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THE EMPEROR'S WILLOW
The English were disturbed to learn that the Versailles willow, the last remaining descendant in France of the one that shaded Napoleon's tomb on Saint Helena, had died without leaving any offspring. However, it appears that several authentic offshoots of this historic tree still exist across the Channel, grown from cuttings brought back from the funereal island. A major British daily newspaper has just thought it would be a friendly gesture toward France to send cuttings from these willows to Versailles, and several people, responding to its appeal, have written to report the existence of some of these trees. One reader, who even owns two, declares that he will be delighted to offer the offshoots, in which the sap of the Emperor's willow still flows, for the prefecture garden. So that the rather curious thing will happen: England itself will graciously return to us the relics of its enemy, better preserved by it than by us, and that we can hope to see this sacred willow, whose leaves are scattered throughout the universe, grow green again, as Victor Hugo quite rightly said.
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