{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_163/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_163","id":"gutenberg_163","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/163","summary":null,"tags":["Category: American Literature","Category: Children & Young Adult Reading","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Category: Short Stories","Children's Literature","Children's stories, American","Fairies -- Juvenile poetry","Fairy tales -- United States","Flowers -- Juvenile fiction","Flowers -- Juvenile poetry","Short stories"],"text":"[Illustration]\n\n\n\n\nFlower Fables\n\nby Louisa May Alcott\n\n\nContents\n\n  FLOWER FABLES\n The Frost King: or, The Power of Love\n Eva\u2019s Visit to Fairy-Land\n The Flower\u2019s Lesson\n Lily-Bell and Thistledown\n Little Bud\n Clover-Blossom\n Little Annie\u2019s Dream: or, The Fairy Flower\n Ripple, the Water-Spirit\n Fairy Song\n\n\n\n\n\u201cPondering shadows, colors, clouds\nGrass-buds, and caterpillar shrouds\nBoughs on which the wild bees settle,\nTints that spot the violet\u2019s petal.\u201d\nEMERSON\u2019S WOOD-NOTES.\n\n\n\n\nTO\nELLEN EMERSON,\nFOR WHOM THEY WERE FANCIED,\nTHESE FLOWER FABLES\nARE INSCRIBED,\nBY HER FRIEND,\n\nTHE AUTHOR.\n\nBoston, Dec. 9, 1854.\n\n\n\n\nFLOWER FABLES.\n\n\nThe summer moon shone brightly down upon the sleeping earth, while far\naway from mortal eyes danced the Fairy folk. Fire-flies hung in bright\nclusters on the dewy leaves, that waved in the cool night-wind; and the\nflowers stood gazing, in very wonder, at the little Elves, who lay\namong the fern-leaves, swung in the vine-boughs, sailed on the lake in\nlily cups, or danced on the mossy ground, to the music of the\nhare-bells, who rung out their merriest peal in honor of the night.\n\nUnder the shade of a wild rose sat the Queen and her little Maids of\nHonor, beside the silvery mushroom where the feast was spread.\n\n\u201cNow, my friends,\u201d said she, \u201cto while away the time till the bright\nmoon goes down, let us each tell a tale, or relate what we have done or\nlearned this day. I will begin with you, Sunny Lock,\u201d added she,\nturning to a lovely little Elf, who lay among the fragrant leaves of a\nprimrose.\n\nWith a gay smile, \u201cSunny Lock\u201d began her story.\n\n\u201cAs I was painting the bright petals of a blue bell, it told me this\ntale.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nTHE FROST-KING:\nOR,\nTHE POWER OF LOVE.\n\n\nThree little Fairies sat in the fields eating their breakfast; each\namong the leaves of her favorite flower, Daisy, Primrose, and Violet,\nwere happy as Elves need be.\n\nThe morning wind gently rocked them to and fro, and the sun shone\nwarmly down upon the dewy grass, where butterflies spread their gay\nwings, and bees with their deep voices sung among the flowers; while\nthe little birds hopped merrily about to peep at them.\n\nOn a silvery mushroom was spread the breakfast; little cakes of\nflower-dust lay on a broad green leaf, beside a crimson strawberry,\nwhich, with sugar from the violet, and cream from the yellow milkweed,\nmade a fairy meal, and their drink was the dew from the flowers\u2019 bright\nleaves.\n\n\u201cAh me,\u201d sighed Primrose, throwing herself languidly back, \u201chow warm\nthe sun grows! give me another piece of strawberry, and then I must\nhasten away to the shadow of the ferns. But while I eat, tell me, dear\nViolet, why are you all so sad? I have scarce seen a happy face since\nmy return from Rose Land; dear friend, what means it?\u201d\n\n\u201cI will tell you,\u201d replied little Violet, the tears gathering in her\nsoft eyes. \u201cOur good Queen is ever striving to keep the dear flowers\nfrom the power of the cruel Frost-King; many ways she tried, but all\nhave failed. She has sent messengers to his court with costly gifts;\nbut all have returned sick for want of sunlight, weary and sad; we have\nwatched over them, heedless of sun or shower, but still his dark\nspirits do their work, and we are left to weep over our blighted\nblossoms. Thus have we striven, and in vain; and this night our Queen\nholds council for the last time. Therefore are we sad, dear Primrose,\nfor she has toiled and cared for us, and we can do nothing to help or\nadvise her now.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is indeed a cruel thing,\u201d replied her friend; \u201cbut as we cannot\nhelp it, we must suffer patiently, and not let the sorrows of others\ndisturb our happiness. But, dear sisters, see you not how high the sun\nis getting? I have my locks to curl, and my robe to prepare for the\nevening; therefore I must be gone, or I shall be brown as a withered\nleaf in this warm light.\u201d So, gathering a tiny mushroom for a parasol,\nshe flew away; Daisy soon followed, and Violet was left alone.\n\nThen she spread the table afresh, and to it came fearlessly the busy\nant and bee, gay butterfly and bird; even the poor blind mole and\nhumble worm were not forgotten; and with gentle words she gave to all,\nwhile each learned something of their kind little teacher; and the love\nthat made her own heart bright shone alike on all.\n\nThe ant and bee learned generosity, the butterfly and bird contentment,\nthe mole and worm confidence in the love of others; and each went to\ntheir home better for the little time they had been with Violet.\n\nEvening came, and with it troops of Elves to counsel their good Queen,\nwho, seated on her mossy throne, looked anxiously upon the throng\nbelow, whose glittering wings and rustling robes gleamed like\nmany-colored flowers.\n\nAt length she rose, and amid the deep silence spoke thus:\u2014\n\n\u201cDear children, let us not tire of a good work, hard though it be and\nwearisome; think of the many little hearts that in their sorrow look to\nus for help. What would the green earth be without its lovely flowers,\nand what a lonely home for us! Their beauty fills our hearts with\nbrightness, and their love with tender thoughts. Ought we then to leave\nthem to die uncared for and alone? They give to us their all; ought we\nnot to toil unceasingly, that they may bloom in peace within their\nquiet homes? We have tried to gain the love of the stern Frost-King,\nbut in vain; his heart is hard as his own icy land; no love can melt,\nno kindness bring it back to sunlight and to joy. How then may we keep\nour frail blossoms from his cruel spirits? Who will give us counsel?\nWho will be our messenger for the last time? Speak, my subjects.\u201d\n\nThen a great murmuring arose, and many spoke, some for costlier gifts,\nsome for war; and the fearful counselled patience and submission.\n\nLong and eagerly they spoke, and their soft voices rose high.\n\nThen sweet music sounded on the air, and the loud tones were hushed, as\nin wondering silence the Fairies waited what should come.