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One evening of the fairy congress was devoted to story-telling, in
which the fairies competed with each other to see which tale was the
most interesting.

After one fairy had told the story of the fleur-de-lys, which was only
“e pluribus unum”—as Horace said of a salad—that is, one out of many,
another fairy rose up to tell the story of the opal. This precious
stone carries in its bosom the colors of the Belgian flag, black,
yellow, and red.

Thus the fairy began:

“It was long before Cæsar’s day, when the first princess of the united
Belgian tribes was to be married. Then the fairies came to her and
asked her what she wished them to do, to adorn her head-dress for the
wedding.

“This was her answer:

“‘My desire is for a jewel to wear on my forehead. I hope to get one
that shall show the three colors; the first, to stand for loyalty to my
king-father; the second, to represent my willing obedience to the law
of the commonwealth; and the third, to express the freedom of my
countrymen from the slavery of enemies.

“‘These colors must be first, black; to signify that the king must
face, without fear, every storm, and whatever is dark or difficult. The
second must be yellow, to show how law protects gold, which is the
symbol of property, as the result of human labor; the third must be
red, representing blood, the life of the nation, and which, from their
own veins, our brave men must, when necessary, shed for us all.

“‘Be sure to get me a perfect black, for everybody knows, that, in the
heraldry of kings and nobles, sable, or black, denotes constancy,
wisdom and prudence. If you can, bring me a precious stone that
contains these three hues. They are my colors and my people love them.
Yet, if a gem, and not something else, it must have them all, for I can
wear but one stone.’

“Three fairies, with strong wings, were immediately sent to fly out
over the forests and into the mountains, where the pretty gems are
found. They hunted among the rocks, and in the beds of streams. They
called on the kabouters to help them to make search in the dark caves.
Happily, each one was successful beyond the highest hopes.

“After choice from many fine specimens, the three fairies returned,
each one bearing a glistening jewel in her hand.

“The first proffered the princess a pure, hard, black stone. It was
well named the diamond, meaning ‘the invincible.’ Rare indeed is a
black, or colored diamond, but there it was.

“The second stone was the topaz, of a deep yellow. It reminded one of
the gains of commerce, and the toil of millions, bringing comfort and
wealth.

“The third stone was the ruby, deeply, darkly, beautifully red. Besides
being hard, brilliant and permanent in tint, it was not easily
scratched or broken.

“Joyfully the princess bound these three upon her forehead and looked
into the mirror. She was delighted with all the gems, for each was
beautiful and spoke its own language.

“Yet, as each fairy thought the one, which she had found in the
mountains, and selected out of many, was that which the princess ought
to prefer and to wear, the king’s daughter could not decide, by herself
at least, lest she be deemed selfish or partial.

“So she went to her father, and asked his advice.

“He looked at each jewel, admiring them all, yet thinking in his heart
all the while that his own daughter excelled each and every one. He
then made answer:

“‘In the Walloon language, my daughter “l’union fait la force” (unity
makes strength). Suppose you ask the fairies to join the three gems in
one, making a single stone. Then, see what will come of it.’

“The princess at once called to her aid the king of kabouters, and bade
him make of the three jewels one.

“Down into the earth among his forges and fires, the master-fairy
disappeared. He spent days and nights over the task. In a crucible,
over a roaring fire, he fused the three gems into one. Then with a
lapidist’s skill, and a jeweler’s craft, he set the jewel in an
exceedingly beautiful coronet.

“Within one week, the kabouter king came back, holding in his hand a
velvet-lined box which the three fairies had made with their delicate
fingers. On the outside, were the three colors, black, yellow and red,
in vertical bands.

“The chief kabouter proffered the casket to the Princess. On her
opening it, there flashed and sparkled a gem, such as she had never
seen before. Within its fiery heart, were, not one color, but, three of
them, black, yellow, and red.

“This shining stone was not cut in facets, or little faces, as were
most crown jewels, for it did not need to be so treated to show its
glories; nor did it require a foil or glittering metal leaf beneath it,
as do some stones, to make sure of its maintaining its permanent hue;
but it was set with a smooth round surface, like a hemisphere, or half
a globe. This shape helped to reveal the precious stone’s full
splendor.

“Right well was it worthy of its general name ‘gem,’ which means a
‘bud’; for it had colors, as varied as are the three in a moss
rose,—sepal, petal and fringe, while yet in a unity of splendor.

“No words could do justice to the beauty of the gem. Some thought of a
rainbow; some of the harlequin, who joins many colors in his costume;
some of volcano fires. The Princess named it ‘opal,’ after the precious
stone in the Sanskrit fairy tale. At the wedding, she wore it in the
centre of her golden coronet.

“With even more enthusiasm, the people gathered from all parts of their
land, every province sending its delegates to Brussels, the central
city of the central province, in which Brabo was the hero, and whose
story was known to all boys and girls. From him was named Brabant,
whose inhabitants had already adopted as their motto ‘La Union fait
Force,’ that is, ‘In union there is strength,’ which is struck on all
coins.

“Although there were many provinces, and, notwithstanding, that all the
tribes and people were not interested each in the same things, yet they
saw the wisdom of union for defense and growth. So, feeling that they
must have a flag, to express their loyalty to the king, their regard
for law, and their fixed resolution to be free, they voted to have one
standard, containing the colors of Brabant. So, when the tricolor,
black, yellow and red, was raised high in the air, before all the
freemen, they clanged their swords on their shields and shouted ‘Long
live the King, forever be law, eternal our independence.’ So these
became the national colors of Belgium.

“Centuries afterwards, when William the Silent, whose statue stands
today in Brussels, led the Netherlanders against the tyrant, there was
embroidered, on his banners, the figure of a pelican feeding her young
with blood from her own bosom, with the Latin motto, ‘Pro rege, pro
lege, pro grege’ (for the king, for the law, for the commonwealth). And
when in 1830 the national hymn, The Brabançonne (The Brabanter) was
composed, which every Belgian sings, the three-fold theme and burden of
the throbbing lines was what the tricolor and the precious stone
suggest. Black was for steadfastness, wisdom and prudence in the king;
yellow for law, which protects industry; and red, for Belgium’s
unconquerable liberty, secured by the blood of her sons. Oh! how they
sang it, and never with more meaning and spirit than, during the four
years of the ‘nation’s Calvary,’—1914–1918.”

Forthwith, the people of Belgic Land, having heard the stories of the
Fleur-de-lys, and of the opal, there was formed by them a Society to
Make Fairy Tales Come True, and for generations they, and their
children have lived up to their name.

The story-teller has often said that nothing that fairies can do, or
ever have done, can excel what he has seen in the wonders wrought in
the soil, and on the Belgian and Dutch landscapes.

As a youth, he saw many square miles of worthless heath land, as sandy
as a desert, on which even rabbits could not find food to live upon.
Or, two of them might fight for one blade of grass.

In later life, the story-teller went into the same places. What magic!
There were villages, farms, schools, churches, happy homes, barns
stored with grain, and many signs of joyous abundance, cows, sheep,
orchards and fields.

What did it mean?

The story of “The Marriage of the Fairies,” explains in part how it
came to pass. Water, brought in canals; that is, irrigation, wrought
wonders; but, most of all, human continuance of toil, in unity of heart
and will! Today the industry and perseverance of men and women have
made Belgium as one of the wonders of the world.

“By concord little things become great.” So, they sing in the national
hymn, and under their flag, of black, yellow and red, which stand for
king, law and liberty:

“Let us work; our labor increases
            The fruitfulness of our fields
            And the splendor of our industry crowns
            King, Law and Liberty.”