The opening part of the novel
The Pearl
...to my Atanasija. To you, for whose sake I have survived...
Instead of a Foreword... a question?
Does a life exist that does not have its meaning? Does a love exist that does not have its day? Can one escape one’s own time? ...for a pearl is always a pearl,..for somewhere out there exists a seashell, which somewhere out there... knows its own life. Without secrets, would everything not become just... a secret? And without the sun, would every embrace not be missed? Does every word not have its own paper? ...for if it was worth it, then it remains and is worth it.
The Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls. And when he finds one precious pearl, he goes and sells all that he has and buys it. — Gospel according to Matthew, 13:45-46 (Translation by Emilijan Čarnić)
Interpretation: This parable is commonly interpreted as an illustration of the great (invaluable – intervention by the novel’s author) value of the Heavenly Kingdom (pearls were of the greatest value at that time and are not today) and thus shares a common theme with the story of the buried treasure. The precious pearl is the “work of life” (deed of life – proposal by the novel’s author) for the merchant in the story. However, his trade implied renunciation of all other goods. Therefore, only those who believe in the Heavenly Kingdom enough to lay their entire future upon it are worthy of the kingdom.
Source: sr. m. wikipedia. Org
The Pearl is a lustrous (of a noble luster), nacreous substance created in the soft tissue (most precisely the mantle) of mollusks, pearl oysters or other animals such as Conulariida. Just as the shell of molluscs, so is the pearl composed of calcium carbonate (mostly aragonite or a mixture of aragonite and calcite) in a small crystalline form, which is deposited in concentric layers. The ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but many other shapes are known, called baroque pearls. Natural pearls of supreme quality are highly valued as precious stones and beautiful objects for many long centuries. Therefore, the pearl has become a metaphor for something rare, fine, marvelous and worthy. We most often find pearls in colors: white, rose, silver, cream, brown, green, blue, black, yellow, orange, gold, purple... The refraction of a pearl is always uneven, and its scratch is always white. And all shellfish feed by waiting for food to come to their mouths thanks to the movement of water. (In filtering and recognizing usable food, the gills also play a significant part.) Then the shellfish open the lids of their mantle which otherwise protects them. However, it happens that on that occasion a grain of sand or some other indigestible body or even an entire such living being falls inside the shell. And some shells, such as the oyster, then cover that body with a layer of mother-of-pearl (nacre), with which their inner surfaces are otherwise lined. In this way, they prevent the grain of sand or some other sharp object or even an entire such living being from wounding their soft body, i.e. tissue. Thus the pearl is born... and in its center it always contains a grain of sand or some other body or even an entire living being. The nacre is secreted from the mantle. The highest quality nacre is secreted by the shellfish of warm seas, Meleagrina margarifera, however it is also produced by some freshwater shells such as Margaritana margaritifera.
Source: Generally known scientific facts compiled, and collected from many and various generally available public sources.
The events in this book do not relate to any events from texts that are not an integral part of this novel and are entirely unique as the fruit of the author’s fiction. Yet real is their potential to participate in reality, but any correspondence with real events is entirely unintentional. Certain generally known facts from real life are nonetheless taken only as a framework for the whole story and are to a certain extent adapted to the story itself. The characters in the novel also do not correspond to any personalities from the real world, whether from the present time or from the past, and any resemblance to real persons is entirely unintentional.
Author of the novel: Leo Atanasijin
Once upon a time, . . there was a land of stillborn name, of those same people, stolen away into the long-ago dream of their blood.
Once upon a time, . . there was a land of a lifted brow, of an exalted countenance, and of an ever-worried face.
Once upon a time, . . it was My land.
’
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’ . . Through her there still lived in celebration and song, many of those great and beautiful tales. But already weary of evil, tormented by a grim fate, they who were forever deaf and mute, could not bear them, so they set fire to my land without any conversation and while she was dying in the flame, from it were sown sparks, which still knew how to illuminate yet here and there a beautiful and great tale... Mirjana Mahovic (“Vilinpero” - 20th year.)