\n\nThrough the crowd there came a little form, a wreath of pure white\nviolets lay among the bright locks that fell so softly round the gentle\nface, where a deep blush glowed, as, kneeling at the throne, little\nViolet said:\u2014\n\n\u201cDear Queen, we have bent to the Frost-King\u2019s power, we have borne\ngifts unto his pride, but have we gone trustingly to him and spoken\nfearlessly of his evil deeds? Have we shed the soft light of unwearied\nlove around his cold heart, and with patient tenderness shown him how\nbright and beautiful love can make even the darkest lot?\n\n\u201cOur messengers have gone fearfully, and with cold looks and courtly\nwords offered him rich gifts, things he cared not for, and with equal\npride has he sent them back.\n\n\u201cThen let me, the weakest of your band, go to him, trusting in the love\nI know lies hidden in the coldest heart.\n\n\u201cI will bear only a garland of our fairest flowers; these will I wind\nabout him, and their bright faces, looking lovingly in his, will bring\nsweet thoughts to his dark mind, and their soft breath steal in like\ngentle words. Then, when he sees them fading on his breast, will he not\nsigh that there is no warmth there to keep them fresh and lovely? This\nwill I do, dear Queen, and never leave his dreary home, till the\nsunlight falls on flowers fair as those that bloom in our own dear\nland.\u201d\n\nSilently the Queen had listened, but now, rising and placing her hand\non little Violet\u2019s head, she said, turning to the throng below:\u2014 \u201cWe in\nour pride and power have erred, while this, the weakest and lowliest of\nour subjects, has from the innocence of her own pure heart counselled\nus more wisely than the noblest of our train. All who will aid our\nbrave little messenger, lift your wands, that we may know who will\nplace their trust in the Power of Love.\u201d\n\nEvery fairy wand glistened in the air, as with silvery voices they\ncried, \u201cLove and little Violet.\u201d\n\nThen down from the throne, hand in hand, came the Queen and Violet, and\ntill the moon sank did the Fairies toil, to weave a wreath of the\nfairest flowers. Tenderly they gathered them, with the night-dew fresh\nupon their leaves, and as they wove chanted sweet spells, and whispered\nfairy blessings on the bright messengers whom they sent forth to die in\na dreary land, that their gentle kindred might bloom unharmed.\n\nAt length it was done; and the fair flowers lay glowing in the soft\nstarlight, while beside them stood the Fairies, singing to the music of\nthe wind-harps:\u2014\n\n\nWe are sending you, dear flowers,\nForth alone to die,\nWhere your gentle sisters may not weep\nO\u2019er the cold graves where you lie;\nBut you go to bring them fadeless life\nIn the bright homes where they dwell,\nAnd you softly smile that \u2019t is so,\nAs we sadly sing farewell.\n\n\nO plead with gentle words for us,\nAnd whisper tenderly\nOf generous love to that cold heart,\nAnd it will answer ye;\nAnd though you fade in a dreary home,\nYet loving hearts will tell\nOf the joy and peace that you have given:\nFlowers, dear flowers, farewell!\u201d\n\n\nThe morning sun looked softly down upon the broad green earth, which\nlike a mighty altar was sending up clouds of perfume from its breast,\nwhile flowers danced gayly in the summer wind, and birds sang their\nmorning hymn among the cool green leaves. Then high above, on shining\nwings, soared a little form. The sunlight rested softly on the silken\nhair, and the winds fanned lovingly the bright face, and brought the\nsweetest odors to cheer her on.\n\nThus went Violet through the clear air, and the earth looked smiling up\nto her, as, with the bright wreath folded in her arms, she flew among\nthe soft, white clouds.\n\nOn and on she went, over hill and valley, broad rivers and rustling\nwoods, till the warm sunlight passed away, the winds grew cold, and the\nair thick with falling snow. Then far below she saw the Frost-King\u2019s\nhome. Pillars of hard, gray ice supported the high, arched roof, hung\nwith crystal icicles. Dreary gardens lay around, filled with withered\nflowers and bare, drooping trees; while heavy clouds hung low in the\ndark sky, and a cold wind murmured sadly through the wintry air.\n\nWith a beating heart Violet folded her fading wreath more closely to\nher breast, and with weary wings flew onward to the dreary palace.\n\nHere, before the closed doors, stood many forms with dark faces and\nharsh, discordant voices, who sternly asked the shivering little Fairy\nwhy she came to them.\n\nGently she answered, telling them her errand, beseeching them to let\nher pass ere the cold wind blighted her frail blossoms. Then they flung\nwide the doors, and she passed in.\n\nWalls of ice, carved with strange figures, were around her; glittering\nicicles hung from the high roof, and soft, white snow covered the hard\nfloors. On a throne hung with clouds sat the Frost-King; a crown of\ncrystals bound his white locks, and a dark mantle wrought with delicate\nfrost-work was folded over his cold breast.\n\nHis stern face could not stay little Violet, and on through the long\nhall she went, heedless of the snow that gathered on her feet, and the\nbleak wind that blew around her; while the King with wondering eyes\nlooked on the golden light that played upon the dark walls as she\npassed.\n\nThe flowers, as if they knew their part, unfolded their bright leaves,\nand poured forth their sweetest perfume, as, kneeling at the throne,\nthe brave little Fairy said,\u2014\n\n\u201cO King of blight and sorrow, send me not away till I have brought back\nthe light and joy that will make your dark home bright and beautiful\nagain. Let me call back to the desolate gardens the fair forms that are\ngone, and their soft voices blessing you will bring to your breast a\nnever failing joy. Cast by your icy crown and sceptre, and let the\nsunlight of love fall softly on your heart.\n\n\u201cThen will the earth bloom again in all its beauty, and your dim eyes\nwill rest only on fair forms, while music shall sound through these\ndreary halls, and the love of grateful hearts be yours. Have pity on\nthe gentle flower-spirits, and do not doom them to an early death, when\nthey might bloom in fadeless beauty, making us wiser by their gentle\nteachings, and the earth brighter by their lovely forms. These fair\nflowers, with the prayers of all Fairy Land, I lay before you; O send\nme not away till they are answered.\u201d\n\nAnd with tears falling thick and fast upon their tender leaves, Violet\nlaid the wreath at his feet, while the golden light grew ever brighter\nas it fell upon the little form so humbly kneeling there.