“A sigh, did you say?”

“Yes, a low sweet sound resembling a sigh.  The flower is white—­’living white’—­that is to say, white shot with many colours like the opal.  We call it the Sun Lily, or ‘Flower of the Soul.’”

“Why ‘Flower of the Soul?’”

“Because we say it has the infinite and ever-changing beauty of the soul.  It is an emblem of Love, and its manifestations—­beauty, genius, holiness.  In particular it signifies the birth or awakening of love in the human soul.  As the plant may be said to exist for the flower, its chief glory, so the man attains his perfection through love, which confers a boundless and immortal worth upon his life.  As the root takes from the soil and the flower brings forth the fruit, so hate feeds upon the ill, and love dies for the good of others.  It also represents the human race, for man, and especially woman, may be regarded as the flower of this lower world.  Moreover, the entire plant, root, stem, and flower, is symbolical of all creation, and some of our poets have named it the ‘Lily of Life.’  For as the plant begins in the black earth to end in the sunny ether, so the world, the universe, begins in chaos and darkness, to end in light and order; begins in matter and force, to end in life and spirit—­begins in hate and selfishness, to end in love and self-sacrifice—­begins in ugliness, to end in beauty.  Thus the flower and root stand for the upper and lower limits or poles of nature, and the stalk which joins them for the upward range or path of creation.  It is a beautiful stem, curving in opposite ways like a serpent, or the side of a wave; in fact, it is the most beautiful curve we know—­it runs like this.”

Here Otare described a flamboyant curve in the air with his finger.

“If I’m not mistaken it is what our artists call the ‘line of beauty,’” observed Gazen.

“Oh, indeed!” responded Otare, with pleased surprise.  “Well, with us it is a symbol of the continuous unfolding of things; the graceful progress of development.”

“So the path of evolution is the ‘line of beauty,’” said the professor.

“Apparently,” rejoined Otare, “and as the ends of the curve point oppositely, we say that a thing has not reached its final stage—­that its development is not complete—­until it has turned to its opposite.  Thus man is not a finished being until hate and selfishness have turned to love and self-sacrifice.  The flower of the soul is love, and as the sun is an emblem of the divine love, when the sacred lily opens and displays all its beauty in the sunshine, it means to us that the flower of the soul blooms in the smile of ‘The Giver.’”

“I see,” said the professor; “and what is done with the flower?”

“It is an offering,” replied Otare, “and after the Priestess of the Lily, or Priestess of the Sun, as we call her, has shown it to the people it will be treasured in the temple, and will never fade.”