Edelweiss

Well, your highness, if it be your pleasure, we shall clothe your pet in purest white, like ermine, rivaling even the snow, without spot or stain or any dark tint, so we may justly call it the edelweiss.

That is the noble white.

At this all the fairies shouted with delight, even the queen herself smiled, and then she made answer, You have well spoken, Edelweiss it shall be.

Now that the name was ready, the queen called for the attendant maids of the brave fairy volunteer.

And then, and there, the custom was begun, which mortals always afterward followed, of robing a princess, who is to marry a husband in a foreign country.

Patriots so loved it because of its resisting power, the spirit of advance instead of retreat, that they would gladly make it the national flower of Switzerland.

The Eldowise, among nations, has held its own for ages, maintaining her life and independence despite the alien power of invaders and tyrants, and the Swiss still sing their national hymn, Stand Fast, O Fatherland.

So also, Edelweiss, the noble white, remains forever as the Swiss emblem of their republic, and of its beauty and permanence.