pPant Isore, iDcgcT^/, oriel Tsijric/. 47 c 



crowned with an Olive wreath, the sprays of which turned towards 

 the sun ; but that a moment afterwards, this crown had disappeared. 



The Athenians went to consult the Delphic oracle, holding in 



their hands branches of Olive, and asking for a favourable response 

 in the name and through the favour of the Olive-trees ; and 

 Tigranes, when before Xerxes, reproached Mardonius with having 

 carried on a war against a people who, in their Olympian games, 

 were content with a crown of Olives as the reward of victory, and 

 who fought not for plunder and riches, but for love of country and 



glory. There stood in the Forum of Megara a wild Olive, on 



which it became the custom to hang the arms of local heroes. In 

 course of time the bark of the Olive grew over these arms, and they 

 were forgotten. An oracle, however, had declared that when the 

 tree had brought forth arms, its destruction would take place. 

 When the tree was cut down, the arms and helmets alluded to 

 were discovered ; and it was seen that the oracle had been fulfilled. 



The Proven^aux, at harvest time, sing a curious song, called 



the Reapers' Grace, the first part of which narrates how Adam 

 and Eve were put into the Garden of Eden ; Adam is forbidden to 

 eat of the fruit of life ; he eats thereof, and the day of his death is 

 foretold him. He will be buried under a Palm, Cypress, and Olive, 

 and out of the wood of the Olive the cross was made. Accord- 

 ing to a German tradition, from the tomb of Adam, the father of 

 the human race, sprang an Olive : from this Olive was plucked the 

 branch that the dove from the ark carried to Noah, the regenera- 

 tor of the human race ; and from the same Olive was made the 

 cross of the Redeemer — the spiritual redeemer of the human race. 



A tradition very general relates that the cross was formed of 



the Olive, Palm, Cedar, and Cypress, representing the four quarters 



of the globe. In Central Europe, the Olive is everywhere 



regarded as the emblem of peace. It is planted in the midst of 

 fields to ensure a good harvest and to protect the crops from hail : 

 and in Venetia a branch is placed on the chimney-piece during 

 thunder-storms as a preservative from lightning — a prayer being 



offered up at the same time to St. Barbara and St. Simon. In 



some parts of Italy, young girls employ an Olive-branch as a means 

 of divination. Having moistened a spray of Olive with their lips, 

 they throw it in the fire ; if the leaf jumps three times or darts out 

 of the fire, they will -find a husband; but if it burns without 

 moving, it is a sure sign of celibacy. In Rome and Tuscany, the 

 superstitious peasants imagine that no witch or sorcerer will enter 

 a house where an Olive-branch that has been blessed is kept, and 

 in order to ascertain whether they are suffering from the dire effects 

 of an Evil Eye, they drop some Olive-oil in water, and from the 

 appearance satisfy themselves on the point. To dream of Olive- 

 trees or Olives is considered a good omen, denoting happiness, 

 prosperit3s and success, and a speedy marriage to the lover ; but 

 to dream of plucking Olives is unpropitious, annotmcing trouble 



