Today's #MinCup23 match is corundum vs lawsonite.
*Cracks knuckles*
I'm voting corundum, because folklore (and because as a kid I had a book on gemstones, and padparadscha seemed so magical).
I'm going to make this a thread, because rubies and sapphires figure into a whole bunch of tales and legends.
There is a Gujarati folktale about four friends that go out to seek their fortune. They accidentally eat magic mangoes that determine their fate: one of them becomes king, one can laugh sapphires and cry pearls, and one goes to prison.
The king and his sapphire-laughing minister betray the two other friends. Those two take revenge with the help of the fourth lucky fruit. In the end the minister is cursed like Midas: whatever he tries to eat turns into sapphires.
One of my favorite ruby stories is a legend recorded by King Sancho IV of Spain. It tells about an English king who gets lost while hunting in the winter. He encounters a naked beggar, takes pity on him, dresses him in his own clothes, and carries him to shelter.
The grateful beggar asks the king to blow his nose. When the king does, a ruby larger than a hen's egg falls into the handkerchief: a magical (though a bit gross) reward for the king's kindness.
In a folktale from Simla, a man is exiled with is father and 4 wives. The youngest hides some valuable rubies in bread. Later she gives one to her father-in-law to sell, but he falls into a greedy merchant's trap - and so does his son.
The woman then dresses up as a policeman and joins the king's forces. She defeats a monster, earns favor, and solves the case of the men's disappearance, bringing justice to the evil merchant.
@TarkabarkaHolgy
My favorite is the story from Simla... I need to know more about the badass woman who dressed as a policeman etc!
@echanda You can find a link in the blog post in the last toot