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LITTLE IDA'S FLOWERS
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“MY poor flowers are quite dead ! ” said little Ida. “They were so pretty yesterday evening, and now all the leaves hang withered1 . Why do they do that?” she asked the student, who sat on the sofa; for she liked him very much. He knew the prettiest stories, and could cut out the most amusing pictures ---- hearts, with little ladies in them who danced , flowers , and great castles in which one could open the doors : he was a merry student . “Why do the flowers look so faded today?” she asked again, and showed him a whole bouquet3 , which was quite withered .

“Do you know what's the matter with them?” said the student . “The flowers have been at a ball last night , and that' s why they hang their heads . ”

“But flowers cannot dance ! ” cried little Ida.

“Oh, yes,” said the student, “when it grows dark, and we are asleep, they jump about merrily. Almost every night they have a ball .”

“Can no children go to this ball?”

“Yes,” said the student, “quite little daisies, and lilies of the valley . ”

“Where do the most beautiful flowers dance?” asked little Ida.

“Have you not often been outside the town-gate, by the great castle, where the king lives in summer, and where the beautiful garden is, with all the flowers? You have seen the swans, which swim up to you when you want to give them bread crumbs4? There are capital balls there, believe me.”

“I was out there in the garden yesterday, with my mother,” said Ida ; “but all the leaves were off the trees, and there was not one flower left . Where are they? In the summer I saw so many .”

“They are within, in the castle,” replied the student. “You must know, as soon as the king and all the court go to town, the flowers run out of the garden into the castle , and are merry. You should see that . The two most beautiful roses seat themselves on the throne , and then they are king and queen; all the red coxcombs range themselves on either side, and stand and bow; they are the chamberlains . Then all the pretty flowers come , and there is a great ball. The blue violets represent little naval5 cadets: they dance with hyacinths and crocuses, which they call young ladies; the tulips and the great tiger-lilies are old ladies who keep watch that the dancing is well done , and that everything goes on with propriety6 .”

“But , ” asked little Ida , “does nobody do anything to the flowers , for dancing in the king' s castle?”

“There is nobody who really knows about it , ” answered the student . “ Sometimes , certainly , the old steward7 of the castle comes at night, and he has to watch there. He has a great bunch of keys with him; but as soon as the flowers hear the keys rattle8 they are quite quiet, hide behind the long curtains, and only poke9 their heads out. Then the old steward says, “I smell that there are flowers here , ” but he cannot see them .

“That is famous !” cried little Ida , clapping her hands . “But should not I be able to see the flowers?”

“Yes,” said the student; “only remember, when you go out again, to peep through the window; then you will see them. That is what I did today. There was a long yellow lily lying on the sofa and stretching herself . She imagined herself to be a court lady . ”

“Can the flowers out of the Botanical Garden get there? Can they go the long distance?”

“Yes, certainly,”replied the student; “if they like they can fly. Have you not seen the beautiful butterflies, red, yellow, and white? They almost look like flowers; and that is what they have been. They have flown off their stalks high into the air, and have beaten it with their leaves, as if these leaves were little wings, and thus they flew. And because they behaved themselves well, they got leave to fly about in the daytime too, and were not obliged to go home again and to sit still upon their stalks; and thus at last the leaves became real wings. That you have seen yourself. It may be, however, that the flowers in the Botanical Garden have never been in the king's castle, or that they don't know of the merry proceedings10 there at night . Therefore I will tell you something : he will be very much surprised, the botanical professor, who lives close by here . You know him, do you not? When you come into his garden, you must tell one of the flowers that there is a great ball yonder in the castle. Then that flower will tell it to all the rest , and then they will fly away : if the professor then comes out into the garden, there will not be a single flower left , and he won't be able to make out , where they are gone . ”

“But how can one flower tell it to another? For, you know , flowers cannot speak . ”

“That they cannot , certainly , ” replied the student ; “but then they make signs . Have you not noticed that when the wind blows a little, the flowers nod at one another, and move all their green leaves? They can understand that just as well as if they talked . ”

“Can the professor understand these signs?” asked Ida.

