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.