\n\nThe King\u2019s stern face grew milder as he gazed on the gentle Fairy, and\nthe flowers seemed to look beseechingly upon him; while their fragrant\nvoices sounded softly in his ear, telling of their dying sisters, and\nof the joy it gives to bring happiness to the weak and sorrowing. But\nhe drew the dark mantle closer over his breast and answered coldly,\u2014\n\n\u201cI cannot grant your prayer, little Fairy; it is my will the flowers\nshould die. Go back to your Queen, and tell her that I cannot yield my\npower to please these foolish flowers.\u201d\n\nThen Violet hung the wreath above the throne, and with weary foot went\nforth again, out into the cold, dark gardens, and still the golden\nshadows followed her, and wherever they fell, flowers bloomed and green\nleaves rustled.\n\nThen came the Frost-Spirits, and beneath their cold wings the flowers\ndied, while the Spirits bore Violet to a low, dark cell, saying as they\nleft her, that their King was angry that she had dared to stay when he\nhad bid her go.\n\nSo all alone she sat, and sad thoughts of her happy home came back to\nher, and she wept bitterly. But soon came visions of the gentle flowers\ndying in their forest homes, and their voices ringing in her ear,\nimploring her to save them. Then she wept no longer, but patiently\nawaited what might come.\n\nSoon the golden light gleamed faintly through the cell, and she heard\nlittle voices calling for help, and high up among the heavy cobwebs\nhung poor little flies struggling to free themselves, while their cruel\nenemies sat in their nets, watching their pain.\n\nWith her wand the Fairy broke the bands that held them, tenderly bound\nup their broken wings, and healed their wounds; while they lay in the\nwarm light, and feebly hummed their thanks to their kind deliverer.\n\nThen she went to the ugly brown spiders, and in gentle words told them,\nhow in Fairy Land their kindred spun all the elfin cloth, and in return\nthe Fairies gave them food, and then how happily they lived among the\ngreen leaves, spinning garments for their neighbors. \u201cAnd you too,\u201d\nsaid she, \u201cshall spin for me, and I will give you better food than\nhelpless insects. You shall live in peace, and spin your delicate\nthreads into a mantle for the stern King; and I will weave golden\nthreads amid the gray, that when folded over his cold heart gentle\nthoughts may enter in and make it their home.\u201d\n\nAnd while she gayly sung, the little weavers spun their silken threads,\nthe flies on glittering wings flew lovingly above her head, and over\nall the golden light shone softly down.\n\nWhen the Frost-Spirits told their King, he greatly wondered and often\nstole to look at the sunny little room where friends and enemies worked\npeacefully together. Still the light grew brighter, and floated out\ninto the cold air, where it hung like bright clouds above the dreary\ngardens, whence all the Spirits\u2019 power could not drive it; and green\nleaves budded on the naked trees, and flowers bloomed; but the Spirits\nheaped snow upon them, and they bowed their heads and died.\n\nAt length the mantle was finished, and amid the gray threads shone\ngolden ones, making it bright; and she sent it to the King, entreating\nhim to wear it, for it would bring peace and love to dwell within his\nbreast.\n\nBut he scornfully threw it aside, and bade his Spirits take her to a\ncolder cell, deep in the earth; and there with harsh words they left\nher.\n\nStill she sang gayly on, and the falling drops kept time so musically,\nthat the King in his cold ice-halls wondered at the low, sweet sounds\nthat came stealing up to him.\n\nThus Violet dwelt, and each day the golden light grew stronger; and\nfrom among the crevices of the rocky walls came troops of little\nvelvet-coated moles, praying that they might listen to the sweet music,\nand lie in the warm light.\n\n\u201cWe lead,\u201d said they, \u201ca dreary life in the cold earth; the\nflower-roots are dead, and no soft dews descend for us to drink, no\nlittle seed or leaf can we find. Ah, good Fairy, let us be your\nservants: give us but a few crumbs of your daily bread, and we will do\nall in our power to serve you.\u201d\n\nAnd Violet said, Yes; so day after day they labored to make a pathway\nthrough the frozen earth, that she might reach the roots of the\nwithered flowers; and soon, wherever through the dark galleries she\nwent, the soft light fell upon the roots of flowers, and they with new\nlife spread forth in the warm ground, and forced fresh sap to the\nblossoms above. Brightly they bloomed and danced in the soft light, and\nthe Frost-Spirits tried in vain to harm them, for when they came\nbeneath the bright clouds their power to do evil left them.\n\nFrom his dark castle the King looked out on the happy flowers, who\nnodded gayly to him, and in sweet colors strove to tell him of the good\nlittle Spirit, who toiled so faithfully below, that they might live.\nAnd when he turned from the brightness without, to his stately palace,\nit seemed so cold and dreary, that he folded Violet\u2019s mantle round him,\nand sat beneath the faded wreath upon his ice-carved throne, wondering\nat the strange warmth that came from it; till at length he bade his\nSpirits bring the little Fairy from her dismal prison.\n\nSoon they came hastening back, and prayed him to come and see how\nlovely the dark cell had grown. The rough floor was spread with deep\ngreen moss, and over wall and roof grew flowery vines, filling the air\nwith their sweet breath; while above played the clear, soft light,\ncasting rosy shadows on the glittering drops that lay among the\nfragrant leaves; and beneath the vines stood Violet, casting crumbs to\nthe downy little moles who ran fearlessly about and listened as she\nsang to them.\n\nWhen the old King saw how much fairer she had made the dreary cell than\nhis palace rooms, gentle thoughts within whispered him to grant her\nprayer, and let the little Fairy go back to her friends and home; but\nthe Frost-Spirits breathed upon the flowers and bid him see how frail\nthey were, and useless to a King. Then the stern, cold thoughts came\nback again, and he harshly bid her follow him.\n\nWith a sad farewell to her little friends she followed him, and before\nthe throne awaited his command. When the King saw how pale and sad the\ngentle face had grown, how thin her robe, and weak her wings, and yet\nhow lovingly the golden shadows fell around her and brightened as they\nlay upon the wand, which, guided by patient love, had made his once\ndesolate home so bright, he could not be cruel to the one who had done\nso much for him, and in kindly tone he said,\u2014\n\n\u201cLittle Fairy, I offer you two things, and you may choose between them.\nIf I will vow never more to harm the flowers you may love, will you go\nback to your own people and leave me and my Spirits to work our will on\nall the other flowers that bloom? The earth is broad, and we can find\nthem in any land, then why should you care what happens to their\nkindred if your own are safe? Will you do this?