Willow

Ms. Harrison told him that he could not make a better attempt to be one of those home brighteners who bring sunshine with them, but she added that such people are always considerate for others.

Malcolm wondered a little if this meant that he was not, but he soon forgot it in hearing the many things that were to be said of the willow.

The family name of this tree is Salix, from a word that means to spring, because a willow branch, if planted, will take root and grow so quickly that it seems almost magic.

'And they shall spring up among the grass as willows by the watercourses,' says the prophet Isaiah, speaking of the children of the people of God.

The flowers of the willow are of two kinds, one bearing stamens and the other pistils.

The rims of cartwheels, too, used to be made of willow, as now they are hooped with iron.

So you see, it is a strong wood as well as a pliant one.

The kind used for basket-making is the Salix viminalis, and the rods of this species are called oysters.

That is the story, and whoever does not understand it may go and purchase a share in the tanyard from the window.

section 20 of hans christian anderson fairy tales and short stories volume 3 this is a librivox recording all librivox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit librivox.org hans christian anderson fairy tales and short stories volume 3 1848 to 1853 by hans christian anderson translated by h.p paul everything in the right place it is more than a hundred years ago at the border of the wood near a large lake stood an old mansion deep ditches surrounded it on every side in which reeds and bulrushes grew close by the drawbridge near the gate there was an old willow tree which bent over the reeds from the narrow pass came the sound of bugles and the tramping of horses feet therefore a little girl who was watching the geese hastened to drive them away from the bridge before the whole hunting party came galloping up they came however so quickly that the girl in order to avoid being run over placed herself on one of the high corner stones of the bridge she was still half a child and very delicately built she had bright blue eyes and a gentle sweet expression but such things the baron did not notice while he was riding past the little goose girl he reversed his hunting crop and in rough play gave her such a push with it that she fell backward into the ditch Everything in the right place, he cried, into the ditch with you.

Then he burst out laughing, for that he called fun.

The others joined in, the whole party shouted and cried, while the hounds barked.

while the poor girl was falling she happily caught one of the branches of the willow tree by the help of which she held herself over the water and as soon as the baron with his company and the dogs had disappeared through the gate the girl endeavoured to scramble up but the branch broke off and she would have fallen backward among the rushes had not a strong hand from above seized her at this moment it was the hand of a pedlar he had witnessed what had happened from a short distance and now hastened to assist her everything in the right place he said imitating the noble baron and pulling the little maid up to the dry ground he wished to put the branch back in the place it had been broken off but it is not possible to put everything in the right place therefore he stuck the branch into the soft ground grow and thrive if you can and produce a good flute for them yonder in the mansion he said it would have given him a great pleasure to see the noble baron and his companions well thrashed then he entered the castle but not the banqueting hall he was too humble for that no he went to the servants hall the men servants and maids looked over his stock of articles and bargained with him loud crying and screaming were heard from the master's table above they called it singing indeed they did their best laughter and the howls of dogs were heard through the open windows there they were feasting and revelling wine and strong old ale were foaming in the glasses and jugs the favourite dogs ate with their masters now and then the squires kissed one of these animals after having wiped its mouth first with the table-cloth they ordered the pedlar to come up but only to make fun of him the wine had got into their heads and reason had left them they poured beer into a stocking that he could drink with them but quick that's what they called fun and it made them laugh then meadows peasants and farmyards were staked on one card and lost everything in the right place the peddler said when he had at last safely got out of sodom and gomorrah as he called it the open high road is my right place up there i did not feel at ease the little maid who was still watching the geese nodded kindly to him as he passed through the gate days and weeks passed and it was seen that the broken willow branch which the peddler had stuck into the ground near the ditch remained fresh and green nay it even put forth fresh twigs the little goose girl saw that the branch had taken root and was very pleased the tree so she said was now her tree while the tree was advancing everything else at the castle was going backward through feasting and gambling for these are two rollers upon which nobody stands safely less than six years afterwards the baron passed out of his little castle gate a poor beggar while the baronial seat had been bought by a rich tradesman he was the very pedlar they had made fun of and poured beer into a stocking for him to drink but honesty and industry bring one forward and now the pedlar was the possessor of the baronial estate from that time forward no card-playing was permitted there that's a bad pastime he said when the devil saw the bible for the first time he wanted to produce a caricature in opposition to it and invented card-playing The new proprietor of the estate took a wife, and whom did he take? The little goose-girl, who had always remained good and kind, and who looked as beautiful in her new clothes as if she had been a lady of high birth.

