In the forest the wonderful plant still continued to bloom till it grew

In the forest the wonderful plant still continued to bloom till it

grew and became almost a tree, and all the birds of passage bowed

themselves before it.

    "That plant is a foreigner, no doubt," said the thistles and the

burdocks. "We can never conduct ourselves like that in this

country." And the black forest snails actually spat at the flower.

    Then came the swineherd; he was collecting thistles and shrubs

to burn them for the ashes. He pulled up the wonderful plant, roots

and all, and placed it in his bundle. "This will be as useful as any,"

he said; so the plant was carried away.

    Not long after, the king of the country suffered from the

deepest melancholy. He was diligent and industrious, but employment

did him no good. They read deep and learned books to him, and then the

lightest and most trifling that could be found, but all to no purpose.

Then they applied for advice to one of the wise men of the world,

and he sent them a message to say that there was one remedy which

would relieve and cure him, and that it was a plant of heavenly origin

which grew in the forest in the king's own dominions. The messenger

described the flower so that is appearance could not be mistaken.

    Then said the swineherd, "I am afraid I carried this plant away

from the forest in my bundle, and it has been burnt to ashes long ago.

But I did not know any better."

    "You did not know, any better! Ignorance upon ignorance indeed!"

    The poor swineherd took these words to heart, for they were

addressed to him; he knew not that there were others who were

equally ignorant. Not even a leaf of the plant could be found. There

was one, but it lay in the coffin of the dead; no one knew anything

about it.

    Then the king, in his melancholy, wandered out to the spot in

the wood. "Here is where the plant stood," he said; "it is a sacred

place." Then he ordered that the place should be surrounded with a

golden railing, and a sentry stationed near it.

    The botanical professor wrote a long treatise about the heavenly

plant, and for this he was loaded with gold, which improved the

position of himself and his family.

    And this part is really the most pleasant part of the story. For

the plant had disappeared, and the king remained as melancholy and sad

as ever, but the sentry said he had always been so.