English Original
HIGH up in the clear, pure air flew an angel, with a flower plucked from the garden of heaven. As he was kissing the flower a very little leaf fell from it and sunk down into the soft earth in the middle of a wood. It immediately took root, sprouted, and sent out shoots among the other plants.
"What a ridiculous little shoot!" said one. "No one will recognize it; not even the thistle nor the stinging-nettle." "It must be a kind of garden plant," said another; and so they sneered and despised the plant as a thing from a garden.
Winter came, and the plant was covered with snow, but the snow glittered over it as if it had sunshine beneath as well as above. When spring came, the plant appeared in full bloom: a more beautiful object than any other plant in the forest.
And now the professor of botany presented himself. He examined and tested the plant, but it did not belong to his system of botany. "It must be some degenerate species," said he; "I do not know it, and it is not mentioned in any system."
There passed through the forest a poor innocent girl; her heart was pure. Her chief inheritance had been an old Bible. The girl stood still before the wonderful plant, for the green leaves exhaled a sweet and refreshing fragrance. With pious gratitude the girl looked upon this glorious work of God. She took only a single green leaf, carried it home, and laid it in her Bible, where it remained ever green, fresh, and unfading.
A few weeks afterwards, that Bible was laid under the young girl's head in her coffin. A holy calm rested on her face.
In the forest the wonderful plant still continued to bloom. Then came the swineherd; he was collecting thistles and shrubs to burn them for the ashes. He pulled up the wonderful plant, roots and all, and placed it in his bundle. "This will be as useful as any," he said; so the plant was carried away.
Not long after, the king of the country suffered from the deepest melancholy. They applied for advice to one of the wise men of the world, and he sent them a message to say that there was one remedy which would relieve and cure him, and that it was a plant of heavenly origin which grew in the forest.
Then said the swineherd, "I am afraid I carried this plant away from the forest in my bundle, and it has been burnt to ashes long ago."
Not even a leaf of the plant could be found. There was one, but it lay in the coffin of the dead; no one knew anything about it.
Then the king, in his melancholy, wandered out to the spot in the wood. "Here is where the plant stood," he said; "it is a sacred place." Then he ordered that the place should be surrounded with a golden railing.
The botanical professor wrote a long treatise about the heavenly plant, and for this he was loaded with gold. And this part is really the most pleasant part of the story. For the plant had disappeared, and the king remained as melancholy and sad as ever.
中文翻译
高高的、清澈纯净的天空中，一位天使飞翔着，手里拿着一朵从天堂花园摘下的花。当他亲吻那朵花时，一片非常小的叶子从花上落下，沉入森林中央柔软的泥土里。它立刻生根、发芽，在其他植物中抽出了嫩枝。
“多么可笑的小嫩芽！”一个声音说。“没人会认得它；连蓟草和荨麻都不认得。”“它肯定是某种花园植物，”另一个说；于是他们嘲笑并鄙视这株植物，认为它是来自花园的东西。
冬天来了，植物被雪覆盖，但雪在它上面闪闪发光，仿佛它的上下都有阳光。当春天来临时，这株植物盛开了：它是森林里比其他任何植物都更美丽的物体。
现在，植物学教授出现了。他检查并测试了这株植物，但它不属于他的植物学体系。“这一定是某种退化的物种，”他说；“我不认识它，任何体系里都没有提到它。”
一个贫穷无辜的女孩穿过了森林；她的心是纯洁的。她继承的主要财产是一本古老的《圣经》。女孩静静地站在这株奇妙的植物前，因为绿叶散发出甜美清新的芬芳。怀着虔诚的感激之情，女孩凝视着上帝这辉煌的作品。她只摘了一片绿色的叶子，带回家，放在她的《圣经》里，在那里它永远保持翠绿、新鲜、不凋谢。
几周后，那本《圣经》被放在年轻女孩棺材里她的头下。一种神圣的平静停留在她的脸上。
在森林里，那株奇妙的植物仍然继续开花。然后猪倌来了；他正在收集蓟草和灌木，为了烧成灰烬。他把那株奇妙的植物连根拔起，放进了他的捆里。“这个会和其他的东西一样有用，”他说；于是植物被带走了。
不久之后，这个国家的国王患上了最深沉的忧郁症。他向世上的一位智者寻求建议，智者传信说，有一种疗法可以缓解并治愈他，那就是一种生长在森林里的、源自天国的植物。
猪倌于是说：“恐怕我已经把这株植物从森林里用我的捆带走了，它早就被烧成灰了。”
连一片这植物的叶子都找不到了。有一片，但它躺在死者的棺材里；没有人知道这件事。
于是，国王在忧郁中漫步到森林中的那个地点。“这就是那株植物生长的地方，”他说；“这是一个神圣的地方。”然后他下令用金色的栏杆把那个地方围起来。
植物学教授写了一篇关于这株天国植物的长篇论文，并因此获得了大量黄金。而这部分确实是这个故事中最令人愉快的部分。因为植物已经消失了，而国王依然和以前一样忧郁悲伤。