230 pfant "bore, "l^eger^f, and. l^ijrie/. 



The Bretons have a legend that the Saviour's cross was made of 

 Aspen wood ; and that the ceaseless trembling of the leaves of this 

 tree marks the shuddering of sympathetic horror. The Germans 

 preserve an ancient tradition that, during their flight into Egypt, the 

 Holy Family came to a dense forest, in which, but for an angelic 

 guide, they must have lost their way. As they entered this wilder- 

 ness, all the trees bowed themselves down in reverence to the 

 infant God; only the Aspen, in her exceeding pride and arrogance, 

 refused to acknowledge Him, and stood upright. Then the Holy 

 Child pronounced a curse against her, as He in after life cursed 

 the barren Fig-tree; and at the sound of His words the Aspen 

 began to tremble through all her leaves, and has not ceased to 

 tremble to this day. Mr. Henderson, in his ' Folk-lore of the 

 Northern Counties,' states that this tradition has been embodied 

 in a little poem, which may be thus translated : — 



" Once as our Saviour walked with men below, 

 His path of mercy through a forest lay ; 

 And mark how all the drooping branches show, 

 What homage best a silent tree may pay ! 

 " Only the Aspen stands erect and free, 



Scorning to join the voiceless worship pure ; 

 But see ! He casts one look upon the tree, 

 Struck to the heart she trembles evermore ! " 



The Kirghises, who have become almost Mussulmans, have never- 

 theless preserved a profound veneration for the sacred Aspen. 



Astrologers hold that the Aspen is a lunar tree. 



ASPHODEL. — The Asphodel is the flower which flourished 

 in the Elysian Fields. Orpheus, in Pope's ' Ode on St. Cecilia's 

 Day,' conjures the infernal deities — 



" By the streams that ever flow; 

 By the fragrant winds that blow 



O'er the Elysian flowers ; 

 By those happy souls who dwell 

 In yellow meads of Asphodel, 



Or Amaranthine bowers." 



Homer tells us that, having crossed the Styx, the shades passed 

 over a long prairie of Asphodel; and Lucian makes old Charon 

 say: — "I know why Mercury keeps us waiting so long. Down 

 here with us there is nothing to be had but Asphodel, and libations 

 and oblations, and that in the midst of mist and darkness : but up 

 in heaven it is all bright and clear, and plenty of ambrosia there, 

 and necftar without stint." The fine flowers of this plant of the 

 infernal regions produced grains which were believed by the 

 ancients to afford nourishment to the dead. Accordingly we find 

 that the Greeks planted Asphodel and Mallows round graves. 

 The edible roots of the Asphodel were also wont to be laid as 

 offerings in the tombs of the departed, and, according to Hesiod, 

 they served as food for the poor. The Asphodel was held sacred 

 to Bacchus, probably because he visited the infernal regions, and 



