Once upon a time, there was a princess who was madly in love
with the sun.

Once upon a time, there was a princess who was madly in love with the
sun. She cried so much and for so long that Serra, the mountain of Mantiqueira,
took pity upon her and transformed her into thousands of small scintillating
brooks so that she could play with her rays of sun for all of eternity.
But one day, the people forgot how to honor their beautiful Serra of Mantiqueira;
they scorned her slopes which were wooded and fresh, they did not hesitate
to tear down her trees with or without reason; and they did not even change
their impudent attitudes after seeing that Serra no longer laughed with
the crystal voice of all her rivers and brooks. Her fragile land collapsed
to the bottom of her slopes, some birds flew away forever, and her brooks
were drained as if the princess's soul had been exhausted by the egoistic
sun. Serra of Mantiqueira lost her beauty and joy with the vanished water.
Her slopes became furrowed only by scars and remnants of the old brooks
which before had danced so joyously among her trees. Only then, the inhabitants
of the mountain understood the fatal damage they wrought - that of erosion,
which deforested their landscape. Only then did they begin to take care
of their damaged mountain. With collective efforts in Colina and elsewhere,
the people began to re-stabilize their land, to replant trees. Today,
they build a seedbed to heal their wounded mountain. Will their hands
find the harmony to heal their mountain, to coax back the heart of the
princess to return and sing among the trees, to cajole the small canary
to once again visit Serra and the inhabitants of Colina who helped to
bring it back to Serra of Mantiqueira...