Mr. Flowers

There was once a man who spent all his spare time in one of his four glass-houses. Flowers was his name, and flowers were his main joy in life. He grew flowers of every color under the sun, with names as long and difficult as those of the rulers of ancient Rome. He grew these flowers in order to enter them for competitions. His one ambition in life was to grow a rose of an entirely new color that would win him the silver cup for the Rose of the Year. Mr. Flowers' glasshouses were very close to a public path. This path was always used by children and young people walking to and from school. Boys around thirteen years of age, in particular, were often tempted to throw a stone or two at one of Mr. Flowers' glass-houses. They managed to resist the temptation when Mr. Flowers was about, but the temptation often proved to be too strong, when Mr. Flowers was nowhere to be seen. For this reason, Mr. Flowers did his best to be in or close by his glass-houses at the beginning and end of the school day. However, it was not always convenient or possible to be on guard at these times. Mr. Flowers had tried in many ways to prevent damage to his glass; but nothing that he had done had been successful. He had been to the school to complain to the Headmaster; but this had not done any good. He had hidden in the bushes and chased boys that threw stones into his garden; but the boys could run faster than he could, and they laughed at him from a distance. He had even walked along the path and picked up all the loose stones that he could find, so that the boys would have nothing to throw; but they soon found others, or threw lumps of earth instead. Then, just as he was giving up hope of ever winning the battle, and of growing the Rose of the Year, he had a truly marvelous idea. He put up a large notice made of good, strong wood, some meters away from the glass-houses where it could be clearly seen from the path. He had painted on the board the words: DO NOT THROW STONES AT THIS NOTICE. After this, Mr. Flowers had no further trouble: the boys were much more tempted to throw stones at the notice than at the glass-houses.