CLOVER PERFUME’S STORY

“Once upon a time, a long while ago, I was looking for a lost baby Fairy in a field of well-grown, rich red clover.

“The day was warm, and the drowsy hum of countless bees suggested to my mind that, perhaps the object of my search had fallen down, and was somewhere lying asleep beneath the spreading clover. Very carefully, therefore, I pulled aside many and many a bunch of sweet smelling blossoms, hoping to discover him.

“Just as I found him I accidentally plucked a somewhat larger blossom than the rest from off its long, green stem, and, not exactly thinking of what I was doing, I parted the petals; and there, in the very heart of the flower, I saw the sweetest little fellow in creation.

“In spite of the fact that he had been disturbed in a nap—for he woke up the very moment I espied him—his face instantly wreathed itself in smiles, and he waved his tiny hand at me in the friendliest greeting imaginable. Of a truth his whole attitude and bearing were so pleasant and affable that I was greatly taken with him, and felt an immediate desire to have him tell me something of his history, and his work. Indeed, so strongly was my curiosity aroused, that, almost before I was aware of it, I said: ‘Who are you, and what is your story?’

“And this is what he said in answer to my question:—

“ ‘My name is Clover Perfume, and I am one of a very numerous family. To tell you the truth, I have brothers and sisters and all manner of other relatives all over the world. Everybody knows me,’ he continued, ‘except those who cannot smell, and they would nearly give their noses to make my acquaintance!’ [109]

“Here he laughed so merrily that for the life of me I couldn’t help laughing too, though what it was all about I really couldn’t say.

“ ‘But,’ said he, ‘although I am so widely known and, I think, very well liked, I have never before been asked to tell my story. I have just been accepted as a matter of course, and nobody has been the least little bit interested to know anything about my origin or history.’

“Here he heaved a very great sigh, and the breath that he expelled from his lungs was so divinely sweet that it filled my senses with delight.

“Instantly recovering himself, however, he brightly added: ‘Still, I am very, very glad that you have asked me to tell you my story, and if you will listen, it will be a pleasure to let you hear it from beginning to end.’

“ ‘Go on!’ said I, encouragingly; ‘you will find in me a very patient listener.’

“ ‘Well,’ he commenced, ‘as you are probably very well aware, when God first made man he was nothing more than a lifeless image; he could neither move nor speak! But having fashioned him so much like Himself, and being pleased with His work, God breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul! This was the greatest of all gifts. On no other created Thing was anything like so remarkable and wonderful a gift bestowed.

“ ‘But, what you do not know is that, whilst the making of man was in progress, the trees and flowers were looking on—silent, still, and breathless with amazement and surprise. Indeed, so astonished were they, so overpowered at the miracle they were privileged to see, that they temporarily ceased to grow, and might easily have died.

“ ‘But this was not to be; for, seeing what had happened, God caused them to revive, and knowing that He had already fixed for them their stations and their modes of life, out of His great compassion, and because of the awe and reverence with which they had looked upon His work, said to them: “Behold I give unto you a further gift. Beauty and symmetry thou hast! In addition, take from Me all those who will, the gift of sweetness, that ye may forever bear witness to the airs of Heaven and the glory of your Creator!” [110]

“ ‘So saying, into the soft and balmy air He breathed one glorious breath, which, spreading and falling, was, in the process, disintegrated or broken up into a myriad marvellous atoms. These ineffably sweet and fertilising atoms the trees and flowers immediately and eagerly in-breathed—some more, some less, each according to its mode and manner, but all with rapturous delight.

“ ‘And one tiniest atom there was that, falling lower than the rest, fell upon a pale white clover blossom, who, when she drew in the impregnating life-giving breath of the Almighty, blushed to rosy redness, and in perpetual remembrance of that great occasion, has ever since retained her beauteous colouring.…

“ ‘Later on I was born, and, even as I lay in the soft and delicate arms of my roseate mother, she began to whisper to me little portions of this wondrous story.

“ ‘As I grew in strength, and my mind acquired a better grasp of things, I finally got to understand the meaning of it all, and to appreciate to the full how remarkably lucky I was to have been blessed with so fortunate a mother.

“ ‘When, at last, she saw that I was fully awake to all these things, she began to confide in me the set ambition of her life, the dearest wishes of her heart. And those wishes I am proud and happy to execute, for they not only serve to indicate the loving and the gracious nature of my mother, but they are in themselves so pleasing that I have no other aim in life except to carry them out.

