New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1872-07-11
HISTORY OF A PENNY.
FABLE FROM THE GERMAN

In the mint, where all our pounds, shili
lings, and pence are made, there once was Q
gold ducat and penny just coined. There
thew lay, shining and clean, close together on
a table, and the bright rays of the sun danced
and sparkled on them. s3 s.. Ia
Then said the sovereign to the penny:adi i
ssYou lump, get away from me! You are
only made of common copper, and are mot
worthy of the sunlight that shines ont you.
You will soon be lying all black and dirtyon
the. ground, and no one will take the trouble
Of picking you up. am made of costly gold.
1 shall travel about in the world with great
lords and princes; shall do great things,
and perhaps some day shine in the Emperor's
CROWN" aa
In the same room there lay by the fire an
old gray cat. When he heard this he licked
his paws thoughtfnlly, turned himself around
on the other side, and said:
'sSome things go by the rule of contrary.
:. And so it proved with the pieces Of money.
Itturned.out the very contrary that the gold
ducat expected.
.Itfellinto the. possession Of an old miser,
who lockedzitt up in a great chesh where it
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.it, and there lies the proud dncat
toaiiis day, dirt, and black, and no one will
ever find it. :. -. :. ..st.-s 81 - sst Ftf
But the penny travelled fan. about in the
world, and came to high honor. And this is
how it happened: sas
First, one of the poor boys at the mint re-
ceived it in his wages. He carried it home,
and as his little sister was SO delighted with
the clean, shining penny, he gave it to her.
The child ran into the garden to show it to
her mother, and saw q poor, lame beggar pass
ing by, who begged for a bit of bread
-as.Bhave not got any, .. said. the child.
-ssThen give mea penny to buy. some, said
the beggar, and the child gave him her new
penny.
The beggar lhnped of to the bakers. just
as he came to the shop an old friend of his
passedsby, dressed as a pilgrim, with mantle,
staff. and script. He gave to some children
who swers standing mound the bakers door
pictures Of good andsholy men, and the chill.
dssn'in return put ImoheyrintO the little box
he had in his hand. $50. :. : saa z-.4. :
The beggar askede .-.oy ,a-~s-...
"Where are you travelling to?"
The pilgrim answered: =. ~
: .sMany hundred miles away to the city of
Jerusalem, where the Holy Christ dwelt and
died., Iwish to offer up my prayers at his
grave, and redeem my brother, who is pris-
oner in the hands of the Turks /; it is for this
purpose that beg for money!"
Then take a mite towards it from me, /"
said the beggar,. and he gave his penny to
the pilgrim, and would have gone away as
hungry as he came bad not the baker, who
saw all that had passed, given him the loaf
which he had 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
~ q of
at the Sepulchre ofthe Holy Christ, and then
went to the Turkish sultan who kept his
brother prisoner.
He offered the Turk large sum of money
il he would set his brother free. a :
But the sultan wanted more. The pilgrim
said: s
81 have nothing more to offer you but this
copper penny, which was given to me. by a
poor hungry beggar, out Of compassion. May
you also have pity as he had, and this copper
penny win secure you a reward"
Then the sultan took compassion on him,
and set his brother free, and be received the
penny from the pilgrim. ''
The sultan put the copper penny in his
pocket, and after a little while forgot all
abOotft. * aa-s IS. sfs8 So esfgIk
Nov IL happened that after time the
Emperor Of Germany came to Jerusalem to
fight against the sultan. So the sultan
fought brayely at the head Of his army, and
was never wounded; but one day an arrow
was aimed right at his breast; it struck him,
indeed, bpt glanced off from his clothes with
out w6mding him. i
The sultan was Very much surprised, and
when his clothes were. examined, after the
battle, the penny was found in he porket
and this had caused the arrow to glance of.
So tho sultan priced the penny very much,
and had it fastened with golden chain to
the hilt of his curved sword.
Some time afterwards,th the sultan was made
a prisoner by the emperor, and had to yield
up his sword to the conqueror. SO the penny
came into the possession of the emperor.
One day, when the emperor was sitting at
the table, and was just in the act Of raising
his goblet to his lips, the empress said she
was anxious to see the curved Turkish sword.
So it was brought in, and as The emperor was
showing il TO the empress the penny became
unfastencd, and feh into the goblet of wine.
The emperor saw it, and before drinking
The vine he took out the penny. But when
- lcoked - Il he. perceived that the penny
- tncd quite green. This showed every
~ nat mere was poison In the goblet.