pPant Isore, becjc"!^/, cmel "b)Ljnc/, 415 



into trees — Baucis into a Lime, and Philemon into an Oak. Ovid 

 thus describes the transformation : — 



" Then, when their hour was come, while they relate 

 These i)ast adventures at the temple gate, 

 Old Baucis is by old rhilemon seen 

 Sprouting with sudden leaves of sjjrightly green : 

 Old Baucis looked where old Philemon stood, 

 And saw his lengthened arms a sprouting wood ; 

 New roots their fastened feet begin to bind. 

 Their bodies stiffen in a rising rind. 

 Then, ere the bark above their shoulders grew, 

 They give and lake at once their last adieu. 

 At once, farewell, O faithful spouse ! they said. 

 At once th' incroaching rinds their closing lips invade. 

 Ev'n yet an ancient Tyamvan shows 

 A spreading Oak that near a Linden grows." 



Rapin, in his version of the tale, makes both of the old folks 

 become Limes, male and female : — 



" While these you plant, Philemon call to mind, 

 In love and duty with his Baucis joined — 

 A good old pair whom poverty had tried. 

 Nor could their vows and nuptial faith divide ; 

 Their humble cot with sweet content was blest, 

 And eacli benighted stranger was their guest. 

 When Jove unknown they kindly entertained, 

 This boon the hospitable pair obtained, 

 Laden witii years, and weak through length of time, 

 That they should each become a verdant Lime 

 And since the transformation Limes appear 

 Of either sex ; and male and female are." 



In honour of its descent from the worthy old couple, the Lime 

 became the symbol of wedded love. In Scandinavian mytho- 

 logy, Sigurd, after having killed the serpent Fafnir, bathes himself 

 in its blood: a leaf of a Linden or Lime-tree falls on him between his 

 shoulders, and renders that particular place vulnerable, although 



every other portion of his body had become invulnerable. In 



Germany, during May-day festivities, they often make use of the 

 Linden. Around the Linden dance the villagers of Gotha. In 

 Finland and in Sweden, the Linden is considered as a protedlive 



tree. In the cemetery of the hospital of Annaberg, in Saxony, 



there is a very ancient Linden-tree, concerning which tradition 

 relates that it was planted by an inhabitant, with its top in the 

 ground; and that its roots became branches, which now over- 

 shadow a considerable portion of the countrj'. At Siiderheistede, 



in Ditmarschen, there once stood a Linden which was known 

 throughout the country, as the " Wonderful Tree." It was much 

 higher than other trees, and its branches all grew crosswise. 

 Connecfted with this tree was an old prophecy that, as soon as the 

 Ditmarschens lost their freedom, the tree would wither; and so it 

 came to pass. But the people believe that a magpie will one day build 

 its nest in its branches, and hatch five young ones, and then the 



