_German_
There is a legend connected with the name of the little blue
forget-me-not which everyone loves so much.
It is said that a boy and a girl were walking by a river that flows into
the Rhine. The girl saw a lovely flower growing just by the water's
edge. The bank of the river was steep and the water swift.
"Oh, the beautiful flower!" she cried.
"I will get it for you," said the boy. He sprang over the side of the
steep bank and, catching hold of the shrubs and bushes, made his way to
the place where the flower grew.
He tried to tear the plant from the earth with both hands, hoping to get
it all for her who was watching him from the bank above.
The stem broke and, still clasping the flower, he fell backward into the
rushing stream.
"Forget me not!" he cried to her as the waters bore him down to the
falls below. She never did forget her blue-eyed friend who had lost his
life trying to get her a flower.
"Forget me not!" she would say over and over until her friends called
the little blue flower by this name.
Now these blossoms are called forget-me-nots all over the world. And
whether this story is true or only a legend, the dear little flower
could not have a prettier name.