“Yes , certainly . He came one morning into his garden, and saw a great stinging-nettle standing11 there, and making signs to a beautiful red carnation12 with its leaves . It was saying , ‘You are so pretty , and I love you so much . ’ But the professor does not like that kind of thing, and he directly slapped the stinging-nettle upon its leaves, for those are its fingers; but he stung himself, and since that time he has not dared to touch a stinging-nettle . ”

“That was funny,” cried little Ida ; and she laughed.

“How can any one put such notions into a child's head?” said the tiresome13 privy14 councillor, who had come to pay a visit, and was sitting on the sofa. He did not like the student , and always grumbled15 when he saw him cutting out the comical funny pictures ---- sometimes a man hanging on a gibbet and holding a heart in hishand , to show that he stole hearts; sometimes an old witch riding on a broom, and carrying her husband on her nose . The councillor could not bear this, and then he said, just as he did now, “How can any one put such notions into a child's head? Those are stupid fancies!”

But to little Ida , what the student told about her flowers seemed very entertaining; and she thought much about it. The flowers hung their heads, for they were tired because they had danced all night; they were certainly ill. Then she went with them to all her other toys, which stood on a pretty little table, and the whole drawer was full of beautiful things . In the doll's bed lay her doll Sophy , asleep; but little Ida said to her,

“You must really get up, Sophy, and manage to lie in the drawer for tonight. The poor flowers are ill, and they, must lie in your bed; perhaps they will then get well again . ”

And she at once took the doll out ; but the doll looked cross, and did not say a single word; for she was angry because she could not keep her own bed.

Then Ida laid the flowers in the doll's bed, pulled the little coverlet quite up over them, and said they were to lie still and be good, and she would make them some tea, so that they might get well again, and be able to get up tomorrow . And she drew the curtains closely round the little bed , so that the sun should not shine in their eyes .

The whole evening through she could not help thinking of what the student had told her. And when she was going to bed herself, she was obliged first to look behind the curtain which hung before the windows where her mother's beautiful flowers stood ---- hyacinths as well as tulips; then she whispered quite softly , “I know you' re going to the ball tonight!” But the flowers made as if they did not understand a word, and did not stir a leaf; but still little Ida knew what she knew .

When she was in bed she lay for a long time thinking how pretty it must be to see the beautiful flowers dancing out in the king' s castle . “I wonder if my flowers have really been there?” And then she fell asleep . In the night she awoke again : she had dreamed of the flowers , and of the student with whom the councillor found fault . It was quite quiet in the bedroom where Ida lay; the night-lamp burned on the table , and father and mother were asleep .

“I wonder if my flowers are still lying in Sophy' s bed?” she thought to herself. “How I should like to know it!” She raised herself a little, and looked at the door, which stood ajar; within lay the flowers and all her playthings. She listened, and then it seemed to her as if she heard some one playing on the piano in the next room, but quite softly and prettily16, as she had never heard it before.

“Now all the flowers are certainly dancing in there !” thought she . “Oh , how much I should like to see it !” But she dared not get up, for she would have disturbed her father and mother.

“If they would only come in !” thought she . But the flowers did not come, and the music continued to play beautifully; then she could not bear it any longer, for it was too pretty ; she crept out of her little bed , and went quietly to the door, and looked into the room. Oh, how splendid it was , what she saw!

