From the Legends

The sacred grain of rice is considered... the staple food of more than half the inhabitants of the globe... It is white and beautiful, resembling the color of jasmine and carnation... light of presence, splendid to look upon, of great nourishment... But this little white grain has... a little story—yet a wondrous, lovable, touching story...

It is told in the legends of Java that the great god "Batara Guru" created a beautiful virgin... whom he named "Retna Dumilah," that is, the glittering jewel... With her beauty, her charm, and her great spiritual power she would grant life to living creatures... and kindle fire and ardor in them... For this she held a great place in the heart of the supreme god... until he was captivated by her and lost in love of her... and desired her in marriage... But "Retna" refused and begged to be excused, so the god said to her:

—Retna... you beauty, you enchantress among virgins and women... Do you refuse to marry a god who fashioned you and formed you well... who bestowed on you the mantle of beauty and the attributes of holiness?... Do you not know that you are of my making and my creation... and that I created this beauty in you only that I might one day blend it with my strength and my spirit?...

—O great creator god... Yes, you gave me the power to grant life to living creatures, to send warmth into cold, rigid, dead bodies... and to grant mind to hollow skulls, so that bodies and minds might set forth in these creatures whom we gods call human beings... set forth in a mighty, capable power... and accomplish deeds before which the gods, in their heights and upon their thrones, stand helpless...

—Was it not I who granted you this power that you bestow upon men?

—Truly, O greatest of gods... but I wish to grant them something else, something new... something I feel in the depths of my soul and sense in my spirit... yet do not know... It seems to me that it is a food... which human beings do not know... and which we gods do not know... Whoever eats