It is told that long time ago, the land of Romania was devastated by a disastrous drought. Men crept about like ghosts with their bones starting through their skins and their lips drawn back so that their teeth lay bare. They wore nothing but a few rags upon their bodies. The beautiful princess Irina felt her heart breaking for pity, and wringing her hands, prayed thus, "Oh good God, hast Thou, then, quite forsaken me? Wilt Thou bring our poor land to destruction? Have we sinned yet more that we must endure such searchings-out of Thy wrath?"
Then a soft, cool breath stole in, bearing a perfume as from the most beautiful of gardens, and a silvery voice spoke, "Help shall arise for thee out of a river. Only seek." Then, through the burning summer heat, the princess began a weary pilgrimage toward the rivers. Occasionally, she would stumble upon a starved, little horse that would carry her for a short distance, and then fall down dead, even beneath her own light weight. Most of the time, however, Irina walked the barren land herself. She went up the Olto river, the Gin, the Buzlu, the Sereth, all the rivers both great and small. They flowed but meagerly over their stony beds, and those one mighty water scarcely whispered as the went, they that of old were wont to rush and roar.
"Merciful God!", prayed the princess, "Let but a little cloud appear when I have found the river that is to help us!" It was then that she met the Gypsy woman upon the road, who was baring a small bowl filled with water. The Princess begged for a drink, but the Gypsy would not comply. Instead she gazed into the waters within the bowl, and pronounced that the Princess would be the savior of her people - if she continued north for several miles. The princess did as the old woman advised, but only came upon a dried river bed. Disheartened, she lay herself to sleep besides the river.
When she awoke the next morning, the river was no longer brown, but clear and blue as the air, and at the bottom of the water something shone and glittered as the sunbeams themselves. She girt up her garments and waded in to find out what it was that shone with so wondrous a gleam. A lo! it was pure gold. She fell on her knees, right there in the stream, and gave God thanks, aloud and earnestly. She had found gold and now she could finally help. The princess went careful on through the water and gathered up the golden grains and little fragments, filling her mantle with them until the burden was almost too heavy to bear. Then, she hurried home with her treasure and poured it out before her husband. Her children were yet alive, though weak and sorely exhausted, and they scarcely knew her again, so emaciated and sunburnt she was. With the treasure, they send forth messengers into distant lands to buy corn, maize and hay, seeds and cattle; and the river never grew weary of giving gold until the famine was at an end, and laughing green, and sleek cattle, covered the Romanian meadows once more.
