The Indianapolis journal., 1897-04-11

cases a leaf or flower is itsssf competent TO
open the hillside. The little bstne flower. for
get-me-not. about which mtny sentimen-
tai associations have clustered. owed its
name 10 the legends told Of its talismanic
virtues y man travelling lonely noun
tain picks up little blue flower and sticks
II in his hat. Forthwith an iron door opens.
I showing up lighted passa geway. through
which the man advances into magnificent
hall where rubcs. and diamonds. and all
other KINDS OF gems are lying piled IN
great heaps on the floor. As ne eagerly nils
his pockets his hat drops from his head.
and when he turns to 70 out the little flow
er calls after him. Forget re not tie
turns back ard looks around. but is too be
wildered with his good fortune TO think OF
his bare head or the luck flower which
u has let fai!. He selects several more OF
the finest Jewels he can find and again
starts TO go out but "a he passes through
the door the mountain closes amid the
crashing OF thunder and cuts of one OF his
heels Alone. IN the gloom or the foTest. ne
searches in vain for the mysterious uo0I
Il has disappeared forever. and the traveller
goes on his way. thankful. let US hope that
he has Jared TO worse.
CURIOUS TRADITIONS.
Sometimes il IS a white lady like the
Princess IIse. who invites the finder OF the
luck flower 20 help himself TO her treasures
and who urers the enigmatical warning.
The mountain where the event occurred
may be found almost anyhere in Germany.
and one Just like IL stood in Persia in the
golden prime OF Haroun Alraschid. In the
story of the Forty Thieves il is the mere
name of the secret door which leads into
the robbers cavern: and when the avari-
cious Cassima Baba. absorbed in the con-
temptation of the bags OF gold and bales of
rich merchandise, forgets the magic form
ula. ne meets no better fate than the shep-
herd OF the IIsenstein. In the story of
Prince Ahmed. it IS an enchanted arrow
which guides the young adventurer through
the Hillside To the groJto OF the Peri Ban
on. In the tale OF haba Abdallah IL is an
ointment rubbed the eyeiid which re-
veals at single glance aiI the treasures
hidden In the bowels of the earth. The an
cIent Romans also had their rock-breaking
plant. called SaXifraga. or 'saSSatraS. Ana
The further we penetrate into this charmed
circle or traditions. the more evident does
II appear that the power OF cleaVing rocks
or shatterinS hard substances enters. a
primitive element. into the conception of
the treasure-showing talisman. MIR. Barring
Gould has given an excellent account of the
rabbinical legends concerning the wonder
full schamir. by the aid Of which Solomon
was said to have built his temple From AS
modeus. prince OF the jam Benaiah. the
son of Jehoiada wrested the secret of a
worm no bigger than bareycorn which
could split the hardest substance. This
worm was called schamir. If Solomon de-
sired to possess himself of the worm, he
must find the nest of the moor hen and
cover IL with plate of glass. that the
mother bird could not get at her young
without breaking the glass. She would seek
tcndmlr Tor the purpose ana the worm
must be obtained from her. AS the Jewish
king did not need the worm in order to hew
the stones for that temple which was to be
built without sound of hammer or AK, or
any tool of iron, he sent Bendiah 10 OBJ
tain IL.
I'm these traditions, which may possibly
be of Aryan descent due to the prolonged
intercourse between the Jews and the Per-
SLAMS, "A new feature is added TO those be-
fore enumerated. the TOck-Splittlng tails
man Is always found in the possession of a
bird. The same feature in the myth reap
pears Aryan SOIL The springwort
whose marvellous powers we have noticed in
the case OF the Iisenstein shepherd is OBJ
tanned, according TO Pliny. by stopping up
the hole IN a tree where woodpecker Keeps
its young The bird flies away and present
ly returns with the Springwort, which il
applies to the plug. causing IL TO shoot out
with loud explosion. The same account
Is given i'm German folklore. Elsewhere.
in Iceland. Normandy and ancient Greece.
the bird il an eagle. swallow, an ostrich
or a hoopee- In the Icelandic and Pomer-
anian myths. the schamir, or raven
stone also renders its possessor invisible
"a property which it shares with one of the
treasure-finding plants, the fern. In this
respect il resembles the ring of GygeS. as In
its divining and rock-Splltting qualities IL
resembles that other ring which the Afri-
can magician gave 10 Aladdin 10 enable him
TO descend into the cavern where stood the
wonderful lamp
Thus you will see that superstitions ap-
parently never die. The divining rod of the
ancients to which Professor iske has
entertainingly referred. is in use to-day,
with sull confidence in its power, in our ad
joining county of Montgomery. where
intelligent yeOmanry till the soil fear God,
helD their neighbors and hold in reverent
awe the occult power of a twig of the witch
hazel when they wish to determine wheth-
er or not iron ore is imbedded in rich guam
titles beneath their growing fields and
where. with one well exhausted. they shall
probe the earth in search OF another hid
SDring