There was no night-lamp burning, but still it was quite light : the moon shone through the window into the middle of the floor; it was almost like day . All the hyacinths and tulips stood in two long rows on the floor; there were none at all left at the window . There stood the empty flower-pots . On the floor all the flowers were dancing very gracefully17 round each other, making a perfect chain, and holding each other by the long green leaves as they swung round. But at the piano sat a great yellow lily, which little Ida had certainly seen in summer, for she remembered how the student had said, “How like that one is to Miss Lina .” Then he had been laughed at by all ; but now it seemed really to little Ida as if the long, yellow flower looked like the young lady; and it had just her manners in playing ---- sometimes bending its long yellow face to one side, sometimes to the other, and nodding in tune18 to the charming music ! No one noticed little Ida . Then she saw a great blue crocus hop19 into the middle of the table, where the toys stood, and go to the doll's bed and pull the curtains aside; there lay the sick flowers, but they got up directly , and nodded to the others , to say ; that they wanted to dance too. The old chimney-sweep doll, whose under lip was broken off, stood up and bowed to the pretty flowers: these did not look at all ill now; they jumped down among the others , and were very merry .

Then it seemed as if something fell down from the table . Ida looked that way . It was the Shrovetide birch rod which was jumping down ! It seemed almost as if it belonged to the flowers . At any rate it was very neat ; and a little wax doll, with just such a broad hat on its head as the councillor wore , sat upon it . The birch rod hopped20 about among the flowers on its three red legs, and stamped quite loud, for it was dancing the mazurka; and the other flowers could not manage that dance, because they were too light , and unable to stamp like that .

The wax doll on the birch rod all at once became quite great and long, turned itself over the paper flowers, and said, “How can one put such things in a child's head? Those are stupid fancies!” and then the wax doll was exactly like the councillor with the broad hat, and looked just as yellow and cross as he. But the paper flowers hit him on his thin legs, and then he shrank up again, and became quite a little wax doll . That was very amusing to see; and little Ida could not restrain her laughter. The birch rod went on dancing, and the councillor was obliged to dance too; it was no use whether he might make him self great and long, or remained the little yellow wax doll with the big black hat . Then the other flowers put in a good word for him, especially those who had lain in the doll's bed, and then the birch rod gave over . At the same moment there was a loud knocking at the drawer, inside where Ida' s doll , Sophy , lay with many other toys . The chimney-sweep ran to the edge of the table, lay flat down on his stomach, and began to pull the drawer out a little. Then Sophy raised herself, and looked round quite astonished .

“There must be a ball here,” said she; “why did nobody tell me?”

“Will you dance with me?” asked the chimneysweep.

“You are a nice sort of fellow to dance!” she replied, and turned her back upon him.

Then she seated herself upon the drawer, and thought that one of the flowers would come and ask her; but not one of them came . Then she coughed , “Hem2 ! Hem! Hem!” but for all that not one came. The chimneysweep now danced all alone, and that was not at all so bad .

As none of the flowers seemed to notice Sophy , she let herself fall down from the drawer straight upon the floor, so that there was a great noise. The flowers now all came running up, to ask if she had not hurt herself; and they were all very polite to her, especially the flowers that had lain in her bed . But she had not hurt herself at all ; and Ida's flowers all thanked her for the nice bed, and were kind to her, took her into the middle of the floor, where the moon shone in, and danced with her; and all the other flowers formed a circle round her. Now Sophy was glad, and said they might keep her bed; she did not at all mind lying in the drawer.

But the flowers said , “We thank you heartily21 , but we cannot live so long . Tomorrow we shall be quite dead . But tell little Ida she is to bury us out in the garden, where the canary lies; then we shall wake up again in summer, and be far more beautiful . ”

“No, you must not die,” said Sophy; and she kissed the flowers .

At that moment the door opened , and a great number of splendid flowers came dancing in. Ida could not imagine whence they had come; these must certainly all be flowers from the king's castle yonder. First of all came two glorious roses , and they had little gold crowns on ; they were a king and a queen . Then came the prettiest stocks and carnations22; and they bowed in all directions. They had music with them. Great poppies and peonies blew upon pea-pods till they were quite red in the face . The blue hyacinths and the little white snowdrops rang just as if they had bells on them. That was wonderful music ! Then came many other flowers, and danced all together; the blue violets and the pink primroses23, daisies and the lilies of the valley. And all the flowers kissed one another. It was beautiful to look at !

