_THE LOVING CUP WHICH WAS MADE OF IRON._
Upon the edge of a great forest a woodcutter had built him a cottage,and soon he brought a fair young bride to live in it. She was a neat,trim, little body, who wasted nothing and kept everything in the housein perfect order, so that in a short time their small yard showed hercare also.
One day some cousins came from town to see the woodcutter, and his wife.They brought with them their dinner in a large basket, and a jolly timethey had of it, wandering through the woods, lying on the soft greengrass, and gathering the wild flowers. Finally, hunger drove them backto the woodcutter's house, and as they sat on the porch eating theirluncheon, they thoughtlessly threw the skins of their oranges and thebanana peelings on the grass in front of them. The woodcutter's wifesaid nothing, but she felt sure that such litter and dirt on the freshgreen grass would grieve the wood-fairies who were trying to keep theforest and all of its surroundings as beautiful as possible. Thereforewhen the guests had gone, she quietly picked up all the skins and scrapsof paper and burned them.
This so pleased the wood-fairies, that when her first boy baby came,they sent him a _loving-cup_ of gold. Around it were circles of diamondsand pearls and deep red rubies. Of course, the young mother was veryhappy, for she knew that such a gift meant her son would some daypossess much money. So she set herself to work to make her yard morebeautiful than it had been before, by planting flower-seeds in a borderby the fence. "If my son is to become a rich man," said she to herself,"he must learn to love what is beautiful, that he may use his moneywisely." She did not stop when she had made her own yard beautiful, butsoon began scattering more flower-seed down by the spring that thewood-fairies might have flowers to enjoy while they came to drink.Before long her kind heart led her to plant other flowers by the dustyroadside and down in the lonely valley, in order that weary travelers,as they journeyed along, might see the bright blossoms and smell thesweet perfume.
This pleased the wood-fairies even more than her thoughtful tidinesshad done, so, when her second boy baby came, they sent him a_loving-cup_ of pure silver. Around the outside of it were carvedpictures of youths and maidens dancing in a circle on the green grass.This gift made the mother even happier than the first had done, for sheread in the carving on the cup that her boy would love the open air andwould grow up strong and healthy and her heart grew tender to all thingsabout her.
She had noticed that some of the ugliest and most neglected weeds oftenbore delicate flowers, which, however, soon faded for lack of care. "Iwill see," said she, "if I cannot make the weeds grow into flowers bywatering them and pruning them and lovingly caring for them. In this wayI can help to make the whole forest wholesome, and thus show thewood-fairies that I am grateful to them for their gift of health to mysecond son."
She began by caring for the weeds which stood nearest her own home, andwas rewarded by seeing them slowly change into shapely plants and theirblossoms become strong and beautiful. Then her care extended to theweeds along the wayside, and in a short time there was not a hurtfulweed to be found in the neighborhood. All had been changed, by a littlepatient care, into strong, thrifty shrubs and plants, each bloomingaccording to its own nature, but all gladdening the sight by theirbright flowers and healthy green leaves.
This changing of weeds into flowers so surprised and delighted thewood-fairies who had never heard of such a thing, that when her thirdboy-baby came, they consulted among themselves and decided to send himthe _best gift_ they had to bestow. Accordingly they sent to the newbaby a _loving-cup_ made of strong, black iron, and with it, three largeearthen jars. One was filled with the sweetest golden nectar ever tastedby mortal lips, another contained a brown vinegar so sour that half ateaspoonful of it would make your face wrinkle, while the third jar helda blackish-looking gall, of such a bitter flavor that one drop of itwould make one shrink from ever wanting to taste it again. With thisstrange present they sent word that if the mother loved her boy, whom bythe way she had named Philip, she would mix a cupful of the sweetnectar, the sour vinegar and the bitter gall, using half as much vinegaras she did nectar, and half as much gall as vinegar, and give it to theboy to drink on his birthday, each year, until he was twenty-one yearsold.
The mother hesitated. It seemed so hard to make her darling child tasteof the bitter gall when there was plenty of the sweet nectar to lastuntil he was grown, but she knew that the wood-fairies were wise. Werethey not trying to make the whole earth beautiful? Surely they would notrequire so hard a thing of her unless it was for little Philip'swelfare.
Therefore, each succeeding birthday she mixed the fairies' drink andpoured it into the iron cup and gave it to the child. Sometimes he criedand sometimes he fretted, but she held the cup firmly to his lips untilthe last drop was drained, and then she would kiss him and tell him thathe was her dear, brave boy, and would some day thank her for making himdrink the fairies' potion. He soon found that if he drank the contentsof the loving-cup early in the morning, he tasted nothing but the sweetnectar, whereas if he put it off until noon, he could not taste anythingbut the sour vinegar, and when he delayed the drinking of it untilnight, it seemed as if the whole contents of the cup had changed togall, and he would be days and days getting over the bitter taste. Sobeing a sensible boy, he learned to drink it as soon as it was mixed.
Each year he grew more loving and thoughtful of others, more like thewood-fairies in his effort to make the world around him beautiful.Little by little he gained the power which the wood-fairies alone cangive--the wonderful power of knowing just what is going on in the heartsof the people about you, even when you do not speak to them or they toyou.
If he chanced to meet a sad-faced man or woman on the street, hisbeautiful eyes seemed to say more tenderly than words could say, "I seeyou are in trouble and I feel _so sorry_ for you." If he passed a groupof merry makers, his smile was so bright that they knew it meant "What alot of fun you are having! I am so glad!" As he grew older his handsbecame almost as wonderful as his eyes, or his smile. If he found alittle child crying over a broken toy he would stop and mend it, and ina few moments the tears would be gone and the little one would go offlaughing or singing, hugging his mended toy.
Sometimes a young girl would come to him with a beautiful picture whichshe had been embroidering on a screen, but which had been spoiled bysome crooked, careless stitches, and he would patiently sit down besideher and would point out to her just where the wrong stitches had beenput into the picture, and would help her take them out. Then he wouldshow her how to put in the right kind of stitches and she would go awayhappy and contented, ready to work day by day on the lovely screen withwhich she was someday going to make her future home beautiful.
Now and then a young musician would find that his silver flute playedonly harsh discords instead of sweet melodies and he would growdiscouraged and be ready to throw it away, when Philip would come alongand pick up the flute quietly and examine it and discover that thejarring sounds came because it was not free from the dust and dirt ofthe street. Then he would tell the young player what was the matter andwould stay with him until he had made the flute as clean as a fluteshould be, and he was usually rewarded by some fine music from thegrateful musician. Occasionally he would come across a man toiling alongthe road with a pack on his back, so heavy that he was bent nearlydouble by it. Then Philip would stop him and plan with him how the loadcould be divided into two packs so that he might carry one under eacharm, and thus be able to walk straight and erect and hold his head up asa man should. Nobody ever dreamed of telling him a lie! "He knows justhow we feel" people used to say, and somehow the sight of his strong,manly face stirred within them a desire to be brave and noble, and true,and he was beloved by all who knew him.
This indeed was the most precious gift which the wood-fairies couldgive.