\u201d\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d answered Violet sadly, \u201cdo you not know that beneath the flowers\u2019\nbright leaves there beats a little heart that loves and sorrows like\nour own? And can I, heedless of their beauty, doom them to pain and\ngrief, that I might save my own dear blossoms from the cruel foes to\nwhich I leave them? Ah no! sooner would I dwell for ever in your\ndarkest cell, than lose the love of those warm, trusting hearts.\u201d\n\n\u201cThen listen,\u201d said the King, \u201cto the task I give you. You shall raise\nup for me a palace fairer than this, and if you can work that miracle I\nwill grant your prayer or lose my kingly crown. And now go forth, and\nbegin your task; my Spirits shall not harm you, and I will wait till it\nis done before I blight another flower.\u201d\n\nThen out into the gardens went Violet with a heavy heart; for she had\ntoiled so long, her strength was nearly gone. But the flowers whispered\ntheir gratitude, and folded their leaves as if they blessed her; and\nwhen she saw the garden filled with loving friends, who strove to cheer\nand thank her for her care, courage and strength returned; and raising\nup thick clouds of mist, that hid her from the wondering flowers, alone\nand trustingly she began her work.\n\nAs time went by, the Frost-King feared the task had been too hard for\nthe Fairy; sounds were heard behind the walls of mist, bright shadows\nseen to pass within, but the little voice was never heard. Meanwhile\nthe golden light had faded from the garden, the flowers bowed their\nheads, and all was dark and cold as when the gentle Fairy came.\n\nAnd to the stern King his home seemed more desolate and sad; for he\nmissed the warm light, the happy flowers, and, more than all, the gay\nvoice and bright face of little Violet. So he wandered through his\ndreary palace, wondering how he had been content to live before without\nsunlight and love.\n\nAnd little Violet was mourned as dead in Fairy-Land, and many tears\nwere shed, for the gentle Fairy was beloved by all, from the Queen down\nto the humblest flower. Sadly they watched over every bird and blossom\nwhich she had loved, and strove to be like her in kindly words and\ndeeds. They wore cypress wreaths, and spoke of her as one whom they\nshould never see again.\n\nThus they dwelt in deepest sorrow, till one day there came to them an\nunknown messenger, wrapped in a dark mantle, who looked with wondering\neyes on the bright palace, and flower-crowned elves, who kindly\nwelcomed him, and brought fresh dew and rosy fruit to refresh the weary\nstranger. Then he told them that he came from the Frost-King, who\nbegged the Queen and all her subjects to come and see the palace little\nViolet had built; for the veil of mist would soon be withdrawn, and as\nshe could not make a fairer home than the ice-castle, the King wished\nher kindred near to comfort and to bear her home. And while the Elves\nwept, he told them how patiently she had toiled, how her fadeless love\nhad made the dark cell bright and beautiful.\n\nThese and many other things he told them; for little Violet had won the\nlove of many of the Frost-Spirits, and even when they killed the\nflowers she had toiled so hard to bring to life and beauty, she spoke\ngentle words to them, and sought to teach them how beautiful is love.\nLong stayed the messenger, and deeper grew his wonder that the Fairy\ncould have left so fair a home, to toil in the dreary palace of his\ncruel master, and suffer cold and weariness, to give life and joy to\nthe weak and sorrowing. When the Elves had promised they would come, he\nbade farewell to happy Fairy-Land, and flew sadly home.\n\nAt last the time arrived, and out in his barren garden, under a canopy\nof dark clouds, sat the Frost-King before the misty wall, behind which\nwere heard low, sweet sounds, as of rustling trees and warbling birds.\n\nSoon through the air came many-colored troops of Elves. First the\nQueen, known by the silver lilies on her snowy robe and the bright\ncrown in her hair, beside whom flew a band of Elves in crimson and\ngold, making sweet music on their flower-trumpets, while all around,\nwith smiling faces and bright eyes, fluttered her loving subjects.\n\nOn they came, like a flock of brilliant butterflies, their shining\nwings and many-colored garments sparkling in the dim air; and soon the\nleafless trees were gay with living flowers, and their sweet voices\nfilled the gardens with music. Like his subjects, the King looked on\nthe lovely Elves, and no longer wondered that little Violet wept and\nlonged for her home. Darker and more desolate seemed his stately home,\nand when the Fairies asked for flowers, he felt ashamed that he had\nnone to give them.\n\nAt length a warm wind swept through the gardens, and the mist-clouds\npassed away, while in silent wonder looked the Frost-King and the Elves\nupon the scene before them.\n\nFar as eye could reach were tall green trees whose drooping boughs made\ngraceful arches, through which the golden light shone softly, making\nbright shadows on the deep green moss below, where the fairest flowers\nwaved in the cool wind, and sang, in their low, sweet voices, how\nbeautiful is Love.\n\nFlowering vines folded their soft leaves around the trees, making green\npillars of their rough trunks. Fountains threw their bright waters to\nthe roof, and flocks of silver-winged birds flew singing among the\nflowers, or brooded lovingly above their nests. Doves with gentle eyes\ncooed among the green leaves, snow-white clouds floated in the sunny\nsky, and the golden light, brighter than before, shone softly down.\n\nSoon through the long aisles came Violet, flowers and green leaves\nrustling as she passed. On she went to the Frost-King\u2019s throne, bearing\ntwo crowns, one of sparkling icicles, the other of pure white lilies,\nand kneeling before him, said,\u2014\n\n\u201cMy task is done, and, thanks to the Spirits of earth and air, I have\nmade as fair a home as Elfin hands can form. You must now decide. Will\nyou be King of Flower-Land, and own my gentle kindred for your loving\nfriends? Will you possess unfading peace and joy, and the grateful love\nof all the green earth\u2019s fragrant children? Then take this crown of\nflowers. But if you can find no pleasure here, go back to your own cold\nhome, and dwell in solitude and darkness, where no ray of sunlight or\nof joy can enter.\n\n\u201cSend forth your Spirits to carry sorrow and desolation over the happy\nearth, and win for yourself the fear and hatred of those who would so\ngladly love and reverence you. Then take this glittering crown, hard\nand cold as your own heart will be, if you will shut out all that is\nbright and beautiful. Both are before you. Choose.