VI.
THE ROSE AND THE LILY.
Amid a garden of flowers the queen Rose and the queen Lily stoodpre-eminent; but they, like all beauties, were extremely jealous of eachother, and were not willing to divide the palm between them, but eachone was anxious to be acknowledged as the “flower of the flowers.”Knowing the foibles of the two rival ladies, an old orange-tree soughtto ingratiate himself into the favor of both by alternately flatteringthem in private, and laughing at the ridiculous pretensions of the oneto the other, whispering to each that her charms could not be surpassed;and then the false old fellow used to entertain his friend, theoleander, who was not a lady’s man at all, with stories of the vanity ofthe two queens, and of the lucky strokes of flattery which had told sowell on his susceptible listeners. But he soon found that his sinceritywas going to be put to the test, for these partisans could no longerconceal their rivalry; so the Rose openly threw down the gauntlet to theLily, and called upon all the flowers of the garden to pronounce upontheir respective merits, and to decide which should henceforward takethe lead among them. The old orange-tree was chosen by the consent ofboth the queens to be the chief judge, each of them thinking that theumpire was enlisted in her favor, and thereby that they had the game intheir own hands. Now, the old gallant did not wish to have anything tosay in the matter, but, as they were both so solicitous, he could notrefuse them with a very good grace; and, to put on the best face, heinvited all the flowers of the garden to an entertainment, at which hegave out that the question was to be put for ever at rest.
When the queen Lily received her invitation she said to one of her fairmaidens, “The presumption of that flaunting Rose deserves itspunishment, and, were it not that she would be vain enough to supposethat I am afraid to show myself beside her, I would decline meeting heraltogether; but she would feed her vanity upon my refusal, therefore Ishall give my orders to all the family to adorn themselves, and be inreadiness to attend me to-morrow at midnight.”
The orange-tree spared neither labor nor expense in the preparations. Atable was set out in a large arbor in the midst of the garden, withrefreshments, and the walks were brilliantly illuminated by lamps whichthe glow-worms and the fire-flies furnished. A fine orchestra of birdswas stationed on the top of the arbor, and long before midnight all werein readiness, and the orange-tree was awaiting, with the oleander besidehim (who, by the way, had enjoyed a quiet pipe or two), the arrival ofthe guests. Many of the flowers came early, but the orchestra onlystruck up when the queen Rose approached; she was received withdistinguished attention by the orange-tree, who presented her to theoleander. The ill-mannered old bachelor, instead of rising and leadingher to a chair, merely nodded his head, and remained stiffly seated,much to the mortification of the orange-tree, whose own manners werepolished, and very deferential to ladies, though I have no doubt thatthe oleander cared far more for them in his heart than the courtly, butrather deceptive, orange-tree.
The queen was dressed in her diamonds, and no one could blame her forthe pride with which she looked around upon her attendants, who,blooming with youth and beauty, were filling the seats. There was thewhite rose (always a favorite), with her modest and unpretendingmanners; the damask, with her beautiful blush; and even the wild rosewas there, and, as the queen observed to one of her intimates, “Thoughshe had been brought up in the country, and not at all accustomed tofashionable society, there was a native grace about her, and a proprietyof manner, which made her very presentable, owing, no doubt, to the goodblood she had in her veins.” The queen was very gracious to all, andonly once did she seem at all disturbed, and that was when the littleprude, the moss-rose, passed her, making such a show of her modesty, inpretending to hide her face under her veil, when she knew well enoughshe was only enhancing her charms by so doing; and presently, when thelittle beauty stole shyly into a corner, as if to get out of sight,every one said she was striving to captivate Monsieur de Yellow Rose, agentleman who had travelled in foreign parts, and was by all odds themost desirable beau in the room. Her artifice must have succeeded, forthey presently commenced a flirtation with each other that lasted thewhole evening. Now a second flourish of trumpets by the orchestraheralded the approach of the Lilies, and at the sound there was quite asensation among the Roses, who all shook up their perfumes, and seemednot a little fluttered. As for the queen Rose, she was quite agitated,and her color heightened as the queen Lily, with a splendid train, sweptin with such a calm and undisturbed dignity. First after the queen camethe water-lily, who wore a crown of gold on her head, and had saileddown from her home in her gondola. When the queen Rose caught sight ofher she whispered, “What a shame it was for the Lily to make pretensionthat the water-lily was related to her family, when every one knew wellenough there was no foundation for it, excepting the mere accident oftheir having the same family name.” But her indignation went far beyondthis when she saw the fleur-de-lis among the rest, and she cried, “Thisis unbearable; he is of a French family, not in any wise connected withher, who, I do not doubt, she urged so strongly to attend her that, withthe good breeding and politeness for which his nation is so celebrated,he could not refuse.”
