THE FIRST CUP OF TEA.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 17 April 1914, Page 7

THE FIRST CUP OF TEA.

The Chinese claim to be the first users of tea as a drink, and how it originated is told in a pretty little leg-.end that dates from 2,000 years before the coming of Christ. A daughter of a then reigning sovereign fell in love with a young nobleman whose humble birth excluded him from marrying her. They managed ( to exchange glances, and he occasion- [ ally gathered a few blossoms and had them conveyed to her. One day in the Palace garden the lovers met, arrd the young man en- j deavoured to give her a few flowers ; but sq keen was the watchfulness of her attendants, all she could grasp was a little twig with green leaves. On reaching her room she put the twig in water, and towards evening she dranki the water in which the twig had been kept. So agreeable ■ was the taste that she even ate the leaves ami stalks. Every day afterwards she had bunches of the teatree brought to her, which she treat- • c.'d in the same way. Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, the ladies of the Court tried the experiment, and with such pleasing results that the. custom , spread throughout the kingdom—and , the great Chinese tea industry became a fait accompli. 1890. ,