Zelia - Uncommon Name - Book Cleanout

I went through my books a month or so ago and decided to get rid of anything I most likely won't read. I used to read TONS when I was younger and LOVED escaping to a book but with young kids, I found that if I started reading a book, I had a hard time putting it down. 

After those difficult years having young kids, I have been so busy being a single parent that indulging in that didn't happen often and more often than that, I would suffer from "Sit-itus" (click here for a post about that) when I would sit to read. I would be asleep within a page and would find the light on in the middle of the night with the book somewhere around me. 

So, I have given up the dream that I may in fact ever read large amounts of books ever again. I resolved to get my reading fix by listening to books on audio so that I could still get my stories in but could turn it off and talk with the kids when needed and still get all the things I need to done. Click here for a post about my listening to audio books.  I finished two books just this week.

While cleaning out the book shelves, I found this set of four volumes that are old children collections. I don't remember where I got the books but my best guess is a flea market when we lived back east. I found a few finds back then and since I have a "School house bedroom" (Click here for part one of that post and here for part two of that post) I probably bought them to go with the antique children's desks that we have.

I decided I would get rid of them as my little one's are gone now and one of them flipped open and the corner of the page was folded down. 

I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the name "Zelia" on the page. I have never heard of anyone with this name other than the girls paternal grandmother. It is actually her middle name but she chose to use that name later in life legally changing her name to an initial and then Zelia. Funny what situations in life will cause us to do. 

Anyway, I was intrigued and thought I would research the name wondering if the story was what prompted her parents to give her that name as I don't think it was a "family" name not having heard of anyone else in their line with that name. 
 
In looking it up, it is the Portuguese version of Celia. That would make sense to me since their family origins are Portuguese. However, the books origins and the folk tale origins for the story with the name "Zelia" in it, weren't Portuguese.

It was published under the title of "The Little Lame Prince" by Maria Dinah Mulock Craik with a sub name of "Prince Cherry" in 1875 in England.

It has hints of "Beauty and the Beast" lines as he is a cruel prince and it turned into a beast and keeps the beautiful peasant girl "Zelia" in a cage because she refused the prince and only when she will "love him forever" does he return to his former self. 

If you wish to read the entire story, it is online - Click here. 
I also remember reading something about turkish or Greek roots and other origins of the name but I guess it was known in England as well as Portugal in the late 1800's.
 
I am sure I bought the books for that reason and that was why the page corner was turned down to that story but in cleaning out, that isn't a book I want to keep as purging of things sometimes is good. As you can see, I got rid of LOTS of books that day. I shared some of my more valuable books with Prince One for his birthday but the rest are gone. Five boxes worth. The sad part is, even getting rid of all those, I still have more books than most people. I may need a few more days of purging to get it to a manageable shelf or two.