Lotus plantThe Lotus.TheLotus, or lily of the Nile, is a plant of great beauty and celebrity. There is one kind which is dried and made into loaves, and eaten for bread. The root, which is round and of the size of an apple, is also eaten.The flower, at first, stands on the stalk, one or two feet above the water; but when the leaves are expanded and the seed-vessels fully formed, it gradually sinks till it rests on the surface of the water. All travellers are very much struck with the beauty of the lakes and rivers in Egypt, when, as frequently happens, they are covered with these blossoms. Sometimes they spring up in the places which are flooded during the overflow of the Nile, and seem to spread out to a vast extent, covering the entire surface of the water; yet when the flood subsides they perish.The Miller and the Fool.—A miller who attempted to be witty at the expense of a youth of weak intellect, accosted him thus: “John, people say that you are a fool.” On this, John replied, “I don’t know that I am, sir; I know some things, and some things I don’t know, sir.” “Well, John, what do you know?” “I know that millers always have fat hogs, sir.” “And what don’t you know?” “I don’t know whose corn they eat, sir.”
Lotus plant
TheLotus, or lily of the Nile, is a plant of great beauty and celebrity. There is one kind which is dried and made into loaves, and eaten for bread. The root, which is round and of the size of an apple, is also eaten.
The flower, at first, stands on the stalk, one or two feet above the water; but when the leaves are expanded and the seed-vessels fully formed, it gradually sinks till it rests on the surface of the water. All travellers are very much struck with the beauty of the lakes and rivers in Egypt, when, as frequently happens, they are covered with these blossoms. Sometimes they spring up in the places which are flooded during the overflow of the Nile, and seem to spread out to a vast extent, covering the entire surface of the water; yet when the flood subsides they perish.
The Miller and the Fool.—A miller who attempted to be witty at the expense of a youth of weak intellect, accosted him thus: “John, people say that you are a fool.” On this, John replied, “I don’t know that I am, sir; I know some things, and some things I don’t know, sir.” “Well, John, what do you know?” “I know that millers always have fat hogs, sir.” “And what don’t you know?” “I don’t know whose corn they eat, sir.”