The Winged Flower

 A GAILY-TINTED little flower once lived in the corner of a field. No other flowers grew near, and she often felt sad and lonely. But one day a beautiful butterfly hovered¹ over her head and began to talk to her. Presently² he alighted upon one of her leaves, and gazed³ admiringly into her sweet face. The flower felt very happy, and said: “How good it is of you to stop here and talk to me!”

 

“I must be going soon,” replied the butterfly. “How I wish that you could fly away with me! You have no idea how delightful⁴ it is to flit about in the air!”

 

“It must indeed be nice!” replied the little flower. “But I cannot fly, for, as you see, I have no wings, and besides, my stalk⁵ holds me fast to the ground. So I have to stay always in one place. I must just make the best of it,” added she, trying to be brave, although her heart ached at the thought of parting with her winged friend.

 

Then a kind little Fairy popped up out of the grass, and said: “I have been listening to your talk. If you, fair flower, would indeed like to fly away with your friend, I will give you a pair of wings like mine.”

 

Then the Fairy touched the flower with her wand, and she sprang from her stalk, with two gauze-like wings to bear her up. She looked now something like the butterfly, only even more beautiful. The two friends flew away together over the fields, and the Fairy returned to Fairyland, feeling very happy because she had been able to please the little flower.

 

E. Dyke⁶.

1 hovered   

鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫

参考例句：

• A hawk hovered over the hill. 一只鹰在小山的上空翱翔。
• A hawk hovered in the blue sky. 一只老鹰在蓝色的天空中翱翔。

2 presently   

adv.不久，一会儿；现在，目前

参考例句：

• I'll go to see your uncle presently.我一会儿就去看望你叔叔。
• He is presently living in New York.他目前住在纽约。

3 gazed   

v.凝视，注视( gaze的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He gazed at her with pure adoration. 他一往情深地注视着她。
• She gazed at him in amazement. 她惊异地注视着他。

4 delightful   

adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的

参考例句：

• We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。
• Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。

5 stalk   

n.茎，追踪，高视阔步；v.悄悄靠近，蔓延，高视阔步

参考例句：

• It's no better than a hollow stalk.那比根空麦秆子好不了多少。
• It was not a stalk，it was an ambush.这不是暗暗跟踪而是伏袭。

6 dyke   

n.堤，水坝，排水沟

参考例句：

• If one sheep leap over the dyke,all the rest will follow.一只羊跳过沟，其余的羊也跟着跳。
• One ant-hole may cause the collapse of a thousand-li dyke.千里长堤，溃于蚁穴。