Chapter I. Mr. and Mrs. Buttercup, Their Home and Families.

Little 5-year-old Bobby sat playing in the sand pile one lovely afternoon in May, and, judging by the glimpses his mother had of him through the open door of their cottage, his mind was to all appearances intent on making a sand fish perfect. For in and out the damp sand was thrown from the pile to the fish mold many times, until at last being perfect, at least to his satisfaction, he got up and ran to find his mother, who was busy within the small two-room shack¹ where they were living for the summer.

He caught hold of her apron² to attract her attention, and said: “Mother, where did I come from?”

Needless to say, his mother was greatly surprised at this question, just at that time, for she had not the faintest idea that his thoughts were on anything but the perfection of that sand fish. However, she quickly recovered from her surprise and taking his little face between her hands, said:

8“Bobby, dear, that is the most wonderful secret in all the world, and if you are quite sure you can keep this secret and only talk about it to father and mother, I’ll tell you all about it.”

The curly head bobbed up and down in answer to this and as his eyes grew big and bright, he answered:

“Do tell me the secret mother, I’ll never tell.”

Then she said: “Let me ask you a question, dear. Do you know where the baby flowers come from? Or the baby birds or chickens or all the baby creatures in the world?”

“No, no,” he answered simply, but excitedly.

Then she told him that as soon as the dishes were put away, she would take him for a walk in the woods where the baby flowers come from, where the mother kept them when they were baby seeds and also tell him how the father and mother flower gave life to the little baby seeds, which afterward³ grew into the lovely flowers we see all about us. She would show him that he was once a little seed like the flower seed and kept in a soft little nest in the same way.

Bobby’s mother now regretted that she had not begun earlier to tell this story of the flower to Bobby. For she realized that had she done this then, now when he had reached the stage of 9development where he was curious about his own being, she could at once have taken up the story of his own creation, and, of course, referred back to the story of the creation of the lower species. This would have simplified matters greatly. However, she decided⁴ it could never be too late and the easiest and quickest way even now, was to begin with the flowers.

It now occurred to Bobby’s mother that to teach her child alone the truths of Nature would be a most fruitless task; for in playing with his companions, they would undo⁵ all her work unless they, too, were taught the truths, and in the same way.

She consequently set about gathering⁶ in the children of the neighborhood with whom Bobby played. She explained to the mothers what she was about to do. Most of them strongly objected to their boys learning these things which they considered of interest only to grown-ups. But five of the mothers consented, and seemed delighted to have their children taught the truths in this most beautiful and interesting manner.

Accordingly, she took five little children, together with her own, ranging in ages from five to six and one-half years, and started in the woods to hunt for the common wild flowers. Soon they were scrambling⁷ over boulders⁸ and 10fallen trees in search of mountain pinks, violets, buttercups, anemones⁹, etc., calling and shouting to each other at each new find, their faces bright and happy with the glow of health. It was a picture never to be forgotten; and as they gathered around Bobby’s mother, who was seated on a moss¹⁰ covered, fallen tree, they received their first lesson.

As the buttercup was a little early—those on this particular outing being the first ones found of the season—they naturally made it the most popular flower; and so it became logically the first family to be studied.

They were told that the whole buttercup, as they held it, was the Buttercup House, whose color was yellow, and that inside the house, within the petals¹¹, was the Buttercup Family.

“Is there a father?” asked one; “and a mother?” asked another.

“Yes, indeed; there must be a father and mother if there are to be any seeds,” was the reply.

Then they were told that all forms of plant life have but one object and that object is to reproduce their kind—“to make more flowers.”

They were told that the flowers have reproductive organs—“parts that make more flowers”—called pistils and stamens.
11

A complete flower: st, stamen; pi, pistil; pe, petal¹²; s, sepal; ca, calyx; c, sorolia. After Bergen.
12

Pistil. sti, stigma¹³; sty, style; ov, ovule. After Bergen.

The pistils were called the “mothers” because at the bottom of the thin tube are the 13ovules or seeds. The pistils were examined carefully and the very top or stigma was found to be very sticky. “Why?” asked the children. But they were told they must wait and find out about the father before they found out why this part of the mother was sticky.

Now attention was again called to the seeds lying within the pistil of mother, and the fact that they were not developed yet. “Why?” Again we must wait to learn something about the father.

Now we come to the stamen, or “father.” This is a slender thread-like fibre which has at its ends a little case or sac which contains a very fine powder-like substance, called the pollen¹⁴.

In most of the flowers there are several stamens and one pistil; but in the buttercup there were several of each—so that the Buttercup House contained several families, the children were told.

Now to come back to the fathers, or stamens, and the tiny sacs containing the pollen. This pollen is a very important part of the growing of all flowers. The children were asked to name some of the flowers which they knew that had this powder on them. Answer came in the name of golden rod, wild rose, cherry blossom and many others.

Now it was explained that this pollen from the stamen, or father, must get into the pistil 14or mother, and reach the ovules or seeds, or the seeds cannot grow and develop into new plants. This union of the pollen with the ovules we called “mating” or “to mate.” And as this process of developing the seeds is the one object of plant life, we shall see how they go about accomplishing this object.

1 shack   

adj.简陋的小屋，窝棚

参考例句：

• He had to sit down five times before he reached his shack.在走到他的茅棚以前，他不得不坐在地上歇了五次。
• The boys made a shack out of the old boards in the backyard.男孩们在后院用旧木板盖起一间小木屋。

2 apron   

n.围裙；工作裙

参考例句：

• We were waited on by a pretty girl in a pink apron.招待我们的是一位穿粉红色围裙的漂亮姑娘。
• She stitched a pocket on the new apron.她在新围裙上缝上一只口袋。

3 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 undo   

vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销

参考例句：

• His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。
• I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。

6 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

7 scrambling   

v.快速爬行( scramble的现在分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞

参考例句：

• Scrambling up her hair, she darted out of the house. 她匆忙扎起头发，冲出房去。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She is scrambling eggs. 她正在炒蛋。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 boulders   

n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 )；巨砾；（受水或天气侵蚀而成的）巨石；漂砾

参考例句：

• Seals basked on boulders in a flat calm. 海面风平浪静，海豹在巨石上晒太阳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The river takes a headlong plunge into a maelstrom of rocks and boulders. 河水急流而下，入一个漂砾的漩涡中。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 anemones   

n.银莲花( anemone的名词复数 )；海葵

参考例句：

• With its powerful tentacles, it tries to prise the anemones off. 它想用强壮的触角截获海葵。 来自互联网
• Density, scale, thickness are still influencing the anemones shape. 密度、大小、厚度是受最原始的那股海葵的影响。 来自互联网

10 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

11 petals   

n.花瓣( petal的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• white petals tinged with blue 略带蓝色的白花瓣
• The petals of many flowers expand in the sunshine. 许多花瓣在阳光下开放。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

12 petal   

n.花瓣

参考例句：

• Each white petal had a stripe of red.每一片白色的花瓣上都有一条红色的条纹。
• A petal fluttered to the ground.一片花瓣飘落到地上。

13 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

14 pollen   

n.[植]花粉

参考例句：

• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。
• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。