430 pPant "boi*©, Tsege'r^t)/, onel ibi^ric/** 



therine tables, which were of such immense vakie, that when the 

 Romans reproached their wives for their extravagance in jewels, 

 they were wont to retort and (literally) " turn the tables " upon 

 their husbands. Evelyn tells us, that such a table was that 

 of Cicero, "which cost him 10,000 sesterces; such another had 

 Asinius Gallus. That of King Juba was sold for 15,000; and 

 yet that of the Mauritanian Ptolemy was far richer, containing 

 four feet and a half diameter, three inches thick, which is reputed 



to have been sold for its weight in gold." Some centuries ago, 



Maple-wood was in great request for bowls and trenchers. The 

 unfortunate Fair Rosamond is reputed to have drunk her fatal 

 draught of poison from a Maple bowl ; and the mediaeval drinking- 

 vessels, known as mazers, were chiefly made of this material — 



deriving their name from the Dutch Maeser, Maple. On May-day, 



in Cornwall, the yovmg men proceed, at daybreak, to the country, 

 and strip the Maple (or Sycamore) trees — there called May-trees — 

 of all their young branches, to make whistles, and with these shrill 

 musical instruments they enliven their way home with " May 

 music." In Germany, the Maple is regarded with much super- 

 stitious reverence. There existed formerly, in Alsace, a curious 

 belief that bats possessed the power of rendering the eggs of storks 

 unfruitful. When once a stork's egg was touched by a bat, it 

 became sterile; and so, in order to preserve it, the stork placed in 

 its nest some branches of the Maple, and the wonderful power of this 



tree sufficed to frighten away every intruding bat. De Gubernatis 



relates a Hungarian fairy tale, in which the Maple plays a conspi- 

 cuous part. According to this legend, a king had three daughters, 

 one of whom, a beautiful blonde, was in love with a shepherd, 

 who charmed her with delightful music he produced from a flute. 

 One night, the king, the princess, and the shepherd, were disturbed 

 by disquieting dreams. The king dreamt that his crown had lost 

 its diamonds ; the princess that she had visited her mother's tomb 

 and was unable to get away from it ; the shepherd that two fallow 

 deer had devoured the best lamb in his flock. After this dream, the 

 king called his three daughters to him, and announced to them that 

 she who should first bring to him a basket of Strawberries should 

 become his pet daughter, and inherit his crown and seven king- 

 doms. The three daughters hastened to a neighbouring hill to 

 gather the Strawberries. There, setting down their baskets, each 

 one in turn wished that her basket might be filled with fruit. The 

 wishes of the two elder sisters were unheeded ; but when it came 

 to the blonde's turn, her wish was no sooner expressed, than her 

 basket was filled with Strawberries. At this sight, the two sisters, 

 mad with envy, fell upon the poor blonde, and slew her ; then, 

 having buried her under an old Maple-tree, they broke her basket 

 in two, and divided the Strawberries between them. On their 

 return to the palace, they told the king that their sister had been 

 devoured by a fallow deer. On hearing this sad news, the unhappy 