\u201d\n\nThe old King looked at the little Fairy, and saw how lovingly the\nbright shadows gathered round her, as if to shield her from every harm;\nthe timid birds nestled in her bosom, and the flowers grew fairer as\nshe looked upon them; while her gentle friends, with tears in their\nbright eyes, folded their hands beseechingly, and smiled on her.\n\nKind thought came thronging to his mind, and he turned to look at the\ntwo palaces. Violet\u2019s, so fair and beautiful, with its rustling trees,\ncalm, sunny skies, and happy birds and flowers, all created by her\npatient love and care. His own, so cold and dark and dreary, his empty\ngardens where no flowers could bloom, no green trees dwell, or gay\nbirds sing, all desolate and dim;\u2014and while he gazed, his own Spirits,\ncasting off their dark mantles, knelt before him and besought him not\nto send them forth to blight the things the gentle Fairies loved so\nmuch. \u201cWe have served you long and faithfully,\u201d said they, \u201cgive us now\nour freedom, that we may learn to be beloved by the sweet flowers we\nhave harmed so long. Grant the little Fairy\u2019s prayer; and let her go\nback to her own dear home. She has taught us that Love is mightier than\nFear. Choose the Flower crown, and we will be the truest subjects you\nhave ever had.\u201d\n\nThen, amid a burst of wild, sweet music, the Frost-King placed the\nFlower crown on his head, and knelt to little Violet; while far and\nnear, over the broad green earth, sounded the voices of flowers,\nsinging their thanks to the gentle Fairy, and the summer wind was laden\nwith perfumes, which they sent as tokens of their gratitude; and\nwherever she went, old trees bent down to fold their slender branches\nround her, flowers laid their soft faces against her own, and whispered\nblessings; even the humble moss bent over the little feet, and kissed\nthem as they passed.\n\nThe old King, surrounded by the happy Fairies, sat in Violet\u2019s lovely\nhome, and watched his icy castle melt away beneath the bright sunlight;\nwhile his Spirits, cold and gloomy no longer, danced with the Elves,\nand waited on their King with loving eagerness. Brighter grew the\ngolden light, gayer sang the birds, and the harmonious voices of\ngrateful flowers, sounding over the earth, carried new joy to all their\ngentle kindred.\n\n\nBrighter shone the golden shadows;\nOn the cool wind softly came\nThe low, sweet tones of happy flowers,\nSinging little Violet\u2019s name.\n\u2019Mong the green trees was it whispered,\nAnd the bright waves bore it on\nTo the lonely forest flowers,\nWhere the glad news had not gone.\n\n\nThus the Frost-King lost his kingdom,\nAnd his power to harm and blight.\nViolet conquered, and his cold heart\nWarmed with music, love, and light;\nAnd his fair home, once so dreary,\nGay with lovely Elves and flowers,\nBrought a joy that never faded\nThrough the long bright summer hours.\n\n\nThus, by Violet\u2019s magic power,\nAll dark shadows passed away,\nAnd o\u2019er the home of happy flowers\nThe golden light for ever lay.\nThus the Fairy mission ended,\nAnd all Flower-Land was taught\nThe \u201cPower of Love,\u201d by gentle deeds\nThat little Violet wrought.\n\n\nAs Sunny Lock ceased, another little Elf came forward; and this was the\ntale \u201cSilver Wing\u201d told.\n\n\n\n\nEVA\u2019S VISIT TO FAIRY-LAND.\n\n\nDown among the grass and fragrant clover lay little Eva by the\nbrook-side, watching the bright waves, as they went singing by under\nthe drooping flowers that grew on its banks. As she was wondering where\nthe waters went, she heard a faint, low sound, as of far-off music. She\nthought it was the wind, but not a leaf was stirring, and soon through\nthe rippling water came a strange little boat.\n\nIt was a lily of the valley, whose tall stem formed the mast, while the\nbroad leaves that rose from the roots, and drooped again till they\nreached the water, were filled with gay little Elves, who danced to the\nmusic of the silver lily-bells above, that rang a merry peal, and\nfilled the air with their fragrant breath.\n\nOn came the fairy boat, till it reached a moss-grown rock; and here it\nstopped, while the Fairies rested beneath the violet-leaves, and sang\nwith the dancing waves.\n\nEva looked with wonder on their gay faces and bright garments, and in\nthe joy of her heart sang too, and threw crimson fruit for the little\nfolks to feast upon.\n\nThey looked kindly on the child, and, after whispering long among\nthemselves, two little bright-eyed Elves flew over the shining water,\nand, lighting on the clover-blossoms, said gently, \u201cLittle maiden, many\nthanks for your kindness; and our Queen bids us ask if you will go with\nus to Fairy-Land, and learn what we can teach you.\u201d\n\n\u201cGladly would I go with you, dear Fairies,\u201d said Eva, \u201cbut I cannot\nsail in your little boat. See! I can hold you in my hand, and could not\nlive among you without harming your tiny kingdom, I am so large.\u201d\n\nThen the Elves laughed gayly, as they folded their arms about her,\nsaying, \u201cYou are a good child, dear Eva, to fear doing harm to those\nweaker than yourself. You cannot hurt us now. Look in the water and see\nwhat we have done.\u201d\n\nEva looked into the brook, and saw a tiny child standing between the\nElves. \u201cNow I can go with you,\u201d said she, \u201cbut see, I can no longer\nstep from the bank to yonder stone, for the brook seems now like a\ngreat river, and you have not given me wings like yours.\u201d\n\nBut the Fairies took each a hand, and flew lightly over the stream. The\nQueen and her subjects came to meet her, and all seemed glad to say\nsome kindly word of welcome to the little stranger. They placed a\nflower-crown upon her head, laid their soft faces against her own, and\nsoon it seemed as if the gentle Elves had always been her friends.\n\n\u201cNow must we go home,\u201d said the Queen, \u201cand you shall go with us,\nlittle one.\u201d\n\nThen there was a great bustle, as they flew about on shining wings,\nsome laying cushions of violet leaves in the boat, others folding the\nQueen\u2019s veil and mantle more closely round her, lest the falling dews\nshould chill her.\n\nThe cool waves\u2019 gentle plashing against the boat, and the sweet chime\nof the lily-bells, lulled little Eva to sleep, and when she woke it was\nin Fairy-Land. A faint, rosy light, as of the setting sun, shone on the\nwhite pillars of the Queen\u2019s palace as they passed in, and the sleeping\nflowers leaned gracefully on their stems, dreaming beneath their soft\ngreen curtains. All was cool and still, and the Elves glided silently\nabout, lest they should break their slumbers. They led Eva to a bed of\npure white leaves, above which drooped the fragrant petals of a crimson\nrose.