She now caught sight of the lily of the valley, and exclaimed, “So, so,my Lady Lily condescends at last to take notice of her humble littlecousin, who has lived for years in retirement, and who, no doubt, wouldhave remained there still had not some flowers of distinction noticedher, and brought her forward. I _was_ in hopes that the little thingwould have had spirit enough to reject the advances made to her at sucha late hour.” Notwithstanding her affecting to despise the pretensionsof the Lily, the Rose was not at all at her ease; she felt that as theLily sailed around the circle, with her graceful air, she was a rival tobe feared, and was not so sanguine of gaining the victory as she hadbeen. She saw that the placid mien of the queen Lily had not beenwithout its effect in calling forth the admiration of those present;might they not even be led to overlook the beauty which she feltconscious far exceeded the Lily’s, by that lady’s self-possession andimposing carriage. At any rate, the Rose felt uneasy, and was quitenervous, and began rather to repent of her rashness in thus enteringinto the lists without first measuring the resources of her adversary.
But she need not have been so alarmed; the orange-tree knew too wellwhat he was about to risk his standing with either of the ladies bysiding with the other, so, after walking about among the company, andholding consultation with one and another, he at last gave the signalfor the guests to gather round the table, and partake of the delicaciesthat were set before them. After their glasses had been filled heraised his voice, and proposed as a toast--“The Queen Rose and the QueenLily;” and when they had drunk and lowered their glasses, he bowed tothe rivals, and addressed them thus:--
“Ladies, when you compare one with the other you both do yourselvesinjustice. The charm of the Rose is her bloom and warmth--that of theLily her exceeding fairness; both of you are pieces of perfection, butof different casts. Should you, Madam (addressing the Rose), attempt toattain the whiteness of the Lily, you would only succeed in dimming yournatural brightness; and you (to the Lily), in striving to gain the glowof the Rose, would only mar your purity without reaching your desire.Be, therefore, content to shine resplendent each in the way that naturehas marked out for you, and be not envious or displeased that anotherexcels in a different way. Learn also that the Rose suffers nothing by adisplay of the perfection of the Lily, nor the Lily by being broughtinto comparison with the Rose, for the beauty of each will be onlyenhanced by the contrast.”
The oleander and the other flowers all concurred in the sentimentsexpressed by the old orange-tree; and the ladies themselves, though atfirst they were both a little angry, and inclined to accuse theorange-tree with treachery, after a few moments’ consideration,acknowledged the justice of the remarks just made, and the Rose cameforward in a very frank manner and gave her hand to the Lily, who, onher part, received the concession with a graceful friendliness. Afterthey had partaken of
the delicacies, they left the table arm in arm, andthus promenaded for some time before the admiring gaze of the assembly;their attendants followed their example, and the Roses and Lilies,commingling instead of standing coldly apart, gave such a variety andanimation to the scene that all declared there never had been sobrilliant a fete in the garden as this. The oleander was so inspired bythe scene that he quite melted from his apathetic state, and danced andlaughed with the best, and invited the company, before they separated,to a banquet that he would prepare them the following week, and evenengaged the orchestra in attendance to be present.
All parted with the greatest kindness and good feeling, and the amitythus commenced continued through their lives, and resulted in the mutualadvantage of the queen Rose and the queen Lily.