Once upon a time there was a queen with great power.Her garden is filled with the most beautiful flowers brought from all over the world each season.But she was particularly fond of roses, and she had roses of all kinds: from wild roses with green leaves that smelled like apples, to the loveliest roses of Provence.They climbed the walls of the palace, climbed the columns and window frames, stretched down the corridors, and reached the ceilings of all the halls.These roses come in different scents, shapes and colors.
But these halls are full of care and sorrow.The queen cannot get up from her bed; the imperial physician declares her life hopeless.
"Only one thing can save her," said one of the wisest of the physicians. "Give her the most beautiful rose in the world--a rose of the noblest and purest love. If it is brought to her before her eyes are closed, she will won't die."
All over the place young and old sent many roses--the most beautiful roses that ever bloomed in any garden.But this is not the kind of healing rose.That should be a flower plucked in the garden of love; but which rose really expresses the noblest and purest love?
Poets sing of the most beautiful rose in the world; every poet has his own.The news spread throughout the country, to every loving heart, to every age and every profession.
"No one has yet named the flower," said the wise man, "and no one has pointed out the place where it bloomed. It is not the rose on the coffin of Romeo and Juliet, nor Warburg. The roses on the grave, although these ① Valborg (Valborg) was a nun who preached in Germany in the eighth century, and was deified as a "saint" in legend. She was a fairy who protected the people against magic.
The rose is ever fragrant in poetry and legend.Nor are these roses from the blood-stained spear of Winkledus--roses from the blood of a hero who died for his country, though what death There is no such cuteness, and no flower is as red as the blood he bleeds.Nor is it that strange flower that men spend sleepless nights and precious lives in silent rooms cultivating—the strange flower of science. "
"I know where this flower is," said a happy mother.
She brought her delicate child to the queen's bedside: "I know where to find the most beautiful rose in the world! The rose that expresses the noblest and purest love comes from me. From the bright face of the sweet child. Then he sleeps well, opens his eyes, and smiles at me with love!"
"This rose is beautiful enough, but there is one more beautiful," said the wise man.
He clasped several of the enemy's spears so that they would sink into his own chest and be useless.In this way he created a gap through which the Swiss army could step over him and attack the enemy's position.
"Yes, much more beautiful than that," said another woman. "I have seen one flower before, and there is no other flower that blooms more noble and holy than this one, but it is like the petals of a Gengshen rose, so white that it has no blood. I saw it bloom on the queen's face .She took down her crown, and she wept and kissed her sick child in the long night of mourning, and begged God to bless him—as a mother in her hour of distress does."
"The white rose of sorrow is divine and has magical powers; but it is not the rose we were looking for."
"No, I just saw the most beautiful rose in the world on the altar of God," said the pious old bishop. "I saw it glow like an angel's face. Young girls came to the communion table and repeated the promises they made at baptism, and the roses bloomed—their fresh faces bloomed. Pale white roses came out. A young woman stood there. Her soul was filled with pure love, and she looked up at God—an expression of the purest and noblest love."
"May God bless her!" said the wise man. "But none of you told me the most beautiful rose in the world."
At this moment a child--the Queen's youngest son--entered the room.There were tears in his eyes and on his face.He is holding a thick open book.The book was bound in velvet with large silver clasps.
"Mother!" said the little one, "Oh, please listen to me!"
So the boy sat down on the edge of the bed and read about him who had given his life on the cross to save mankind, including those not yet born.
"No love can be greater than this!"
A rosy radiance came over the Queen's face, and her eyes grew large and bright, for on this page she saw the most beautiful rose in the world—a rose from the blood of Christ crucified. rose flower.
"I see it!" said she. "He who sees this rose--the fairest rose that ever lived--will never die!"
① Provence (Provence) is a region in southeastern France.The weather here is mild and there are many kinds of flowers and plants.
① Arnold von Winkelried was a Swiss patriot.He is said to have played a decisive role in the Swiss victory over Austria at Sempach in 1386.
