Then came the swineherd; he was collecting thistles and shrubs to burn them for the ashes. Hepulled up the wonderful plant, roots and all, and placed it in his bundle. "This will be as useful asany," he said; so the plant was carried away.
Not long after, the king of the country suffered from the deepest melancholy. He was diligentand 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 theyapplied for advice to one of the wise men of the world, and he sent them a message to say thatthere was one remedy which would relieve and cure him, and that it was a plant of heavenlyorigin which grew in the forest in the king's own dominions. The messenger described theflower 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, andit 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 notthat 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 theplant stood," he said; "it is a sacred place." Then he ordered that the place should besurrounded 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 wasloaded 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, andthe king remained as melancholy and sad as ever, but the sentry said he had always been so.