Princess Peony
A traditional Japanese folktale, “Princess Peony” tells of a young girl engaged (according to her father’s wishes) unhappily to a man she does not know. In the garden one night, she goes out to her favorite bed peonies and almost slips into the lake– but is saved by a dashing samurai, whose clothes are covered in her favorite peonies. To make a long story short, the samurai is seen but never caught; instead, he leaves behind a single, beautiful peony which restores the young girl (who had fallen sick from heartbreak) to health. As soon as she is married to her fiancé, the peony withers and dies.
Photo: Andreana Bitsis 
