They say there was once a rich merchant who had three daughters. Two of
them were very gay and fond of dancing and theatres, but the youngest
was very stay-at-home and scarcely ever went beyond the garden.
One day when the father was going abroad to buy merchandise, he asked
his three daughters what he should bring them home. The two eldest
asked for all manner of dresses and ornaments, but the youngest asked
only for a pot of rue.
'That's a funny fancy,' said the father, 'but an easy one to satisfy
at all events; so be sure you shall have it.'
'Not so easy, perhaps, as you think,' replied the maiden; 'only now
you have promised it, mind you bring it, as you will find you will
not be able to get home unless you bring it with you.'
The father did not pay much heed to her words, but went to a far
country, bought his merchandise, taking care to include the fine
clothes and jewels for his two eldest daughters, and, forgetting
about the pot of rue, set out to come home.
They were scarcely a day's journey out at sea when the ship stood
quite still, nor was the captain able by any means to govern it,
for neither sail nor oar would move it an inch.
'Some one on board has an unfulfilled promise on him,' declared the
captain; and he called upon whoever it was to come forward and own
it, that he might be thrown overboard, and that the lives of all the
passengers and crew should not be put in jeopardy by his fault.
Then the merchant came forward and said it was true he had forgotten
to bring with him something he had promised to his little daughter,
but that it was so slight a matter he did not think it could be that
which was stopping the ship.
As no one else had anything of the sort to accuse themselves of,
the captain judged that it was indeed the merchant's fault that
had stopped the ship; only, as he was such a great merchant and a
frequent trader by his vessel, he agreed to put back with him instead
of throwing him overboard. He first, however, asked,--
'And what may the thing be that you have to take to your daughter?'
'Nothing but a pot of rue,' replied the merchant.
'A pot of rue!' answered the captain; 'that is no easy matter. In the
whole country there is no one has a plant of it but the king, and he
is so choice over it that he has decreed that if anyone venture to
ask him only for a single leaf he shall instantly be put to death.'
'That is bad hearing,' said the merchant. 'Nevertheless, as I have
promised to get it I must make the trial, and if I perish in the
attempt I might have had a worse death.'
So they landed the merchant, and he went straight up to the king's
palace.
'Majesty!' he said, throwing himself on his knees before the
throne. 'It is in no spirit of wantonness I break the decree which
forbids the asking a single leaf of the precious plant of rue. A
promise was on me before I knew the king's decree, and I am bound
thereby to ask not merely a single leaf but the whole plant, of the
king, even though it be at peril of my life.'