\n\n\u201cYou can look at the bright colors till the light fades, and then the\nrose will sing you to sleep,\u201d said the Elves, as they folded the soft\nleaves about her, gently kissed her, and stole away.\n\nLong she lay watching the bright shadows, and listening to the song of\nthe rose, while through the long night dreams of lovely things floated\nlike bright clouds through her mind; while the rose bent lovingly above\nher, and sang in the clear moonlight.\n\nWith the sun rose the Fairies, and, with Eva, hastened away to the\nfountain, whose cool waters were soon filled with little forms, and the\nair ringing with happy voices, as the Elves floated in the blue waves\namong the fair white lilies, or sat on the green moss, smoothing their\nbright locks, and wearing fresh garlands of dewy flowers. At length the\nQueen came forth, and her subjects gathered round her, and while the\nflowers bowed their heads, and the trees hushed their rustling, the\nFairies sang their morning hymn to the Father of birds and blossoms,\nwho had made the earth so fair a home for them.\n\nThen they flew away to the gardens, and soon, high up among the\ntree-tops, or under the broad leaves, sat the Elves in little groups,\ntaking their breakfast of fruit and pure fresh dew; while the\nbright-winged birds came fearlessly among them, pecking the same ripe\nberries, and dipping their little beaks in the same flower-cups, and\nthe Fairies folded their arms lovingly about them, smoothed their soft\nbosoms, and gayly sang to them.\n\n\u201cNow, little Eva,\u201d said they, \u201cyou will see that Fairies are not idle,\nwilful Spirits, as mortals believe. Come, we will show you what we do.\u201d\n\nThey led her to a lovely room, through whose walls of deep green leaves\nthe light stole softly in. Here lay many wounded insects, and harmless\nlittle creatures, whom cruel hands had hurt; and pale, drooping flowers\ngrew beside urns of healing herbs, from whose fresh leaves came a\nfaint, sweet perfume.\n\nEva wondered, but silently followed her guide, little Rose-Leaf, who\nwith tender words passed among the delicate blossoms, pouring dew on\ntheir feeble roots, cheering them with her loving words and happy\nsmile.\n\nThen she went to the insects; first to a little fly who lay in a\nflower-leaf cradle.\n\n\u201cDo you suffer much, dear Gauzy-Wing?\u201d asked the Fairy. \u201cI will bind up\nyour poor little leg, and Zephyr shall rock you to sleep.\u201d So she\nfolded the cool leaves tenderly about the poor fly, bathed his wings,\nand brought him refreshing drink, while he hummed his thanks, and\nforgot his pain, as Zephyr softly sung and fanned him with her waving\nwings.\n\nThey passed on, and Eva saw beside each bed a Fairy, who with gentle\nhands and loving words soothed the suffering insects. At length they\nstopped beside a bee, who lay among sweet honeysuckle flowers, in a\ncool, still place, where the summer wind blew in, and the green leaves\nrustled pleasantly. Yet he seemed to find no rest, and murmured of the\npain he was doomed to bear. \u201cWhy must I lie here, while my kindred are\nout in the pleasant fields, enjoying the sunlight and the fresh air,\nand cruel hands have doomed me to this dark place and bitter pain when\nI have done no wrong? Uncared for and forgotten, I must stay here among\nthese poor things who think only of themselves. Come here, Rose-Leaf,\nand bind up my wounds, for I am far more useful than idle bird or fly.\u201d\n\nThen said the Fairy, while she bathed the broken wing,\u2014\n\n\u201cLove-Blossom, you should not murmur. We may find happiness in seeking\nto be patient even while we suffer. You are not forgotten or uncared\nfor, but others need our care more than you, and to those who take\ncheerfully the pain and sorrow sent, do we most gladly give our help.\nYou need not be idle, even though lying here in darkness and sorrow;\nyou can be taking from your heart all sad and discontented feelings,\nand if love and patience blossom there, you will be better for the\nlonely hours spent here. Look on the bed beside you; this little dove\nhas suffered far greater pain than you, and all our care can never ease\nit; yet through the long days he hath lain here, not an unkind word or\na repining sigh hath he uttered. Ah, Love-Blossom, the gentle bird can\nteach a lesson you will be wiser and better for.\u201d\n\nThen a faint voice whispered, \u201cLittle Rose-Leaf, come quickly, or I\ncannot thank you as I ought for all your loving care of me.\u201d\n\nSo they passed to the bed beside the discontented bee, and here upon\nthe softest down lay the dove, whose gentle eyes looked gratefully upon\nthe Fairy, as she knelt beside the little couch, smoothed the soft\nwhite bosom, folded her arms about it and wept sorrowing tears, while\nthe bird still whispered its gratitude and love.\n\n\u201cDear Fairy, the fairest flowers have cheered me with their sweet\nbreath, fresh dew and fragrant leaves have been ever ready for me,\ngentle hands to tend, kindly hearts to love; and for this I can only\nthank you and say farewell.\u201d\n\nThen the quivering wings were still, and the patient little dove was\ndead; but the bee murmured no longer, and the dew from the flowers fell\nlike tears around the quiet bed.\n\nSadly Rose-Leaf led Eva away, saying, \u201cLily-Bosom shall have a grave\ntonight beneath our fairest blossoms, and you shall see that gentleness\nand love are prized far above gold or beauty, here in Fairy-Land. Come\nnow to the Flower Palace, and see the Fairy Court.\u201d\n\nBeneath green arches, bright with birds and flowers, beside singing\nwaves, went Eva into a lofty hall. The roof of pure white lilies rested\non pillars of green clustering vines, while many-colored blossoms threw\ntheir bright shadows on the walls, as they danced below in the deep\ngreen moss, and their low, sweet voices sounded softly through the\nsunlit palace, while the rustling leaves kept time.\n\nBeside the throne stood Eva, and watched the lovely forms around her,\nas they stood, each little band in its own color, with glistening\nwings, and flower wands.\n\nSuddenly the music grew louder and sweeter, and the Fairies knelt, and\nbowed their heads, as on through the crowd of loving subjects came the\nQueen, while the air was filled with gay voices singing to welcome her.\n\nShe placed the child beside her, saying, \u201cLittle Eva, you shall see now\nhow the flowers on your great earth bloom so brightly. A band of loving\nlittle gardeners go daily forth from Fairy-Land, to tend and watch\nthem, that no harm may befall the gentle spirits that dwell beneath\ntheir leaves. This is never known, for like all good it is unseen by\nmortal eyes, and unto only pure hearts like yours do we make known our\nsecret. The humblest flower that grows is visited by our messengers,\nand often blooms in fragrant beauty unknown, unloved by all save Fairy\nfriends, who seek to fill the spirits with all sweet and gentle\nvirtues, that they may not be useless on the earth; for the noblest\nmortals stoop to learn of flowers. Now, Eglantine, what have you to\ntell us of your rosy namesakes on the earth?