And how did all this come about? That would be too long a tale to tell in our busy time, but it really happened, and the most important events have yet to be told.' it was pleasant and cheerful to live in the old place now the mother superintended the household and the father looked after things out of doors and they were indeed very prosperous where honesty leads the way prosperity is sure to follow the old mansion was repaired and painted the ditches were cleaned and fruit trees planted all was homely and pleasant and the floors were as white and shining as a pasteboard in the long winter evenings the mistress and her maids sat at the spinning-wheel in the large hall every sunday the counsellor this title the pedlar had obtained although only in his old days read aloud a portion from the bible the children for they had children all received the best education but they were not all equally clever as is the case in all families in the meantime the willow tree near the drawbridge had grown up into a splendid tree and stood there free and was never clipped it is our genealogical tree said the old people to their children and therefore it must be honored a hundred years had elapsed it was in our own days the lake had been transformed into marshland the whole baronial seed had as it were disappeared a pool of water near some ruined walls was the only reminder of the deep ditches and here stood a magnificent old tree with overhanging branches that was the genealogical tree here it stood and showed how beautiful a willow can look if one does not interfere with it the trunk it is true was cleft in the middle from the root to the crown the storms had bent it a little but it still stood there and out of every crevice and cleft in which wind and weather had carried mould blades of grass and flowers sprang forth especially above where the large boughs parted there was quite a hanging garden in which wild raspberries and hart's-tongue ferns throve and even a little mistletoe had taken root and grew gracefully in the old willow branches which were reflected in the dark water beneath when the wind blew the chickweed into the corner of the pool a footpath which led across the fields passed close by the old tree high up on the woody hillside stood the new mansion it had a splendid view and was large and magnificent its window-panes were so clear that one might have thought there were none there at all the large flight of steps which led to the entrance looked like a bower covered with roses and broad-leaved plants the lawn was as green as if each blade of grass was cleaned separately morning and evening inside in the hall valuable oil paintings were hanging on the walls here stood chairs and sofas covered with silk and velvet which could be easily rolled out on casters there were tables with polished marble tops and books bound in morocco with gilt edges

This is Matt Rogers from Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang.

This is Bowen Yang from Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang.

But what I never knew was that the willow tree gave us aspirin, which is an enormous contribution to modern lives and modern medicine, isn't it?

That's right.

So the name of the willow, the genus is Salix, and that's where we get salicylic acid, and that's where aspirin is derived.

There's a little bit of sort of myth and legend around how it maybe came about, but it has been known to, you know, people have chewed on the bark and sort of sought relief from headaches and other feelings.

fever and other ailments like that from it.

But Will Ospreay clean sweep for us.

The next match on the card, the second best-built feud on this card, the AEW Women's World Championship, Willow Nightingale, versus, Long Island's own Willow Nightingale versus Mercedes Moné.

Coming back from a hiatus and dropping all of her titles to try to get, for the second year in a row, the one title that she has yet to get against the person that always seems to get in her way.

Again, it's an easy story to tell, and they've done it perfectly.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But it's a little too obvious, 'cause Willow's a huge star.

She is.

Yes.

Salix.

Yeah.

Yeah, salix.

Translated by H. P. Paul.

everything in the right place it is more than a hundred years ago at the border of the wood near a large lake stood an old mansion deep ditches surrounded it on every side in which reeds and bulrushes grew close by the drawbridge near the gate there was an old willow tree which bent over the reeds from the narrow pass came the sound of bugles and the tramping of horses feet therefore a little girl who was watching the geese hastened to drive them away from the bridge before the whole hunting party came galloping up they came however so quickly that the girl in order to avoid being run over placed herself on one of the high corner stones of the bridge she was still half a child and very delicately built she had bright blue eyes and a gentle sweet expression but such things the baron did not notice while he was riding past the little goose girl he reversed his hunting crop and in rough play gave her such a push with it that she fell backward into the ditch Everything in the right place, he cried, into the ditch with you.

Then he burst out laughing, for that he called fun.

