, I was never able to figure out what does that word YMMFWITAY means. The real name of the talisman in an ancient tongue? Maybe, even if I am persuaded that it should be an acrostic of some sort. Anyway, no matter how many times I rubbed it, no basket, so far, has lift up. THE END 20