76 pPant Tsore, T^cgef^ti/, cmS. Tsijric/, 



earlier mythological family than the Hellenic, though the Dryad 

 and the Laurel-maiden are undoubtedly kinswomen. " Long 

 before the Dryads and Oreads had received from the sculpturesque 

 Greek mind their perfection of human form and face, trees were 

 credited with woman-like inhabitants, capable of doing good and 

 ill, and with power of their own, apart from those possessed by 

 their supernatural tenants, of banning and blessing. Therefore 

 was it that they were worshipped, and that recourse was had to 

 them for the strengthening of certain rites. Similar ideas and 

 practices still prevail in Asia : survivals of them may yet be found 

 in Europe." 



In Moldavia there lingers the cherished tradition of Mariora 

 Floriora, the Zina (nymph) of the mountains, the Sister of the 

 Flowers, at whose approach the birds awoke and sung merrily, 

 desirous of anticipating her every wish, and the wild flowers 

 exhaled their choicest perfume, and, bowing gently in the wind, 

 proffered every virtue contained in their blossoms. Yielding one 

 day to the fascinations of a mortal, Mariora Floriora gave herself 

 to him, and forgot her flowers, so that the leaves fell yellow and 

 withered, and the flowers drooped their heads and faded. Then 

 they complained to the Sun that the flower nymph no longer 

 tended them, but rambled over the mountains and meadows 

 absorbed with her mortal lover. So a Zmeu (evil spirit) was sent, 

 who seized her in his arms, and carried her away over the mountain. 

 Now she is never seen ; but when the moon is shining on a serene 

 night, her plaintive murmurs are sometimes heard in the caverns 

 of the mountain. 



The Roman goddess Pomona, we are told by Ovid, came 

 of the family of Dryads, or sylvan deities ; and although " the 

 Nymph frequented not the fluttering stream, nor meads, the 

 subject of a virgin's dream," yet — 



" In garden culture none could her excel, 

 Or form the pliant souls of plants so well, 

 Or to the fruit more gen'rous flavours lend, 

 Or teach the trees with nobler loads to bend." 



As a deity, Pomona presided over gardens and all sorts of fruit-trees, 

 and was honoured with a temple in Rome, and a regular priest, called 

 Flanien Pomonalis, who offered sacrifices to her divinity for the 

 preservation of fruit. In this respect Pomona differed from the 

 other Sylvans, who were only regarded as semi-gods and goddesses. 

 The worship of these sylvan deities, however, by the Greeks and 

 Romans caused them to regard with reverence and respect their 

 nemorous habitations. Hence we find that, like the Egyptians, 

 they were fond of surrounding their temples and fanes with groves 

 and woods, which in time came to be regarded as sacred as the 



