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.
