The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1872-08-09
Young Folks.
The Story OF a Penny.
A FABLE FROM THE GERMAN.


and clean, close together on table,
and the bright rays of the sun danced
and sparkled on them.
Then said the sovereign to the penny:
"You jump, get away from mel You
are only made of common copper, and
are not worthy OF the sunlight that
shines on you. You will soon be lying
all black and dirty on the ground, and
no one will take the trouble of picking
you up. am made of costly gold. /
shall travel about the world with great
lords and princes 1 shall do great
things and perhaps some day shine in
the Emperor's crown"
In the same room there lay by the
fire an old gray cat. When he heard
this he licked his paws thoughtfully,
turned himself around on the other
side, and said, "Some things 60 by the
rule of contrary"
And so 1t proved with the pieces OF
| money. 1t turned out the very con-
trary of what the gold ducat expected.
1t fell into possession of an old miser,
who locked it up In great chest, where
| IL lay idle and useless with hundreds
of others like itself. But when the old
miser found that he should not live
much longer, he buried all his money
in the ground, that no one might get 1T,
and there lies the proud ducat to this
day, dirty and black, and no one will
| ever find 1t.
But the penny travelled far about
| in the world, and it came TO high honor.
| And this is how it happened.
First, one of the poor boys at the mint
| received it in his wages. He took 1t
home, and as his little sister was delight.
ed with the clean, shining penny, he
gave it to her.
The child ran out into the garden to
show it to her mother, and saw a poor
lame beggar passing by, who begged
for piece of bread.
"I have not got any," said the child.
"Then give me penny to buy
some," said the beggar, and the child
gave him her new penny.
The beggar then slipped off to the
bakers. Just as he came to the shop
an old friend of his passed by, dressed
as pilgrim, with mantle, staff and
scrip. He gave to some children who
were standing around the bakers door,
pictures of good and holy men, and the
children in return put some money in
the little box he had in his hand. The
beggar asked: "Where are you travel
ing to?"
The pilgrim answered: Many hun
dred miles away to the city of Jerusa.
lem, where the Holy Christ dwelt and
died. 1 wish to offer up my prayers at
his grave, and redeem my brother, who
is prisoner in the hands of the Turks;
it is for this purpose that I beg for
money"
"Then take a mite toward it from
me-" said the beggar, and he gave his
money to the pilgrim, and would have
gone away as hungry as he came, had
not the baker, who saw all that had
passed, given him the loaf which he
wished to buy.
And now the pilgrim wandered
through many lands, and went in a
ship far over the sea to the holy city of
Jerusalem. When he arrived there he
first offered up his prayers at the sepul-
chre of the Holy Christ, and then went to
the Turkish Sultan who kept his brother
a prisoner. He offered the Turk large
sum of money if he would set his bro
ther free. But the Sultan wanted
more.
The pilgrim said: ~ have nothing
more to offer you but this copper PEN
ny, which was given to me by poor
hungry beggar, out of compassion.
May you also have pity as he had, and
this copper penny will secure you re.
ward"
Then the Sultan took compassion on
him, and set his brother free, and he
received the penny from the pilgrim.
The Sultan put the copper penny in
his pocket, and after little while for
got all about it. Now it happened that
after a time the Emperor of Germany
came to Jerusalem to fight against the
Sultan. So the Sultan fought bravely
at the head of his army and was never
wounded but one day an arrow was
aimed at his right breast, it struck him,
indeed, but glanced off from his clothes
without wounding him.
The Sultan was very much surprised,
and when his clothes were examined
after the battle, the penny was found in
his pocket, and this had caused the ar.
row to glance of. So the Sultan priced
the penny very much, and had it fas-
tened with golden chain to the hilt OF
his curved sword. Some time after.
ward the Sultan was made prisoner by
the Emperor, and had to yield up his
sword to his conqueror. So the penny
came into the possession of the EN-
peror.
One day when the Emperor was sit
ting at the table, and was just in the
act of raising his goblet to his lips
the Empress said she was anxious tc
see the curved Turkish sword. So il
was brought In. and as the Emperor
was showing it to the Empress the penny
became unfastened and fell into the COB
let of wine.
The Emperor saw it; and before
drinking the wine he took out the
penny. But when he looked at it HI
perceived that the penny had turned
quite green. This showed everybody
that there was poison in the goblet. A
wicked servant girl had mixed thu
poison, hoping to kill the Emperor
The servant was ordered to execution
but the penny was set in the Emperor
crown. So this penny made a chile
happy, gave bread to beggar, deliver
ed a prisoner, saved Sultan from beini
wounded, and preserved the life of al
Emperor. 1t deserved to be set in al
| Emperor's crown PerhaDs il Is ther