High
up in the clear, pure air flew an angel , with a flower plucked from the garden
of heaven . as he was kissing the flower a very little leaf fell from it and
sunk down into the soft earth in the middle of the wood. It immediately look
root,sprouted and sent out shoots among the other plants.
“What a ridiculous little shot!” said one. “No one will
recognize it; not even the thistle not the stinging-nettle.”
“It must be a kind of
garden plant.” Said another . and so they sneered and despised the plant as a
thing from garden.
“Where are you coming?” said the tall
thistles whose leaves were all armed with thorns. “It is stupidnonsense to
allow yourself to shoot out in this way;we are not here yo support u.”
Winter came, and the plant was
covered with snow, but the snow glittered over it as if it had sunshine beneath
as well as above.
When spring
came, the plant appeared in full bloom: a more beautiful object than any other
plant in the forest. And now the professor of botany presented himself, one who
could explain his knowledge in black and white. He examined and tested the
plant, but it did not belong to his system of botany, nor could he possibly
find out to what class it did belong. “It must be some degenerate species,”
said he; “I do not know it, and it is not mentioned in any system.”
“Not known
in any system!” repeated the thistles and the nettles.
The large
trees which grew round it saw the plant and heard the remarks, but they said
not a word either good or bad, which is the wisest plan for those who are
ignorant.
There
passed through the forest a poor innocent girl; her heart was pure, and her
understanding increased by her faith. Her chief inheritance had been an old
Bible, which she read and valued. From its pages she heard the voice of God
speaking to her, and telling her to remember what was said of Joseph’s brethren
when persons wished to injure her. “They imagined evil in their hearts, but God
turned it to good.” If we suffer wrongfully, if we are misunderstood or
despised, we must think of Him who was pure and holy, and who prayed for those
who nailed Him to the cross, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they
do.”
The girl
stood still before the wonderful plant, for the green leaves exhaled a sweet
and refreshing fragrance, and the flowers glittered and sparkled in the
sunshine like colored flames, and the harmony of sweet sounds lingered round
them as if each concealed within itself a deep fount of melody, which thousands
of years could not exhaust. With pious gratitude the girl looked upon this
glorious work of God, and bent down over one of the branches, that she might
examine the flower and inhale the sweet perfume. Then a light broke in on her
mind, and her heart expanded. Gladly would she have plucked a flower, but she
could not overcome her reluctance to break one off. She knew it would so soon
fade; so she took only a single green leaf, carried it home, and laid it in her
Bible, where it remained ever green, fresh, and unfading. Between the pages of
the Bible it still lay when, a few weeks afterwards, that Bible was laid under
the young girl’s head in her coffin. A holy calm rested on her face, as if the
earthly remains bore the impress of the truth that she now stood in the
presence of God.
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.
by Hans Christian
Andersen
(1805-1875)
(1805-1875)