In this story, the merchant brings each of his 3 daughters her desired gift:one wants a pearl necklace, one a gold bracelet, and the youngest, a songbird. The merchant stops at a lovely castle and tries to catch a songbird, but is threatened by an angry lion. The merchant makes a desperate promise that his youngest daughter will go to the lion’s castle. Surprisingly, she finds the lion spares her life, and gives kindness rathe than danger, for the lion by day is a gentle young man by night, a prince under the spell of a wicked enchantress. The lady and the lion enjoy each other and soon fall in love and marry. The story has actually just begun as the prince is not yet safe from the enchantress. It takes our lady’s strength and courage and a quest of 7 years to finally rescue the prince and free him from being a lion in the daytime.
I enjoyed creating the prince, princess, and lion and using many silk threads and a wide variety of stitches to complete “Once upon a Time, the Lady and the Lion.”