\u201d\n\nFrom a group of Elves, whose rose-wreathed wands showed the flower they\nloved, came one bearing a tiny urn, and, answering the Queen, she\nsaid,\u2014\n\n\u201cOver hill and valley they are blooming fresh and fair as summer sun\nand dew can make them. No drooping stem or withered leaf tells of any\nevil thought within their fragrant bosoms, and thus from the fairest of\ntheir race have they gathered this sweet dew, as a token of their\ngratitude to one whose tenderness and care have kept them pure and\nhappy; and this, the loveliest of their sisters, have I brought to\nplace among the Fairy flowers that never pass away.\u201d\n\nEglantine laid the urn before the Queen, and placed the fragrant rose\non the dewy moss beside the throne, while a murmur of approval went\nthrough the hall, as each elfin wand waved to the little Fairy who had\ntoiled so well and faithfully, and could bring so fair a gift to their\ngood Queen.\n\nThen came forth an Elf bearing a withered leaf, while her many-colored\nrobe and the purple tulips in her hair told her name and charge.\n\n\u201cDear Queen,\u201d she sadly said, \u201cI would gladly bring as pleasant tidings\nas my sister, but, alas! my flowers are proud and wilful, and when I\nwent to gather my little gift of colored leaves for royal garments,\nthey bade me bring this withered blossom, and tell you they would serve\nno longer one who will not make them Queen over all the other flowers.\nThey would yield neither dew nor honey, but proudly closed their leaves\nand bid me go.\u201d\n\n\u201cYour task has been too hard for you,\u201d said the Queen kindly, as she\nplaced the drooping flower in the urn Eglantine had given, \u201cyou will\nsee how this dew from a sweet, pure heart will give new life and\nloveliness even to this poor faded one. So can you, dear Rainbow, by\nloving words and gentle teachings, bring back lost purity and peace to\nthose whom pride and selfishness have blighted. Go once again to the\nproud flowers, and tell them when they are queen of their own hearts\nthey will ask no fairer kingdom. Watch more tenderly than ever over\nthem, see that they lack neither dew nor air, speak lovingly to them,\nand let no unkind word or deed of theirs anger you. Let them see by\nyour patient love and care how much fairer they might be, and when next\nyou come, you will be laden with gifts from humble, loving flowers.\u201d\n\nThus they told what they had done, and received from their Queen some\ngentle chiding or loving word of praise.\n\n\u201cYou will be weary of this,\u201d said little Rose-Leaf to Eva; \u201ccome now\nand see where we are taught to read the tales written on flower-leaves,\nand the sweet language of the birds, and all that can make a Fairy\nheart wiser and better.\u201d\n\nThen into a cheerful place they went, where were many groups of\nflowers, among whose leaves sat the child Elves, and learned from their\nflower-books all that Fairy hands had written there. Some studied how\nto watch the tender buds, when to spread them to the sunlight, and when\nto shelter them from rain; how to guard the ripening seeds, and when to\nlay them in the warm earth or send them on the summer wind to far off\nhills and valleys, where other Fairy hands would tend and cherish them,\ntill a sisterhood of happy flowers sprang up to beautify and gladden\nthe lonely spot where they had fallen. Others learned to heal the\nwounded insects, whose frail limbs a breeze could shatter, and who,\nwere it not for Fairy hands, would die ere half their happy summer life\nhad gone. Some learned how by pleasant dreams to cheer and comfort\nmortal hearts, by whispered words of love to save from evil deeds those\nwho had gone astray, to fill young hearts with gentle thoughts and pure\naffections, that no sin might mar the beauty of the human flower; while\nothers, like mortal children, learned the Fairy alphabet. Thus the\nElves made loving friends by care and love, and no evil thing could\nharm them, for those they helped to cherish and protect ever watched to\nshield and save them.\n\nEva nodded to the gay little ones, as they peeped from among the leaves\nat the stranger, and then she listened to the Fairy lessons. Several\ntiny Elves stood on a broad leaf while the teacher sat among the petals\nof a flower that bent beside them, and asked questions that none but\nFairies would care to know.\n\n\u201cTwinkle, if there lay nine seeds within a flower-cup and the wind bore\nfive away, how many would the blossom have?\u201d \u201cFour,\u201d replied the little\none.\n\n\u201cRosebud, if a Cowslip opens three leaves in one day and four the next,\nhow many rosy leaves will there be when the whole flower has bloomed?\u201d\n\n\u201cSeven,\u201d sang the gay little Elf.\n\n\u201cHarebell, if a silkworm spin one yard of Fairy cloth in an hour, how\nmany will it spin in a day?\u201d\n\n\u201cTwelve,\u201d said the Fairy child.\n\n\u201cPrimrose, where lies Violet Island?\u201d\n\n\u201cIn the Lake of Ripples.\u201d\n\n\u201cLilla, you may bound Rose Land.\u201d\n\n\u201cOn the north by Ferndale, south by Sunny Wave River, east by the hill\nof Morning Clouds, and west by the Evening Star.\u201d\n\n\u201cNow, little ones,\u201d said the teacher, \u201cyou may go to your painting,\nthat our visitor may see how we repair the flowers that earthly hands\nhave injured.\u201d\n\nThen Eva saw how, on large, white leaves, the Fairies learned to\nimitate the lovely colors, and with tiny brushes to brighten the blush\non the anemone\u2019s cheek, to deepen the blue of the violet\u2019s eye, and add\nnew light to the golden cowslip.\n\n\u201cYou have stayed long enough,\u201d said the Elves at length, \u201cwe have many\nthings to show you. Come now and see what is our dearest work.\u201d\n\nSo Eva said farewell to the child Elves, and hastened with little\nRose-Leaf to the gates. Here she saw many bands of Fairies, folded in\ndark mantles that mortals might not know them, who, with the child\namong them, flew away over hill and valley. Some went to the cottages\namid the hills, some to the sea-side to watch above the humble fisher\nfolks; but little Rose-Leaf and many others went into the noisy city.\n\nEva wondered within herself what good the tiny Elves could do in this\ngreat place; but she soon learned, for the Fairy band went among the\npoor and friendless, bringing pleasant dreams to the sick and old,\nsweet, tender thoughts of love and gentleness to the young, strength to\nthe weak, and patient cheerfulness to the poor and lonely.