Fireside Stories for Girls in Their Teens by Margaret W. Eggleston

  A PARABLE OF GIRLHOOD

  Behold a girl went forth to walk on the highway leading to life. And asshe walked there grew up beneath her feet flowers of every kind andcolor.

  "Ah!" she said, "I will gather a sheaf of flowers to carry with me, forthen, surely, I shall be welcome when I come to the gate at the end ofthis way. I will gather what seemeth to me to be the most beautiful of allthe flowers that grow about me. They shall be my gift to the one whoguards the way."

  And as she plucked, the one that seemed to be most wonderful was the onemost bright, gleaming yellow as the sun. "It is yellow like gold," shesaid. "If I come with the sign of gold, I shall be welcome. I will pluckit everywhere I can and carry only yellow flowers." And soon her arms werefull, but somehow her fingers seemed hot and unpleasant and her arms wereheavy, so she dropped some by the way and carried only those that seemedmost desirable.

  But some were blue--blue as the sky. "Blue for blue blood," she said."Those of royal birth are always to be desired. I shall make my sheaflargely of blue." So she added one here and another there till she wassatisfied that the sheaf would be of all the sheaves the most beautiful.But the odor was sickening, and again one after another was dropped tillonly a few remained.

  And some flowers there were in the path that were red. "One needs fewer ofthese," she said, "but surely some must be red. I shall put red flowersfor courage where they shall be seen, for courage is of all the virtuesto be desired." But there were thorns on the red flowers and, try as shewould, she could not hide the thorns so that they might not pierce herflesh. So there could be few of the red in the sheaf.

  Some plants there were that bore no blossoms but the leaves werebeautiful, so she added leaves of this and of that, even though she knewthat in some there was deadly poison. "I can hide it among the rest. It isso beautiful that it must be a part of my sheaf," thought the girl.

  But along the way, there had been many flowers that had been passedunnoticed. White they were. Often they were small but always they werepure and sweet. Only once had she plucked one and then she had added itbecause of its fragrance. "Oh, yes," she said, "I know white is for puritybut white flowers are old-fashioned. Of course I must have a few but manywould spoil my sheaf. It must be bright with color."

  So the days flew by and her sheaf was nearly complete. She had thought itthe most beautiful thing she could possibly make. But one day as shewalked, suddenly she saw, standing erect by the road, a beautiful, statelylily. Its beauty startled her. She stooped to smell of its fragrance. Thenshe glanced from it to the flowers in her sheaf.

  If she plucked the lily and tried to place it in the sheaf, its beautywould be spoiled. What should she do? With all her heart she longed totake the lily with her to the end of the way. Should she throw the restaway? Would she be welcome with only the one flower? Long she hesitated.

  Then she laid the yellow, and the blue, and the red, and the rest asideand carefully gathered it. So in her hand she carried the lily with thepetals of pure white and the heart of gold.

  And lo, she had come to the stile which endeth the way of girlhood.There, standing guard over the way ahead, was a woman in white, holding bythe hand a tiny, little child. Looking straight into the eyes of the girl,she said sweetly,

  "Welcome, my child, from the beautiful way of girlhood. What hast thoubrought as thy gift to coming generations?"

  Then the girl feared to answer. But she held the lily toward the littlechild as she said, "I have brought purity and a heart of gold."

  "Thou hast done well," said the mother spirit. "Take thou the child as thyreward. With this as thy gift, thou art worthy to enter the way ofmotherhood. Lo, here are some of the flowers that were left by the way.Well may they go with thee, for they are very beautiful. But the gift thatthou didst choose was far more valuable and beautiful than they. It wasthe gift that the Great desire."

  Then the girl and the child went together into the new way. But the childwas carrying the gift and she smiled as she went.