At last the flowers wished one another good night ; then little Ida, too, crept to bed, where she dreamed of all she had seen.

When she rose next morning, she went quickly to the little table, to see if the flowers were still there. She drew aside the curtains of the little bed; there were they all, but they were quite faded, far more than yesterday. Sophy was lying in the drawer where Ida had laid her; she looked very sleepy.

“Do you remember what you were to say to me?” asked little Ida.

But Sophy looked quite stupid, and did not say a single word .

“You are not good at all!”said Ida. “And yet they all danced with you.”

Then she took a little paper box, on which were painted beautiful birds, and opened it, and laid the dead flowers in it.

“That shall be your pretty coffin,” said she, “and when my Norwegian cousins come to visit me by and by, they shall help me to bury you outside in the garden, so that you may grow again in summer, and become more beautiful than ever.”

The Norwegian cousins were two smart boys. Their names were Jonas and Adolphe; their father had given them two new crossbows, and they had brought these with them to show to Ida. She told them about the poor flowers which had died, and then they got leave to bury them. The two boys went first, with their crossbows on their shoulders , and little Ida followed with the dead flowers in the pretty box. Out in the garden a little grave was dug. Ida first kissed the flowers, and then laid them in the earth in the box, and Adolphe and Jonas shot with their crossbows over the grave, for they had neither guns nor cannons24.


