A Leaf from Heaven by Hans Christian Andersen. Short summary

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A paradise flower appeared in the forest, but other plants didn’t want to know it. People shunned it until it turned out to be medicinal.

1 minute

An angel flew across the sky with a flower in his hands. A petal fell to the ground and sprouted. But other plants didn’t want to know the «offspring of a different breed.» Nettles and thistles were especially vicious. They wanted to smother the paradise plant.

The professor couldn’t find a description of this specimen in the species classification and called it a mongrel.

Only the girl saw beauty in a plant unlike anything else. She did not dare to pick the flower and only took a leaf. But she died. The plant also died: a pig farmer had uprooted it for firewood.

The king of that country was depressed. The overseas doctor said that only compresses of the leaves of the paradise plant could cure the monarch. He described the flower in detail. Everyone rushed to look for it.

The professor wrote a scientific work about it — and enriched himself. The king visited the place where the plant grew, ordered a fence to be put on it and a guard of honor.

But isn’t that what society does to geniuses?