Mama's Home Remedies: Discover Time-Tested Secrets of Good Health and the Pleasures of Natural Livin, Svetlana Konnikova [classic fiction .TXT] 📗

r 57. Steep together the folowing: three tablespoons peppermint leaves, three tablespoons motherwort leaves, two tablespoons valerian root, and two tablespoons hops flowers. Drink four ounces three times daily.

r 58. Mix two tablespoons horsetail (dried aerial parts), three tablespoons knotgrass/bird’s buckwheat herb, and five tablespoons hawthorn flowering tops. Sip two ounces of the tea twice a day. Vitamin-rich teas

Method of preparation: Combine in a pot two tablespoons of the mixed herbs with two cups boiling water. Steep 10 minutes. Filter. Drink one to two cups hot herbal tea daily.

r 59. 4½ tablespoons rose hips

four tablespoons nettle

1½ tablespoons cranberries

r 60. Three tablespoons rose hips

One tablespoon black currant

Three tablespoons nettle

Three tablespoons minced carrot

Sleeping Beauty @ 169

After you’ve successfully treated yourself with a healing remedy and you are feeling better, try these cheerful libations:

r 61. Sunny Berry Punch. Grate peel of one lemon. Whip with 12–14

ounces honey and one quart white wine. Boil 10 minutes. Add 3 ounces cognac or rum. Enjoy a glass of hot punch.

r 62. Milk Punch. Grate peel of one lemon and blend with one pound honey. Add one quart white Chardonnay wine and one pint fresh skim milk. Whip wel to thicken. Boil five to seven minutes with two ounces crushed almonds and a dash of vanil a. Filter and fil glass half ful . Top with whipped cream. Your punch is ready to cheer you up.

r 63. Cold Punch. Mix 24 ounces of honey with grated dried peel of one lemon. Add 1½ quarts white Chardonnay wine, juice of one lemon, one ounce cognac, a dash of vanil a, and one cup cold boiled water. Mix wel , filter, and pour into bottles. This punch wil keep several days in your refrigerator. From time to time, use it as a mood enhancer and sleep inducer.

The above concoctions are small “miracles” in our lives, made from the properties of blessed herbs and plants.

In the Russian folk tale, “The Tale of the Firebird, Tsarevich Ivan and the Gray Wolf,” a larger miracle takes place. Let me tel you how a mysterious firebird easily induced sound sleep into those she met (much better than any doctor could do—and she didn’t resort to prescribing fast-acting sleeping pil s).

170 ^ Mama’s Home Remedies

Once upon a time in a far-off land lived a Russian

tsar in a magnificent palace on the side of a

mountain. His palace garden was so beautiful, none

could find a better one anywhere in the world. It was home to thousands of aromatic flowers, gigantic trees, and lush plants. Among the most notable trees was an unusually tall apple tree, which bestowed upon the tsar a daily harvest of magnificent golden fruit. This tree was his favorite and ranked among his beloved treasures. As time passed, the tsar noticed that many of his apples began disappearing overnight. His servants told of a large and beautiful firebird that plucked the apples from the tree branches every evening as the royal court slumbered. The tsar called his three sons, Tsarevich Dimitri, Tsarevich Vasily, and Tsarevich Ivan, and told them that the firebird had been stealing his golden apples and made a bargain with them. “If one of you will capture the firebird alive, I’ll give you half of my kingdom while I live and the rest of it upon my death.”

His three sons listened to him with great respect and vowed that one of them would indeed capture the bird and place it alive at the feet of their father. The oldest son, Tsarevich Dimitri, went into the garden the first night to watch for the firebird. He sat under the wide wreath of golden apples that crowned the apple tree, and as the night drew on, he became drowsy and fell into a deep sleep. While he slept peacefully, the firebird flew into the garden, picked as many apples as she wished, and flew away. In the morning the tsar asked Dimitri if he had seen the firebird. Dimitri answered that she never came into the garden that night. The second night Tsarevich Vasily kept watch in the garden. He sat under the apple tree as his brother had, and after several hours of waiting in darkness and silence, he too fell asleep. The next morning Vasily told the tsar that the firebird had not visited the garden.

The third night, the youngest tsar’s son, Tsarevich Ivan, assumed his post in the garden to watch for the firebird. He sat under the apple tree as his older brothers had done the previous two nights. For the first several hours, nothing happened. All was quiet until suddenly the garden was illuminated by a brilliant golden light.

The firebird soared into the garden, her eyes sparkling like two faceted crystals, her wings streaming golden flames. She lit on a branch of the apple tree and began to tug at and pluck the juicy apples. Tsarevich S chapter

leeping B title

eauty @

@ 171

Ivan stole up quietly and tried to catch her, but the firebird was strong and he wasn’t able to hold on to her, even as he clasped her magnificent tail in both of his hands. The firebird tore herself from