点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 withered 342a99154d999c47f1fc69d900097df9     
adj. 枯萎的,干瘪的,(人身体的部分器官)因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式
参考例句:
  • The grass had withered in the warm sun. 这些草在温暖的阳光下枯死了。
  • The leaves of this tree have become dry and withered. 这棵树下的叶子干枯了。
2 hem 7dIxa     
n.贴边,镶边;vt.缝贴边;(in)包围,限制
参考例句:
  • The hem on her skirt needs sewing.她裙子上的褶边需要缝一缝。
  • The hem of your dress needs to be let down an inch.你衣服的折边有必要放长1英寸。
3 bouquet pWEzA     
n.花束,酒香
参考例句:
  • This wine has a rich bouquet.这种葡萄酒有浓郁的香气。
  • Her wedding bouquet consisted of roses and ivy.她的婚礼花篮包括玫瑰和长春藤。
4 crumbs crumbs     
int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式
参考例句:
  • She stood up and brushed the crumbs from her sweater. 她站起身掸掉了毛衣上的面包屑。
  • Oh crumbs! Is that the time? 啊,天哪!都这会儿啦?
5 naval h1lyU     
adj.海军的,军舰的,船的
参考例句:
  • He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
  • The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。
6 propriety oRjx4     
n.正当行为;正当;适当
参考例句:
  • We hesitated at the propriety of the method.我们对这种办法是否适用拿不定主意。
  • The sensitive matter was handled with great propriety.这件机密的事处理得极为适当。
7 steward uUtzw     
n.乘务员,服务员;看管人;膳食管理员
参考例句:
  • He's the steward of the club.他是这家俱乐部的管理员。
  • He went around the world as a ship's steward.他当客船服务员,到过世界各地。
8 rattle 5Alzb     
v.飞奔,碰响;激怒;n.碰撞声;拨浪鼓
参考例句:
  • The baby only shook the rattle and laughed and crowed.孩子只是摇着拨浪鼓,笑着叫着。
  • She could hear the rattle of the teacups.她听见茶具叮当响。
9 poke 5SFz9     
n.刺,戳,袋;vt.拨开,刺,戳;vi.戳,刺,捅,搜索,伸出,行动散慢
参考例句:
  • We never thought she would poke her nose into this.想不到她会插上一手。
  • Don't poke fun at me.别拿我凑趣儿。
10 proceedings Wk2zvX     
n.进程,过程,议程;诉讼(程序);公报
参考例句:
  • He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
  • to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼
11 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
12 carnation kT9yI     
n.康乃馨(一种花)
参考例句:
  • He had a white carnation in his buttonhole.他在纽扣孔上佩了朵白色康乃馨。
  • He was wearing a carnation in his lapel.他的翻领里别着一枝康乃馨。
13 tiresome Kgty9     
adj.令人疲劳的,令人厌倦的
参考例句:
  • His doubts and hesitations were tiresome.他的疑惑和犹豫令人厌烦。
  • He was tiresome in contending for the value of his own labors.他老为他自己劳动的价值而争强斗胜,令人生厌。
14 privy C1OzL     
adj.私用的;隐密的
参考例句:
  • Only three people,including a policeman,will be privy to the facts.只会允许3个人,其中包括一名警察,了解这些内情。
  • Very few of them were privy to the details of the conspiracy.他们中很少有人知道这一阴谋的详情。
15 grumbled ed735a7f7af37489d7db1a9ef3b64f91     
抱怨( grumble的过去式和过去分词 ); 发牢骚; 咕哝; 发哼声
参考例句:
  • He grumbled at the low pay offered to him. 他抱怨给他的工资低。
  • The heat was sweltering, and the men grumbled fiercely over their work. 天热得让人发昏,水手们边干活边发着牢骚。
16 prettily xQAxh     
adv.优美地;可爱地
参考例句:
  • It was prettily engraved with flowers on the back.此件雕刻精美,背面有花饰图案。
  • She pouted prettily at him.她冲他撅着嘴,样子很可爱。
17 gracefully KfYxd     
ad.大大方方地;优美地
参考例句:
  • She sank gracefully down onto a cushion at his feet. 她优雅地坐到他脚旁的垫子上。
  • The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line. 新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。
18 tune NmnwW     
n.调子;和谐,协调;v.调音,调节,调整
参考例句:
  • He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子,并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
  • The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。
19 hop vdJzL     
n.单脚跳,跳跃;vi.单脚跳,跳跃;着手做某事;vt.跳跃,跃过
参考例句:
  • The children had a competition to see who could hop the fastest.孩子们举行比赛,看谁单足跳跃最快。
  • How long can you hop on your right foot?你用右脚能跳多远?
20 hopped 91b136feb9c3ae690a1c2672986faa1c     
跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 ); 单足蹦跳; 齐足(或双足)跳行; 摘葎草花
参考例句:
  • He hopped onto a car and wanted to drive to town. 他跳上汽车想开向市区。
  • He hopped into a car and drove to town. 他跳进汽车,向市区开去。
21 heartily Ld3xp     
adv.衷心地,诚恳地,十分,很
参考例句:
  • He ate heartily and went out to look for his horse.他痛快地吃了一顿,就出去找他的马。
  • The host seized my hand and shook it heartily.主人抓住我的手,热情地和我握手。
22 carnations 4fde4d136e97cb7bead4d352ae4578ed     
n.麝香石竹,康乃馨( carnation的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • You should also include some carnations to emphasize your underlying meaning.\" 另外要配上石竹花来加重这涵意的力量。” 来自汉英文学 - 围城
  • Five men per ha. were required for rose production, 6 or 7 men for carnations. 种植玫瑰每公顷需5个男劳力,香石竹需6、7个男劳力。 来自辞典例句
23 primroses a7da9b79dd9b14ec42ee0bf83bfe8982     
n.报春花( primrose的名词复数 );淡黄色;追求享乐(招至恶果)
参考例句:
  • Wild flowers such as orchids and primroses are becoming rare. 兰花和报春花这类野花越来越稀少了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • The primroses were bollming; spring was in evidence. 迎春花开了,春天显然已经到了。 来自互联网
24 cannons dd76967b79afecfefcc8e2d9452b380f     
n.加农炮,大炮,火炮( cannon的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Cannons bombarded enemy lines. 大炮轰击了敌军阵地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • One company had been furnished with six cannons. 某连队装备了六门大炮。 来自《简明英汉词典》


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