the most beautiful little bidding

In German, bitten means to ask. Ich bitte, du bittest, er bitt.
And bitt/biet evolved into bid. Ah, the musical things we learn at Midd...

Send Me A Leaf, by Bertolt Brecht, three times so you won't forget it

Send me a leaf, but from a bush
That grows at least one half hour
Away from your house, then
You must go and will be strong, and I
Thank you for the pretty leaf.

Next, the version scrawled by my (once) S:
Send me a leaf, but from a little tree
That grows no nearer your house

Than half an hour away. For then
You will have to walk, you will get strong
and I
shall thank you for the pretty leaf.

(I like this translation much, much better. Seems to be more solicitous a love)

And of course, auf Deutsch (the language that further distances pre-Middlebury loved ones):
Schicke mir ein Blatt, doch von einem Strauche

Der nicht näher als eine halbe Stunde
Von deinem Haus wächst, dann
Musst du gehen und wirst stark, und ich
bedanke mich für das hübsche Blatt.

P.S. Heidegger and Arendt. A love story, a friendship story:
http://www.jstor.org/stable/27569287?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents