The shy, little Mimosa plant

Once, in the garden of a great Sultan of Persia, there grew a shy, little Mimosa plant.

It was so shy that, even touched by the shadow of the tip of the wing of a bird passing over head, it would curl up its leaves and hide itself away.

All of the other plants in the garden looked down upon it because they thought it very small and common and ugly and would even make cruel comments about it behind its back.

“What an ugly little shrub”, the beautiful but haughty flowers would say; the orchids and roses and tulips, sneering, “It really oughtn’t to be in such a splendid garden with beautiful flowers like us”.

“And what a puny, insignificant little plant”, the tall trees would grumble, “It’s really not important or grand enough to be in a Sultans garden with trees as tall and majestic as us”.

But then, one day, a gossipy wind blew into the garden and whispered to one of the tall oaks what he had overheard the Sultans head gardener telling his assistant, that the Sultan was coming to look at his garden because he wanted to pick a very special plant for his palace.

And then that Oak tree told all the other trees and they told the flowers and every tree that heard thought the same thing, “He’ll pick me, I know it, because I’m the tallest and most important tree in the garden”.

And all of the flowers that heard thought the same thing, “He’s bound to pick me because I’m the most beautiful flower in the garden”.

But the shy, little Mimosa, listening from its corner, thought to itself, “I’m sure it won’t be me the Sultan picks. I’m so small, not tall like one of the trees and I’m so ugly, not beautiful like one of the flowers. No one would ever want a plant like me”.

However, when the Sultan came to visit, the next day, he walked around the garden, examining all of the trees one by one and said to himself, “Yes, these trees are very tall and grand but every tree is tall and grand and I’m looking for a much more special sort of plant”.

Then he looked at all the flowers one by one and smelled all of their beautiful fragrances and said to himself, “Yes, they’re very beautiful and they all have a lovely fragrance but all flowers are beautiful and sweet smelling and I’m looking for something much more special than that”.

But, just then, the Sultan noticed the Mimosa plant growing in the corner of the garden and, approaching it, the edge of his shadow touched against its leaves and, shyly, it folded up its leaves and hid itself away.

“My word!”, exclaimed the Sultan, seeing this, “What an extraordinary plant that can fold up its leaves. That is just the special kind of plant that I’ve been looking for”.

Then, much to the annoyance of all the tall and pompous trees and all the beautiful but haughty flowers, the Sultan had the Mimosa plant dug up and moved to his palace so that all the important people who came to visit him would see it and everyone who he showed it to agreed that it was, indeed, a most exceptional plant.