Page:Hans Andersen's Fairy Tales (1888).djvu/198

 this was added the fact that now was the second summer of unusually beautiful weather, and very favourable for producing ripe and superior fruit.

Time passed on quickly, and one day the nobleman was invited to dine at the king’s table.

Next morning the gardener was sent for by his master, who told him that a melon, with a delicious flavour, had been placed on the king’s table, which was loaded with all kinds of fruit, and this melon had been reared in his majesty’s hothouse.

“Go to the court gardener, good Larsen,” said the nobleman, “and procure from him a seed of this costly melon.”

But the court gardener replied, “Why I got the seed of that melon from one out of the Castle garden.”

Full of joy Larsen returned and told his master.

“And now, indeed, I can feel proud,” he said. “My noble master will spread it abroad that the court gardener this summer has had no success with his melons, and that after seeing and tasting them, he gave orders that three from the castle gardens should be taken to the king’s table.”

“Larsen,” said his master, “don’t fancy that these melons came out of our gardens.”

“But I do believe it,” he said. “I went myself to the court gardener, and received from him a written testimony that the melons on the king’s table had been produced from the seeds of one he had bought from Larsen.”

The nobleman was greatly surprised; he spoke of the circumstance to others, and showed them the written certificate, and, as in the case of the apples and pears, the story of the melon seed travelled everywhere; it was even stated publicly where the fruit flourished and grew, till the castle became noted, and obtained a name which could be spoken and read in English, French, and German.

Hitherto people had supposed that such a thing would be impossible.

“If now my gardener had only not so great an opinion of himself,” said the nobleman; and yet he seized every opportunity that offered to make known the name of his gardener as the best in the country. Therefore, every year Larsen endeavoured to produce some fruit of a superior kind, and yet often he heard it said that the fruit, such as apples and pears, which had been of such an excellent quality at first, were not so good now, and indeed quite inferior. And positively, even the melons, that every one had considered so luscious, were also depreciated.

The strawberries, however, were pronounced excellent, as well as the other splendid fruit. Still, in one year the radishes were a great failure, and were always spoken of afterwards as those “unfortunate radishes,” although since then they had always been good.

It was as if a heavy weight had fallen from the heart of the nobleman when he could say, “This year nothing is wrong, best Larsen,” and he said it joyfully too.

Regularly twice a week the gardener brought fresh flowers into the rooms,