trees cut down, for they really were not ornamental, and if they were gone, he hoped the birds would soon find another home.
But the nobleman said, “I wish the trees and the flock of birds to remain; they both belong to the castle; they are a part of the olden times, and no one shall ever send them quite away. The trees are really the inheritance of the birds, and we will not deprive them of it, my good Larsen” (Larsen was the gardener’s name), and he found he was not allowed to set matters right as he thought, and get more ground to work upon. “You have the whole of the flower gardens, the hothouse, the fruit and the kitchen gardens, to attend to, and is not that work enough for you, dear Larsen?”
The gardener knew his master was right; he wished above all things to keep such a good situation, and his zeal and cleverness were indefatigable.
The nobleman acknowledged this fact; nevertheless he did not conceal from his gardener, that he knew he could obtain far more beautiful flowers and better fruit from foreign countries than from his own gardens.
All this caused the gardener great sorrow, for both in will and deed he always endeavoured to do his best.
He had a good heart, and was zealous in his work.
One day the nobleman called his gardener, and said, with gentle dignity, “I spoke to you the other day about having seen some foreign fruit of a superior kind, especially apples and pears, so juicy, and of such an agreeable taste, that all the guests where I was dining spoke of them with wonder. The fruit could not have been produced in this country, but must have been cultivated in its native land, and under a very different climate. However, I know there is a large Fruiterer’s shop in the town, so you can ride over to him and make inquiries yourself as to where these apples and pears came from, and then procure grafts from the trees.”
The gardener knew the fruiterer very well, for he had sold to him in the name of his master all the overplus of the fruit which grew in the castle garden. The gardener therefore rode to the town, and asked the fruiterer from whence he had obtained these wonderful apples and pears.
“From your own garden,” said the fruitseller, pointing to the fruit, and Larsen recognised them immediately.
The gardener was overjoyed. He hastened back to the nobleman, and told him of this unusual result—that the apples and pears he had so admired were from their own garden.
“That seems to me quite incredible,” dear Larsen, he said; “is it not impossible? However, if the fruitseller will send me a written testimony that the fruit is really from our garden, I will believe it.”
Larsen very soon brought a certificate from the fruiterer.
“Well, really this is very remarkable,” said the nobleman; and after this event, there was placed on the table every day great dishes with these beautiful apples and pears, which had really come from the nobleman’s own fruit garden. And besides all these, bushels and bushels were sent to friends in the town, as well as elsewhere. It was truly delightful. And to
