CHINESE WATER LILY.

Dunstan Times, Issue 610, 26 December 1873, Page 3

CHINESE WATER LILY.

The following legend of the “ Sue den {i ” or Chinese Water Liljr has been given us by a Chinese resident, ho says —Under csrtain circumstances in accordance with its growth, it is an indication of good or bid luck to the possessor, that is, if luxuriant in growth, luck will follow the possessor, if stunted, the reverse. Every thing has an origin, an 1 the origin of the water lily according to the legend is as “In the..days of yore an elderly rich mandarin and father of a family dies, bequeathing the whole of his worldly possessions to the elder of his two sons, the younger naturally was irate, but to set matters on a better footing, tho elder gives him a piece of land, who at once sets off to visit it, and on arrival, he discovered it to be only a barren waste of stones. Confounded at his hard fortune, ho fell too a weeping, sprinkling the ground with his tears as Uo wandered about in his distress. An angel fom Heaven hereupon comes up m the scene an I bids, him not be disheartened, as he will make him as rich as Jus brother ; he casts seed upoo tho ground and upon every spot where the tears of the weeping boy had fallen, bulbs of the Lily grew in wonderful porfusioa. The Chinese being fond of flowers, and moreover, a novelty, readily bought them, and by the sale of them, the younger brother soon becomes as rich as his brother.” This is the legend. Is is said there is only one spot in the whole of China where they grow, and that the Chinese are particularly fond of them, as they are to be found in every house of any pretentions from one end of th; Empire to the other ; and, as an evidence that S' me superstition is attached to them, it is said that a Chinese merchant, daring his round of trade, will refuse to do other than cash trade with tho man whose liily is of stunted growth.