|
|
The Legend Of Alegria Perenne.Mar 20 '07 Write an essay on this topic.
Popular Products in Music
The Bottom Line The best present my wife almost got.
My anniversary is quickly approaching. I’m not sure what to get my wife. It’s not that I lack imagination, it’s just that I always like to “do better” than I did the year before. I like to one up myself. Truthfully, I have been at a loss as to what to get my wife for 2 years now. Since she found out about The Legend Of Alegria Perenne. How do you top that? If you have an idea… please let me know. Read first, then a hand would be nice. My wife’s birthday and our anniversary are only a couple weeks apart. 2 years back, we were planning a substantial trip to Playa Del Carmen for our anniversary and my wife (kindly) told me not to get her anything for her birthday… she could see that I had already maxed out one card and was stressing a bit. But not getting my wife a present for her birthday isn’t really an option for me. It’s not that she’ll bug me, it’s just not in my make up. So I gave her a map that pointed out the last known whereabouts of Alegria Perenne as well as a the following copy of ”The Legend” as I remembered it: The Legend Of ALEGRIA PERENNE Tales have been told, for hundreds of years, about the fabled Lost City of El Dorado. The city, ravaged by the Spanish Conquistadors over 500 years ago, was said to be so rich in gold and treasure that their cooking utensils, work equipment… even the support beams for their buildings were made of pure Gold. El Dorado was found initially and quite accidentally by a ship’s cook when Vasco De Balboa traveled from Spain and made his first landing in the region of South and Central America. The cook stumbled through the brush after a long night of drinking and saw the city of El Dorado before him. In the middle of the town square was a six foot pedestal and on the pedestal was an item of such beauty that the cook fell to his knees and wept openly. He hid the knowledge of its whereabouts from his ship mates in hopes that he would someday return. He drew a crude map of the area, but passed away on the return voyage. The map was discovered by one of the sailors and kept safe with the knowledge that soon he would be returning to the area with Francisco Pizzaro. At the bottom of the map were the words: …Alegria Perenne… and beside this was a small picture that was indecipherable and unknown to the sailor. When the sailor returned to Central America he found Alegria Perenne from the cook’s map, but was baffled by the drawing that had been at the bottom. It looked nothing like the item which he now held in his hand. It was, however, something he wanted more than anything else in the world. A prize that he had searched for through all of his adult life. He carried it in his travels from northern Peru, up through the Yucatan Peninsula and decided that instead of returning to Spain with the rest of his shipmates, he would live out his life in the tranquility and beauty of the Mayan Riviera. He set up a small hut and co-existed with the neighboring villagers in peace and harmony. He showed them respect and shared with them freely. He taught them his language and learned theirs in return. They named him “El Sonriente Hombre” or “The Smiling Man” and until his death he was respected and loved for his wisdom and happiness. Upon his death, he willed Alegria Perenne to the Mayan Chieftain. The Chief had heard of the great treasure and had known that “the smiling man” possessed something that had been spoken about for over a thousand years throughout Central America but was once again baffled by the actual artifact itself. The Smiling Man had spoken openly of his prize and yet this resembled nothing of what he had described. Still, it was the most beautiful thing in the world and would bring peace and prosperity to his village for many years. When the Spanish returned to the area, almost fifty years later, the villagers embraced them with open arms. The Chief had long since passed away, but had given Alegria Perenne to his son. The son (who had become Chief as well) remembered “the Smiling Man” from his boyhood and did not expect any problems from these new people. He showed Alegria Perenne to the entire crew with the understanding that should anyone need a moment of pure happiness, they were more than welcome to it. That night, aboard the ship, multiple fights broke out. All agreed that the treasure was too valuable to be left in the new world but began to argue over what the treasure actually was. No two people had seen the same thing. To some it was a Jewel of extraordinary beauty. To others, it was a memento from their childhood that brought back the most calming thoughts, and to one man, it was a land deed that gave him complete ownership of this new world. The arguments turned in to fistfights and the fistfights were about to turn deadly when the Captain decided that the only way to restore peace on his ship was to return to the village and take the treasure by force if necessary. The village Chief, hearing the approach of the ship’s crew, left his hut and met them in the main clearing. When the Captain demanded that he hand over Alegria Perenne, or lose his life, the Chief smiled and said “By all means you may have it.” He called over his youngest son and said to him in his Mayan language, “Take Alegria Perenne and run as fast as you can to a neighboring village. Give it to them for safekeeping. Do not return home as we will not be here. These men are unworthy of true happiness” The Spanish, in retaliation, hunted the region mercilessly. They killed and enslaved all who stood in their way but never found the treasure that they