A ROSE and an Amaranth blossomed side by side in a garden, and the Amaranth said to her neighbour, “ How I envy you your beauty and your sweet scent ! No wonder you are such a universal favourite.” But the Rose replied with a shade of sadness in her voice, “ Ah, my dear friend, I bloom but for a time : my petals soon wither and fall, and then I die. But your flowers never fade, even if they are cut ; for they are everlasting.”