The Birth of the Cabbage (El Nacimiento de la Col) by Rubén Darío (Nicaragua
In the Garden of Eden, on a clear day when the flowers were created, and before Eve was tempted by the serpent, the evil spirit approached the most beautiful new rose, at the moment when she was offering to the caress of the celestial sun the red purity of her lips. “You are beautiful.” “Indeed I am,” said the rose. “Beautiful and happy,” continued the devil. “You have the color, the grace, the and the scent. However…” “However?” “You are not useful. Can you see those tall trees bent with the weight of their acorns? Those, besides being leafy, feed multitudes of live beings that come to rest underneath the branches. Rose, to be beautiful isn’t much…” The rose then- tempted as a woman would be after- wished to be useful, so much that she became pale. The Good Lord passed by the next morning. “Father,” said that floral princess, trembling in her scented beauty- “Would you make me useful?” “So be it, my daughter,” the Lord answered, smiling. And so the world saw the first cabbage.
