t.

The Abbe Plomb, in a mood for teasing, gave his spectacles a push,
settling the arch above his nose, and rubbing his hands, remarked, very
seriously,--

"Madame Bavoil, flowers and vegetables are but of trivial importance
from the decorative and culinary point of view; the only rule that
should guide you in your selection is the symbolical meaning, the
virtues and vices ascribed to plants. Now, I am sorry to observe that
your favourites are for the most part of evil augury."

"I do not understand you, Monsieur l'Abbe."

"Why, you have only to consider that these vegetables which you take
such care of mean many evil things. Lentils, for instance--you grow
lentils?"

"Yes."

"Well, the seeds of the lentils are very cunning and mysterious.
Artemidorus, in his 'Interpretation of Dreams,' tells us that if we
dream of them it is a sign of mourning; it is the same with lettuce and
onion: they forecast misfortune. Peas are less ill-famed; but, above
all, beware of coriander, with its leaves smelling like bugs, for it
gives rise to all manner of evils.

"Thyme, on the contrary, according to Macer Floridus, cures snake-bites,
fennel is a stimulant wholesome for women, and garlic taken fasting is a
preservative against the ills we may contract from drinking strange
waters, or changing from place to place. So plant whole fields of
garlic, Madame Bavoil."

"The Father does not like it!"

"And then," the Abbe Plomb added, very seriously, "you must fill your
mind from the books of Albertus Magnus, the Master of Saint Thomas
Aquinas, who in the treatises ascribed to him on the Virtues of Herbs,
the Wonders of the World, and the Secrets of Women, puts forth certain
ideas, which, as I may hope, will not have been written in vain.

"He tells us that the plantain-root is a cure for headache and for
ulcers; that mistletoe grown on an oak opens all locks; that celandine
laid on a sick man's head sings if he will die; that the juice of the
house-leek will enable you to hold a hot iron without being burnt; that
leaves of myrtle twisted into a ring will reduce an abscess; that lily
powdered and eaten by a young maiden is an effectual test of her
virginity, for if she should not be innocent it takes instantaneous
effect as a diuretic!"

"I did not know of that property in the lily," said Durtal, laughing,
"but I knew that Albertus Magnus assigned the same peculiarity to the
mallow; only the patient need not swallow the plant;