Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1900-09-05
THE ORIGIN OF TEA.
AN INTERESTING LEGEND OF THE
FiOWERY KINGDOM.

tated Eyelids, From which Sprang
the Plant That Gives Us the Cup
That Cheers. but Doesn't Inebriate.
In the youthful years Of the nine
teenth century the proposal was made
seriously. but apparently not entertain
ed seriously, to make the tea plant the
national flower of the United States.
And why? Because the advocates of
tea urged that it was the emblem of
resolution. and by some roundabout
mental process they argued that the
resolution displayed by strong tea was
emblematical of the agency Of tea in
molding the destinies of the American
party.
| AS matter of fact, tea is much more
popular now in the United States than
it was when the whimsical proposition
was made. We are not yet, like the
English. nation Of tea drinkers, but
tea is now on every restaurant bill of
fare-real tea and not pale yellow wa
ter. Most housewives know how to
make it, and afternoon tea is an estab-
| iiShed institution.
| Few persons know the Chinese myth
Of the origin of tea. A Chinese histo-
| rian, to whom, as he has been dead for
| many thousands of moons and hun
dreds of years, grateful acknowledge
ment of Indebtedness is hereby made,
tells the story. He says that in the
early part of the sixth century Prince
Darmal, the son of an Indian king,
landed in the Celestial empire.
Darmal was a missionary. He took
the utmost pains to spread throughout
China knowledge Of the Hndoo god
and of the most remarkable of the
Hindoo true religions. that which in re-
cent years enlisted the sympathies and
sometimes the active championship of
Sir Edwin Arnold and other thinking
men. This missionary prince must
have met with success, for all China
men are not followers of Confucius;
a great many of them are Buddhists.
Prince Darmal. to stimulate others
by what he thought a good example,
subjected himself to privations Of ev-
cry kind. He spent the greater part of
his time in the open air. He prayed
frequently, and he often performed
long fasts. In one Of his fasts he VOW
ed that he would keep awake, but the
flesh overcame the spirit, and he fell
asleep. When he awoke, he was still
drowsy, but he reused himself by
desperate effort, and, determined to
make amends for his violation Of his
oath of wakefulness. he cut off his Of
Tending members - his eyelids - and
threw them on the ground.
Next day. after being awake all night
having no eyelids, he could not sleep;
that is the logic of the story-he found
that his cast off eyelids had taken root
In the soil and had sprung up into a
shrub the like Of which the earth had
never before produced He plucked
and ate some of the leaves of the shrub.
He became exhilarated. His strength
was restored. His drowsiness left him,
and he became more wide awake than
ever before.
In fact he never again missed his
eyelids. Whenever he felt sleepy or
tired he ate some of the eyelid leaves,
which may account for the modern ex-
preston go, eat your eyelids." OAR
NAL recommended the wonderful plant
to his disciples and followers, by whose
means its reputation increased and
since whose time it has been used gen.
orally.
In due course of time some careless
Chinese servant split a cup of boiling
water over bowl of the eyelid leaves
and, drinking up the liquor in order
that his carelessness might not be de-
tected. was astonished at the result.
With plying and superior glances he
watched his master and his masters
family and guests eat the tea leaves.
Then, throwing himself upon the
ground, he acknowledged his fault, for
they had been complaining that the |
leaves were rather damp, and infused |
for them all the liquor Of the leaves in |
the simplest fashion. which is the Chi |
nese fashion unto this day-putting the |
leaves into cups and pouring boiling
water over them.
1t is to be hoped that no one will |
think any the less of tea when he |
learns that 1t belongs to the natural or
der ternstromiacea. Lindley remarks
that, although many Of the plants of |
this order come chiefly from China and
America, after all they form an incon-
siderable part Of the whole number be-
longing to it,
China contains seven or eight, North
America four or five, while 60 or 20
are beautiful trees and shrubs, natives
Of the woods Of South America. About
20 varieties are known in the East In
dies, and one comes from Africa. India
and Ceylon teas are almost as well
known as Chinese.
The plant is called by the Chinese
tcha or tina and tie. In Malay 1t Is teh.
English speaking people used to pro-
nounce it tay. as the French do,
spelling it the. and the Germans, who
spell 1t thee, at the present time.
Pope, the English poet, rhymed it with
obey, away and stay at various times