170 THE GLORY OF THE GARDEN 



influence, and prone amid the flowers lies Ceres, 

 dead to all present sense of loss and pain, sunk in 

 that oblivion which it is the poppy's peculiar 

 privilege to afford to suffering humanity. 



The goddess Nox, or Night, and Thanatos, 

 god of death, were crowned with poppies to pro- 

 pitiate them. Virgil writes of the Lethean poppy, 

 and directs that it be offered as a funeral rite to 

 Orpheus. 



A Bengali legend runs thus: 



Once, long ago, there lived on the bank of the 

 Ganges a magician, in whose hut was born a mouse, 

 who became a great favourite with the seer, and was 

 gifted by him with the power of speech. After a 

 time, the mouse, growing discontented with its 

 lot, was transformed by the magician first into a 

 cat, then a dog, ape, boar, and finally into a beauti- 

 ful maiden, to whom he gave the name of Postimani, 

 or poppy-seed lady. 



One day, as she was tending her flowers, the king 

 passed, and was invited in, and Postimani passed 

 herself off as a princess whom the magician had 

 found in the wood. 



The king fell in love with her, and they were 

 married by the seer, and lived a very happy life 

 till, one day, as she was standing near a well, Posti- 

 mani felt giddy, fell in, and was drowned. The seer, 

 on hearing of the tragedy, came and told the king 

 of the deception that had been practised upon him 

 and said: " Let her body remain in the well, fill 

 it up with earth, and out of the flesh and bones 

 will grow a plant, which shall be called ' Posto,' 

 the poppy tree. From this will be obtained a 

 drug called opium, which will be either smoked or 



