"'Would you learn from me wisdom to govern thy people?'
"'Yes, O lime-tree! Speak on.'
"'Would you know, then, what makes my leaves so cling to my branches?'
"'Yes, O Lime Tree! Speak on.'
"'I carry to them the sap that nourishes them. 'Tis he that gives himself to others that lives in others, and is safe and happy himself. Do that, and thy kingdom shall be a lime-tree.'"
A child brought into the room a bunch of harebells and laid them upon the teacher's desk.
"Look!" said Jasper, "Nature is teaching. Let us be quiet a little and hear what she has to say. The harebells bring us good-will from the sun and skies. There is goodness everywhere, and for all. Let us be grateful.
"Now I will give you another little Pestalozzian story, told in my own way, and you may tell it to your fathers and mothers and neighbors when you go home.
"There was once a man who had two little ponies. They were pretty creatures, and just alike. He sold one of them to a hard-hearted man, who kicked him and beat him; and the pony said:
"'The man is my enemy. I will be his, and become a cunning and vicious horse.'