“ ‘As to what they are, you, perhaps, may guess.

“ ‘In a few words, my mother desired above all other things in the world, that some portion of the boon which had been so marvellously bestowed upon her, might in turn be given to all her kith and kin; and as I had been endowed from birth with the peculiar faculty of being able to transfer to others some small part of the gift of sweetness she had been enabled to transmit to me, she naturally and properly taught me how to exercise and use my talent to the utmost of my capacity.

“ ‘So it is then that, like a bee, I am engaged in flitting from flower to flower in order to place in the heart of each a tiniest drop of that miraculous God-given essence which, as you have learned, was intended [111]to be an eternal reminder of the fact, that, like the sweet odours of Heaven, the perfume of the flowers and trees is of Divine origin.’ ”

As soon as the story was over it immediately became apparent that something was about to take place which was unknown to Prince Waratah, and quite outside the plan that he had in mind when the evening’s amusement was begun; for, just as he was rising to intimate what the next item was to be, King Acacia whispered something in his ear, and he sat down again.

What had been said to the Prince nobody knew; but as afterwards appeared, it must have been a request to be permitted to communicate to the guests a most important piece of information. That this was the case found instant confirmation in the fact that with a nod to King Eucalyptus, they both rose in their places, and King Acacia, addressing the assembled company, said:—

“We have almost come to the end of the evening’s fixture. Before the last item is called, however, there is a ceremony to be performed which King Eucalyptus and I have agreed should now take place. We therefore ask the Official Recorder, who has already been secretly informed of what is to take place, whether he is ready to proceed?”

And the Official Recorder answered: “Ready, Your Majesties—and at your service!”

“Then,” said King Acacia, “we have to announce that, in recognition of the almost miraculous service performed by Prince Waratah in the building of the Fairy City, and the erection of the glorious Palace in which we are all met, as well as to fittingly mark this great occasion, it has been decreed and determined that from this day forth Prince Waratah shall be King Waratah, and Princess Wattle Blossom shall be Queen Wattle Blossom!”

This altogether unexpected announcement naturally came as a surprise to everybody, the Prince included, but when the nature of it was fully grasped, it was followed by cheer after cheer until the room rang with their reverberations.

Proceeding again, when silence was restored, King Acacia turned to the Official Recorder and said: [112]

“Take notice, that we, King Acacia and King Eucalyptus, in pursuance of the powers conferred upon us all by the Kings of Fairyland, do require you to set down in golden letters, in the ‘Official Archives,’ the fact that we, this day, in the presence of his people name the Prince Waratah, King! And in token of his Kingship we here and now invest him with the symbols of his authority!”

He then lightly touched King Waratah upon the shoulder to indicate that he was to stand up, and, as he did so, King Eucalyptus placed about his shoulders a magnificent carmine coloured robe embroidered with gold, whilst King Acacia placed upon his head a splendid crown, so fashioned that it was easy to distinguish the design of Eucalyptus leaves which adorned the band about his brow, and the several sets of blood-red rubies set in the shape and form of Waratah blooms, which rose therefrom.

Without an instant’s pause, however, King Eucalyptus then spoke to the Official Recorder as follows:—

“Take notice that we, King Eucalyptus and King Acacia, in pursuance of the powers conferred upon us by all the Kings of Fairyland, do require you to set down in letters of gold, in the ‘Official Archives,’ the fact that we this day, in the presence of her Lord and of his people, name the Princess Wattle Blossom, Queen! And in token of her queenly rights, subject to her husband, King Waratah, we invest her with the symbols of her authority!”

He then lightly touched the Queen upon the shoulder to indicate that she was to stand up; and, as she did so, King Acacia placed about her shoulders a violet coloured robe embroidered with silver, whilst King Eucalyptus placed upon her head a lovely crown, so fashioned that it was easy to distinguish the design of wattle leaves which adorned the band about her brow, and the several sets of yellow topazes, set in the shape and form of sprays of wattle blossom, which rose therefrom.

Thus were both proclaimed and crowned, and the Official Recorder, in accordance with his duty, closed the ceremony by saying:

“King Acacia placed upon his head a splendid crown.”

“King Acacia placed upon his head a splendid crown.”

“Take notice, that I have this day officially recorded in letters of gold, in the Official Archives, the proclaiming and the crowning of [115]King Waratah and Queen Wattle Blossom! So be it! Praise be to God!”

Led by the Band, the whole company then joined in singing—