CHAPTER XVIII

 No: it is not yours to open buds into blossoms.

 

Shake the bud, strike it; it is beyond your power to make it blossom.

 

Your touch soils it, you tear its petals¹ to pieces and strew² them in the dust.

 

But no colours appear, and no perfume.

 

Ah! it is not for you to open the bud into a blossom.

 

He who can open the bud does it so simply.

 

He gives it a glance, and the life-sap stirs through its veins³.

 

At his breath the flower spreads its wings and flutters in the wind.

 

Colours flush out like heart-longings, the perfume betrays a sweet secret.

 

He who can open the bud does it so simply.

1 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》

2 strew   

vt.撒；使散落；撒在…上，散布于

参考例句：

• Their custom is to strew flowers over the graves.他们的风俗是在坟墓上撒花。
• Shells of all shapes and sizes strew the long narrow beach.各种各样的贝壳点缀着狭长的海滩。

3 veins   

n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理

参考例句：

• The blood flows from the capillaries back into the veins. 血从毛细血管流回静脉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I felt a pleasant glow in all my veins from the wine. 喝过酒后我浑身的血都热烘烘的，感到很舒服。 来自《简明英汉词典》