123 | a tree Was Planted When a Child Was Born and the other, and this may be seen from the many legends which tell how trees shed drops of blood, groan, speak, or become withered on the death of persons of whom they were the symbolic representatives . In connection with this there still exists a kind of half - superstitious custom with a poetic strain in it . Many families in Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, and other countries retain the custom of planting a young tree for good luck when a child, particularly an heir, is born . this tree grows with the child, and as its destiny is to increase and to multiply itself, so a similar destiny is desired for the child . this symbolic tree is most carefully tended, but should the tree perish from any cause it is considered that the life of the being it represents is in the utmost jeopardy . a Poplar tree was planted at the birth of Virgil . In many of the islands of the Pacific Ocean, at the birth of a child a Cocoanut palm is planted,...
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