The dear little FORGET-ME-NOT, (_myosotis palustris_)[077] with its eye
of blue, is said to have derived its touching appellation from a
sentimental German story. Two lovers were walking on the bank of a rapid
stream. The lady beheld the flower growing on a little island, and
expressed a passionate desire to possess it. He gallantly plunged into
the stream and obtained the flower, but exhausted by the force of the
tide, he had only sufficient strength left as he neared the shore to
fling the flower at the fair one's feet, and exclaim "_Forget-me-not!_"
(_Vergiss-mein-nicht_.) He was then carried away by the stream, out of
her sight for ever.