144 
been when they met in the court of the Persian king. 
Indeed, they must have been far happier, for there 
is no rivalry among the Roses ; they are all sweet¬ 
ness and love. It is true they have prickles, but 
their wound is not poisonous ; they only give a gen¬ 
tle warning that such delicate beings must not be 
seized upon too rudely, else their “blooming honors” 
will fall to the ground. 
The Damask Roses, originally denizens of a fair 
city in the East,,* but now acclimated in every land, 
stood in a hedge round a clear little lake in the mid¬ 
dle of the garden. The gold-fishes had come up to 
sun themselves in the morning ray, and were glan¬ 
cing to and fro amid the reflections of their lovely 
protectors. 
Roses of Kashmire, the most brilliant and fra¬ 
grant of the Roses of the East, stood by themselves 
* Damascus. 
