Books and roses

What a lovely day. Today Spain celebrates the book, especially in Catalunya where the day of Sant Jordi (Saint George) is filled with books and roses gifted between people in love. Sigh...how cute. A perfect combination. The tradition is to give a book to the men and a rose to the women and it all comes from the legend of a dragon, a princess, and Sant Jordi. To appease a violent dragon, a small town had a drawing sending one person a day to the dragon's cave as an offering. On April 23 the princess went voluntarily to the cave to appease the dragon...but she didn't suffer...Sant Jordi arrived and killed the dragon, spearing his heart from which out of the blood grew a rose. The books come into play because in 1616 on April 23 Miguel de Cervantes (author of Don Quixote) and William Shakespeare both died. Two of the most important writers in th western tradition whose words have shaped our daily language and literary cuture. So, now you know...celebrate Sant Jordi with books and roses with the people you love.