"May she be blessed," said the wise man; "but not one of you has yet named to me the loveliest rose of the world."
Then there came into the room a child, the Queen's little son. Tears stood in his eyes and glistened on his cheeks; he carried a great open book, and the binding was of velvet, with great silver clasps.
"Mother!" cried the boy, "only hear what I have read."
And the child sat by the bedside, and read from the book of Him who suffered death on the cross to save men, and even those who were not yet born.
"Greater love there is not"—
And a roseate hue spread over the cheeks of the Queen, and her eyes gleamed, for she saw that from the leaves of the book there bloomed the loveliest rose, that sprang from the blood of Christ shed on the cross.
"I see it!" she said: "he who beholds this, the loveliest rose on earth, shall never die."
A VISION OF THE LAST DAY
By HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN
Of all the days of our life the greatest and most solemn is the day on which we die. Hast thou ever tried to realize that most sure, most portentous hour, the last hour we shall spend on earth?