sought. It moved from village to village, hand to hand, until even those who held it were blind to its great value. Thus began the legend of Alegria Perenne. Loosely translated it means “Eternal Joy” and is an artifact of such worth that it was the most prized possession in a city of solid gold. The reason for its uniqueness is that it will (and has) appeared as a different item for each person who has held it. The only common thread is that it will bring complete happiness to who ever has it for as long as it is in this person’s possession. Rumors abound that its last known whereabouts are somewhere in the village of Playa Del Carmen, sitting lost and forgotten among the wares that are plied daily by those who attempt to make their living off tourists. For your birthday, we will go to the town and hunt for Alegria Perenne together so that you may experience a lifetime of Joy. I cannot help you, or tell you what to look for due to obvious reasons. You would not see what I see. There was also a warning that spies (dressed as American Tourists) were on the look out for Alegria Perenne. “is this real?” was her first question. “As far as I can remember there’s some truth to it. Why don’t you look it up?” was my answer. The next day, her friend Rebecca asked what she got for her birthday and Lee told her about the legend. Rebecca also urged her to look it up and Lee finally did. The words “Alegria Perenne” brought up several hundred websites, all in Spanish and all exhausting to try to decipher. After a little while, when Lee added the words “Legend Of” she narrowed the search substantially. One link in particular caught her attention, a woman named Constance Bird in Texas was writing on a Playa Info site asking for some info on the legend. Page from Ontario was of no help. Neither was Michael from Silicon Valley, BeachNut from New York or Jesus from Mexico City. The site administrator James was saying that the legend couldn’t exist since the translation seemed to be off… But Magnum PI was leaving cryptic messages that his grandfather used to babble about Alegria Perenne and the family had written off his ramblings as dementia. He’d look in to it. “You should write Constance and tell her what you know.” Rebecca told my wife. “I should. I actually thought Mike made this up.” But she never did. Constance was screaming for info, my wife had the legend and the map in her hot little hands and Magnum PI kept leaving messages saying “I’d help more if I could but…” No matter how much Rebecca urged my wife to get in touch with Constance, my wife let the poor woman flounder… even when it became evident that Constance was going to be in Mexico around the same time as us because her trip was postponed. Oh. Lee was fascinated by it, but she only knew about the legend through me… she didn’t feel that she was in any position to be telling Constance anything. So she talked me in to writing to Constance to tell her what I knew. And that was it. We were off to Mexico about a week later. Well… it wasn’t entirely over. When we entered our room at the Royal Porto Real, the following letter was sitting on the table for my wife: Lee, In a perfect world you would have written me back yourself. Then you and I would have traded a few e-mails and I would have asked you to bring the “Legend of Alegria Perenne” down to Mexico with you… just so I could read it. I would have set up a meeting between you and I in Playa Del Carmen, probably on 5th Avenue on any afternoon that you had chosen, with the promise that I wouldn’t have taken hardly any of your time or disturbed your vacation. You would have been looking for me in a big red hat (I always wear one in Mexico darling). Then you would have known exactly what your husband gave you for your birthday. He would have told you himself. He would have explained that he knew you well enough to know that if you couldn’t find anything on the internet about this you would have never believed it. He would have told you that he went on the Playa site a few days before your birthday and started seeding it with information about “Alegria Perenne” just so you would find something and get excited about its possibilities. He would have explained how elaborate a hoax he tried to perpetrate, signing in under a false name, incorporating the help of Rebecca who pushed you as hard as she comfortably could to go and respond, how he got his friend Chris (under the name Magnum PI) to keep the legend alive and about James, the site administrator (who wishes you a happy birthday btw), who let the legend run and stopped trying to kill it. For your birthday he wanted to give you something completely unique, something that no other woman in the world has ever had. Something that can’t be bought. Your very own legend. A legend of Eternal Joy. I hope it makes you smile every time you think about it. I hope you have fun telling your children and grandchildren about this. I hope it always brings you joy. The rest of the people who responded are real and from various parts of the world. When we return, I will have to go back on the site and set the record straight (I promised James) All My Love Always, Constance Bird p.s. I never felt so silly as when I was writing myself, but hey… I had to keep it going .. …so that’s the deception that I have to top. I’d like to, but am not sure how to go beyond a failed attempt to give eternal joy. Anyone got any ideas?  |
| Read all comments (71)|Write your own comment |
|
Ads by Google
|
![Jersey Boys [Original Broadway Cast Recording] by Original Broadway Cast Reviews](http://di2.shopping.com/images/pi/95/a4/8a/2006752046-100x100-0-0.jpg?p=p3.d08ba4068bd2f7b27de5&a=2&c=1&l=8071320&t=120604095848&r=2)