"'But you,' said the smart little mushroom, 'it takes you a whole year to grow.'
"The grass was sorry that it took so long for it to grow, and hung its head, and thought, and thought.
"'But,' said the grass, 'you spring up in the night, and in a day or two you are gone. It takes me a year to grow, but I outlive a hundred crops of mushrooms. I will have patience and be content. Worth is of slow growth.'
"In a week the boastful little mushroom was gone, but the grass bloomed and bore seed, and left a lovely memory behind it. Hark! hear the breeze in the trees! Nature is teaching now. Listen!
"Now I will tell you another little story, such as I used to hear Pestalozzi relate. I am going to tell this story to myself, but you may listen. I have told a story to you, but now I will talk to myself.
"There once was a king, who had been riding in the sun, and he saw afar a lime-tree, full of cool, green leaves. Oh, how refreshing it looked to him! So he rode up to the lime-tree, and rested in the shadow.
"The leaves all clung to the branches, and the winds whispered among them, but did not blow them away.
"Then the king loved the tree, and he said:
"'O tree, would that my people clung to me as thy leaves do to thy branches!'
"The tree was pleased, and spoke: