FLOWERS AND FOLKS. 223 



even the highest. The nettle, standing 

 straight and prim, asking no favors of any- 

 body, may rail at the grape-vine, which must 

 lay hold of something, small matter what, 

 by which to steady itself; but the nettle 

 might well be willing to forego somewhat of 

 its self-sufficiency, if by so doing it could 

 bring forth grapes. The smilax, also, with 

 its thorns, its pugnacious habit, and its 

 stony, juiceless berries, a sort of handsome 

 vixen among vines, the smilax, which can 

 climb though it cannot stand erect, has little 

 occasion to lord it over the strawberry. If 

 one has done nothing, or worse than nothing, 

 it is hardly worth while to boast of the orig- 

 inal fashion in which he has gone about it. 

 Moreover, the very plants of which we are 

 speaking bear witness to the fact that it is 

 possible to accept help, and still retain to 

 the full one's own individuality. The straw- 

 berry is no more a plagiarist than the smilax, 

 nor the grape than the nettle. If the vine 

 clings to the cedar, the connection is but 

 mechanical. Its spirit and life are as inde- 

 pendent of the savin as of the planet Jupiter. 

 Even the dodder, which not only twines 

 about other weeds, but actually sucks its 



