The White Campion 



godmother : the gift of sweet scent — ^for not only 



are the flowers brilliant in their pure whiteness, they 



also are fragrant — and the gift of sweet honey, which 



lies in the tissues round the centre of the flower at 



the base of the petals. And thus is our plant 



Cinderella fitted out for her campaign to attract. 



And the Fairy Prince is in waiting. He takes the 



form here of softly fl5dng moths to whom the gleam, 



the scent, the honey, make an irresistible appeal, 



and one by one the flowers are visited with ardour 



through the hours of darkness. And so the night 



passes — the flowers charming, the moths visiting — 



but as the morning dawns and the sun again lights 



up the earth, the fateful hour comes for the plant as 



it did for Cinderella, the gleaming petal dress becomes 



draggled, the scent dies away, and soon it is once 



more the httle drab. Just now and then, unhke 



Cinderella, it has a respite, for if the day be dull 



and the sun hidden, its flowers may linger on and 



the plant carry over part of its beauty until the next 



night's quickening. 



171 