The others joined in, the whole party shouted and cried, while the hounds barked.

while the poor girl was falling she happily caught one of the branches of the willow tree by the help of which she held herself over the water and as soon as the baron with his company and the dogs had disappeared through the gate the girl endeavored to scramble up but the branch broke off and she would have fallen backward among the rushes had not a strong hand from above seized her at this moment it was the hand of a pedlar he had witnessed what had happened from a short distance and now hastened to assist her everything in the right place he said imitating the noble baron and pulling the little maid up to the dry ground he wished to put the branch back in the place it had been broken off but it is not possible to put everything in the right place therefore he stuck the branch into the soft ground grow and thrive if you can and produce a good flute for them yonder in the mansion he said it would have given him a great pleasure to see the noble baron and his companions well thrashed then he entered the castle but not the banqueting hall he was too humble for that no he went to the servants hall the men servants and maids looked over his stock of articles and bargained with him loud crying and screaming were heard from the master's table above they called it singing indeed they did their best laughter and the howls of dogs were heard through the open windows there they were feasting and revelling wine and strong old ale were foaming in the glasses and jugs the favourite dogs ate with their masters now and then the squires kissed one of these animals after having wiped its mouth first with the table-cloth they ordered the pedlar to come up but only to make fun of him the wine had got into their heads and reason had left them they poured beer into a stocking that he could drink with them but quick that's what they called fun and it made them laugh then meadows peasants and farmyards were staked on one card and lost everything in the right place the peddler said when he had at last safely got out of sodom and gomorrah as he called it the open high road is my right place up there i did not feel at ease the little maid who was still watching the geese nodded kindly to him as he passed through the gate days and weeks passed and it was seen that the broken willow branch which the peddler had stuck into the ground near the ditch remained fresh and green nay it even put forth fresh twigs the little goose girl saw that the branch had taken root and was very pleased the tree so she said was now her tree while the tree was advancing everything else at the castle was going backward through feasting and gambling for these are two rollers upon which nobody stands safely less than six years afterwards the baron passed out of his little castle gate a poor beggar while the baronial seat had been bought by a rich tradesman he was the very pedlar they had made fun of and poured beer into a stocking for him to drink but honesty and industry bring one forward and now the pedlar was the possessor of the baronial estate from that time forward no card-playing was permitted there that's a bad pastime he said when the devil saw the bible for the first time he wanted to produce a caricature in opposition to it and invented card-playing The new proprietor of the estate took a wife, and whom did he take? The little goose girl, who had always remained good and kind, and who looked as beautiful in her new clothes as if she had been a lady of high birth.

And how did all this come about? That would be too long a tale to tell in our busy time, but it really happened, and the most important events have yet to be told.

it was pleasant and cheerful to live in the old place now the mother superintended the household and the father looked after things out of doors and they were indeed very prosperous where honesty leads the way prosperity is sure to follow the old mansion was repaired and painted the ditches were cleaned and fruit trees planted all was homely and pleasant and the floors were as white and shining as a pasteboard in the long winter evenings the mistress and her maids sat at the spinning-wheel in the large hall every sunday the counsellor this title the pedlar had obtained although only in his old days read aloud a portion from the bible the children for they had children all received the best education but they were not all equally clever as is the case in all families in the meantime the willow tree near the drawbridge had grown up into a splendid tree and stood there free and was never clipped it is our genealogical tree said the old people to their children and therefore it must be honored a hundred years had elapsed it was in our own days the lake had been transformed into marshland the whole baronial seed had as it were disappeared a pool of water near some ruined walls was the only reminder of the deep ditches and here stood a magnificent old tree with overhanging branches that was the genealogical tree here it stood and showed how beautiful a willow can look if one does not interfere with it the trunk it is true was cleft in the middle from the root to the crown the storms had bent it a little but it still stood there and out of every crevice and cleft in which wind and weather had carried mould blades of grass and flowers sprang forth especially above where the large boughs parted there was quite a hanging garden in which wild raspberries and hart's-tongue ferns throve and even a little mistletoe had taken root and grew gracefully in the old willow branches which were reflected in the dark water beneath when the wind blew the chickweed into the corner of the pool a footpath which led across the fields passed close by the old tree high up on the woody hillside stood the new mansion it had a splendid view and was large and magnificent its window-panes were so clear that one might have thought there were none there at all the large flight of steps which led to the entrance looked like a bower covered with roses and broad-leaved plants the lawn was as green as if each blade of grass was cleaned separately morning and evening inside in the hall valuable oil paintings were hanging on the walls here stood chairs and sofas covered with silk and velvet which could be easily rolled out on casters there were tables with polished marble tops and books bound in morocco with gilt edges

Tyler Reddick here from 2311 Racing.

... and see if you can, you can respond.

The Salix, the weeping willow.

I mean, that is aspirin.

That's how we got aspirin, and, um, a fantastic tree, an enormous, amazing, beautiful tree that stabilizes the soil, that grows in a lot of, like, soggy areas that, you know, now in Australia, we would consider it a bit of a pest, but still remarkable nonetheless.