The Basket of Flowers by Christoph von Schmid (novels to read for beginners .TXT) π
The long-expected day arrived, and early in the morning Mary gathered the freshest and most beautiful roses, the richest pinks, and other flowers of beautiful colours. She picked out some green branches full of leaves, and arranged them in the basket, so that all the colours, though perfectly distinct, were sweetly and delicately blended. A light garland composed of rosebuds and moss was passed around the basket, and Amelia's name could be distinctly read enclosed in a coronet of forget-me-nots. The basket when completed was a thing of uncommon beauty.
When Mary went to the Castle with her basket-present, the young Countess Amelia was sitting at
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The exciting day came to an end, and Mary was glad to escape to her chamber. Next morning, the sun shining brightly into her room woke her early. As soon as she was dressed she ran to visit her father's cottage, and to walk once more round the old familiar garden. On her way she met numbers of the villagers, and all of them showed great happiness at seeing her.
The old farmer and his wife, who had now been settled some time in the cottage, were delighted to meet her again. They kissed her affectionately and assured her of the happiness of their new life.
"When you were without a home," said the farmer, with tears in his eyes, "we received you and your father into our own, and now that we are old and had no place that we could call our own, you give us this charming cottage in which we might spend our declining years."
"Yes," said his wife, "it is always well to be generous and hospitable. We never know how soon we shall receive it again."
"Well, well," said her husband, "I am glad we did not think of that then. We took Mary and her father in without hope of reward. However, the maxim is not the less true, 'Do good to others and you will always find some one to do good to you.'"
When Mary entered the cottage, the sight of the place where her father used to sit raised a host of sad but sweet recollections in her mind. She walked round the garden and kissed every tree planted by his hand, seeing in each an old acquaintance. The little apple tree which had been their favourite, was just now covered with blossom, and before it she stopped to meditate for a little on man's brief life, which fades away before the tree which he has planted. In the arbour where she had passed so many happy hours with her father, she rested a little, and gave herself up to reflection. Looking around on the garden, which he had cultivated so diligently by the sweat of his brow, she fancied that she could still see him, and tears streamed from her eyes, when she remembered that he had gone from her for ever. But one thought soothed her heart and made her calm, the thought that he had gone to a better world, and was now reaping the reward of his beautiful life.
As long as Mary lived she spent some weeks every spring at the Castle, cherished and honoured by every one there, and endearing herself to the people of the village, and particularly to the children, among whom she was a great favourite. Her delight was to take them apart and to talk to them of the Saviour, and she had the happiness of believing that many of them under her instructions gave their hearts to God.
A monument had been erected to her father in fulfilment of a promise which Amelia had made to Mary that evening when she found her sitting on her father's grave. It was an elegant monument of white marble, ornamented with an epitaph in gold letters. Besides the name of the deceased, his age and occupation, nothing in the way of epitaph was added but these words of Jesusβ
"I am the Resurrection and the Life:
He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."
Underneath these words a beautiful basket of flowers had been cut from a design drawn by Amelia herself. Underneath the basket was writtenβ
"All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof as the flowers of the field. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of the Lord endureth for ever."
The erection of this monument gave great satisfaction to the good old minister of Erlenbrunn. The dark background of the fir trees threw the monument into relief, and gave it a very beautiful appearance; and when the rose tree planted by his grave was in bloom, and its branches covered with roses bent over the marble, which was of dazzling whiteness, the sight was a striking one. The humble old man's monument was the most beautiful ornament of the rural churchyard, and the good minister never allowed strangers to leave the church without taking them to see it.
When some people observed that it was a good idea to have put a basket of flowers on the tomb of a man who was at the same time a gardener and a basket-maker, the old minister would sayβ
"But it is something better than a good idea. The basket of flowers tells more than you know, and it is not without reason that our villagers look upon it as the symbol of a touching story. The ground on which we tread has been bathed with a daughter's tears."
Then he would pour into the attentive ears of strangers the familiar story of the basket of flowers, concluding his recital with the assurance which this whole story is intended to illustrate: That piety towards God and truth towards men will never fail to triumph over the malice of the worst of foes.
Let our readers who have followed this touching story be assured that under all circumstances it is best to do as Mary didβwalk in the fear of God, love and obey their earthly parents, stand fast by the truth, and under all circumstances trust fully in God. Thus they will live happy and die with a sure prospect of eternal glory.
THE END
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