A Complete Analysis of the Flower Language and Legends of the Clover
The clover (the four-leaf clover is a rare variant of the clover) is a general term for many kinds of herbaceous plants that have trifoliate palmate compound leaves. It is also known as white clover, Dutch clover, June snow, and so on. The club symbol in playing cards represents the lucky clover. Clovers with different numbers of leaves have different flower languages. Let us take a look at the flower language and legends of the clover below!
The Flower Language of the Clover
A clover with one leaf represents a plea in its flower language, a clover with two leaves represents hope, a clover with three leaves represents love, and a four-leaf clover represents happiness and sincere love.
Clover Legend One
Once upon a time there was a pair of lovers. They truly loved each other and lived together in a very beautiful peach grove. But because of a very small matter, they quarreled and neither was willing to give in. Finally one day, the goddess of love could not bear it anymore. She floated down to the peach grove where they lived and quietly told them a lie, telling them that each of them would face disaster, and that only by finding that clover in the deepest part of the peach grove could they be saved. After hearing this, they pretended to be completely indifferent, but in their hearts they still worried about each other. That night it rained, a heavy rainstorm, but they still secretly went to the deepest part of the peach grove to look for the clover for each other. When they learned how much the other cared about them, they were both deeply moved and decided to let the clover witness their love. The goddess of love smiled. This was a joke she had played, because she did not want happiness to come too easily. Only people who care for each other and cherish each other deserve to have happiness.
Clover Legend Two
In a place no one knew about, there was a fairyland-like place, a place that had never been polluted. The sky was crystal clear, as if with one glance you could see the smile of an angel at the edge of the sky. The wind carried the strange fragrance of nature, and the sunlight left this place with traces like bits of gold. A large patch of clovers quietly looked up at the sky, basked in the sun, and swayed with the wind. Everything was quiet. Until a night when a shooting star streaked by, a simple and innocent clover made a wish, hoping that someone could accompany me to taste the flavor of sunshine, fantasize, listen to the stars tell stories, and be my friend.
After making the wish, the clover repeated it again and again in her heart every day. One day an angel entered the clover's dream and asked her seriously, “Do you really want someone to accompany you? Will you cherish him well? Will you not grow tired of him? Will you understand him?” The clover answered just as seriously, “Yes, just a friend, a friend who can accompany me. Of course I will cherish him well. I will not grow tired. I promise. And when he has to leave me, I will bless him and thank him for fulfilling my wish!” The angel said with comfort, “Good, I promise you! But you must remember your own promise!”
The next day, a boy came and built a small wooden hut on the field. He was a kind boy with a crystal-like heart and extraordinary artistic talent. He liked to sit beside that clover, play the flute, sketch, and talk to himself. The clover looked at his clear eyes with a touch of melancholy and wanted to speak to him, but she could not make a sound. She was disappointed and realized how ridiculous her wish was! Still, she thought, being able to look at him was also a kind of luck. At least someone was accompanying me, right? Every day the clover silently watched the boy. In her dreams there was always the figure of her friend. Every morning there were sparkling dewdrops hanging on her leaves. They were not dew, but tears of happiness.
Perhaps the clover's devotion moved the angel, because the boy noticed this little clover and began to talk to her, telling her about his dreams, plans, and worries, painting many pictures for her——a clover embraced by sunlight, playing self-composed melodies for her, and accompanying her to watch the sunrise and sunset, the moonlight and stars. Happy days went on like this, plainly and joyfully.
A few years later, the boy had grown up. He said to the clover, “Lovely clover, I have grown up now, and I am going back to the city. But do not worry, in two years I will still come back to see you! Goodbye, my friend!” The clover said in her heart, “Goodbye, my friend. You will surely succeed!” During those two years, the clover prayed for the boy every moment. When fierce winds and storms tortured the clover so much that she was in unbearable pain, as long as she thought of her friend, she would smile sweetly. She always said to herself, “He gave me the purest friendship of all!”
The boy came back as promised, but he could no longer accompany the clover. He said to her, “Friend, you will bless me, right? I have found my lover!” As he spoke, he took out a portrait. In the painting, a lovely girl was running through the clover, very beautiful. “I am leaving. Goodbye. I will always, always thank you for your company!” For the first time the clover truly felt unwilling to part. How she wished she could also say goodbye to the boy! She used all the strength in her body and shouted, “Goodbye! You gave me the purest friendship! Thank you!” She really made a sound! And it was so pleasant! The boy was not surprised. He said calmly, “I always knew you had a soul, lovely clover. Thank you too!”
The clover thought, he gave me so much happiness, and I want to repay him too! Thinking this way, she heard the angel's voice, “If you grow one more leaf, you can give him happiness. But it will hurt very much. Are you willing?” “I am willing!” said the voice without hesitation.
The clover endured a tearing pain and grew a fourth leaf, and the boy also gained happiness. So afterward, the four-leaf clover became a symbol of happiness.