The Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Or.) 1862-1899, 1892-09-02
SIMPLICITY.

Once upon time on an island, which
the sea has long since engulfed, there
hveA a king and queen who had one
son. The king was great king: his
drinking cup was the very largest in all
the realm; his sword the heaviest; he
fought and he drank royalty.
The queen was beautiful queen:
She had SO many wonderful cosmetics,
and they wrought so mysterious and
wonderful charm that she looked not
. day older than forty.
The son was fool. "A fool of the
most pronounced type" said the bril-
Liant lights of the kingdom. When he
had reached the age of sixteen the king
his father, took him to the wars. These
wars were carried on in order to exter-
inmate q certain neighboring nation
that dared to possess too much territory
Here it was that Simplicity showed
himself Ounce. He saved twenty-four
women and thirty-six children from
slaughter, and every stroke of the sword
which he was himself forced to give
caused him to weep bitterly, while The
battlefield itself, running over Will
blood and encountered with tie dead
filled his heart with such deep pity that
For three days he could not eat.
So you must see that he was Ounce
my dear.
When he was seventeen he was obliged
to assist at n great festival given by the
king to all the magnates of his kingdom
Here again he committed many blum
ders. He contented himself easily: he
ate sparsely of the great banquet spread
4sfore him. and he swore-not at all.
His glass would have remained always
full before him had not the king him
self. to save the dignity of the family.
emptied 1t slyly from time to time.
At eighteen. as he began to grow a
beard, he was noticed by one of the
queens court ladies.
Court ladies are dreadful creatures
my dear.
This particular court lady wished fo'
nothing less than to be kissed by the
princei The poor boy did not dream Of
such thing: he trembled when she
Spoke to him. and hid himself the mo-
4nent he saw tho edge of her skirts in the
gardens. The king. who was a good
father. saw what was passing and
iaughed in his sleeve But as the lady
still pursued the prince. and the kiss was
still withheld. he blushed for such son
and himself gave the kiss asked for. al
ways. to be sure. for the dignity and
honor of his family and his race. "Oh.
the little feoli' said the king, who was
man of spirit!
1t was at the age of twenty that Sim
plicity became completely idiotic. He
met forest and fell in love! In those
olden times people did not try to beauti-
fly the trees by pruning and cruel Incl
sions- The branches grew as they listed;
God alone had them in charge, and
moderated the roots and managed the
sapIings. Simplicity's forest was an i'm
mense nest of vertlure, interspersed here
and there by majestic avenues. The
moss. drunk with the dew, fourlshed
wantonly: the egiantines spread thei1
plant arms. sought each other and
played mad pranks around the mighty
trunks of the trees. The great trees
themselves. standing calm and serene
twisted their roots in the shade an6
mounted unanimously upward to kisi
the rays of summer. The green gras
nourished. while in their hurry to bios
sosn the daisy and the scorpion grass
gVowing confused at times. clung to
gether on the broken trunks of fallel
trees And all these branches, all thes
grasses. all these flowers, sang: all min
gled and pressed closely together t
gossip more at ease, to whisper low to
Sether of the loves of the corolla. !
breath of life foated low down in tn
shadowed coppice. giving voice to eac
sprig of moss.
The forest held high carnival. Tn
Fadybirds. the beetles. the dragonfiies
the butterfiies-au the beautiful lover
Of the towering hedges-had gathere
ct the four quarters of the forest.
There they established their little re
public; the footpaths were their guards
the streams. their streams: the forest
.6hsir forest. They lived luxuriantly q
abefoot Of the trees, on low branches, i
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