\n\nThen the child wondered no longer, but deeper grew her love for the\ntender-hearted Elves, who left their own happy home to cheer and\ncomfort those who never knew what hands had clothed and fed them, what\nhearts had given of their own joy, and brought such happiness to\ntheirs.\n\nLong they stayed, and many a lesson little Eva learned: but when she\nbegged them to go back, they still led her on, saying, \u201cOur work is not\nyet done; shall we leave so many sad hearts when we may cheer them, so\nmany dark homes that we may brighten? We must stay yet longer, little\nEva, and you may learn yet more.\u201d\n\nThen they went into a dark and lonely room, and here they found a pale,\nsad-eyed child, who wept bitter tears over a faded flower.\n\n\u201cAh,\u201d sighed the little one, \u201cit was my only friend, and I cherished it\nwith all my lone heart\u2019s love; \u2019t was all that made my sad life happy;\nand it is gone.\u201d\n\nTenderly the child fastened the drooping stem, and placed it where the\none faint ray of sunlight stole into the dreary room.\n\n\u201cDo you see,\u201d said the Elves, \u201cthrough this simple flower will we keep\nthe child pure and stainless amid the sin and sorrow around her. The\nlove of this shall lead her on through temptation and through grief,\nand she shall be a spirit of joy and consolation to the sinful and the\nsorrowing.\u201d\n\nAnd with busy love toiled the Elves amid the withered leaves, and new\nstrength was given to the flower; while, as day by day the friendless\nchild watered the growing buds, deeper grew her love for the unseen\nfriends who had given her one thing to cherish in her lonely home;\nsweet, gentle thoughts filled her heart as she bent above it, and the\nblossom\u2019s fragrant breath was to her a whispered voice of all fair and\nlovely things; and as the flower taught her, so she taught others.\n\nThe loving Elves brought her sweet dreams by night, and happy thoughts\nby day, and as she grew in childlike beauty, pure and patient amid\npoverty and sorrow, the sinful were rebuked, sorrowing hearts grew\nlight, and the weak and selfish forgot their idle fears, when they saw\nher trustingly live on with none to aid or comfort her. The love she\nbore the tender flower kept her own heart innocent and bright, and the\npure human flower was a lesson to those who looked upon it; and soon\nthe gloomy house was bright with happy hearts, that learned of the\ngentle child to bear poverty and grief as she had done, to forgive\nthose who brought care and wrong to them, and to seek for happiness in\nhumble deeds of charity and love.\n\n\u201cOur work is done,\u201d whispered the Elves, and with blessings on the two\nfair flowers, they flew away to other homes;\u2014to a blind old man who\ndwelt alone with none to love him, till through long years of darkness\nand of silent sorrow the heart within had grown dim and cold. No\nsunlight could enter at the darkened eyes, and none were near to\nwhisper gentle words, to cheer and comfort.\n\nThus he dwelt forgotten and alone, seeking to give no joy to others,\npossessing none himself. Life was dark and sad till the untiring Elves\ncame to his dreary home, bringing sunlight and love. They whispered\nsweet words of comfort,\u2014how, if the darkened eyes could find no light\nwithout, within there might be never-failing happiness; gentle feelings\nand sweet, loving thoughts could make the heart fair, if the gloomy,\nselfish sorrow were but cast away, and all would be bright and\nbeautiful.\n\nThey brought light-hearted children, who gathered round him, making the\ndesolate home fair with their young faces, and his sad heart gay with\ntheir sweet, childish voices. The love they bore he could not cast\naway, sunlight stole in, the dark thoughts passed away, and the earth\nwas a pleasant home to him.\n\nThus their little hands led him back to peace and happiness, flowers\nbloomed beside his door, and their fragrant breath brought happy\nthoughts of pleasant valleys and green hills; birds sang to him, and\ntheir sweet voices woke the music in his own soul, that never failed to\ncalm and comfort. Happy sounds were heard in his once lonely home, and\nbright faces gathered round his knee, and listened tenderly while he\nstrove to tell them all the good that gentleness and love had done for\nhim.\n\nStill the Elves watched near, and brighter grew the heart as kindly\nthoughts and tender feelings entered in, and made it their home; and\nwhen the old man fell asleep, above his grave little feet trod lightly,\nand loving hands laid fragrant flowers.\n\nThen went the Elves into the dreary prison-houses, where sad hearts\npined in lonely sorrow for the joy and freedom they had lost. To these\ncame the loving band with tender words, telling of the peace they yet\nmight win by patient striving and repentant tears, thus waking in their\nbosoms all the holy feelings and sweet affections that had slept so\nlong.\n\nThey told pleasant tales, and sang their sweetest songs to cheer and\ngladden, while the dim cells grew bright with the sunlight, and\nfragrant with the flowers the loving Elves had brought, and by their\ngentle teachings those sad, despairing hearts were filled with patient\nhope and earnest longing to win back their lost innocence and joy.\n\nThus to all who needed help or comfort went the faithful Fairies; and\nwhen at length they turned towards Fairy-Land, many were the grateful,\nhappy hearts they left behind.\n\nThen through the summer sky, above the blossoming earth, they journeyed\nhome, happier for the joy they had given, wiser for the good they had\ndone.\n\nAll Fairy-Land was dressed in flowers, and the soft wind went singing\nby, laden with their fragrant breath. Sweet music sounded through the\nair, and troops of Elves in their gayest robes hastened to the palace\nwhere the feast was spread.\n\nSoon the bright hall was filled with smiling faces and fair forms, and\nlittle Eva, as she stood beside the Queen, thought she had never seen a\nsight so lovely.\n\nThe many-colored shadows of the fairest flowers played on the pure\nwhite walls, and fountains sparkled in the sunlight, making music as\nthe cool waves rose and fell, while to and fro, with waving wings and\njoyous voices, went the smiling Elves, bearing fruit and honey, or\nfragrant garlands for each other\u2019s hair.\n\nLong they feasted, gayly they sang, and Eva, dancing merrily among\nthem, longed to be an Elf that she might dwell forever in so fair a\nhome.\n\nAt length the music ceased, and the Queen said, as she laid her hand on\nlittle Eva\u2019s shining hair:\u2014\n\n\u201cDear child, tomorrow we must bear you home, for, much as we long to\nkeep you, it were wrong to bring such sorrow to your loving earthly\nfriends; therefore we will guide you to the brook-side, and there say\nfarewell till you come again to visit us. Nay, do not weep, dear\nRose-Leaf; you shall watch over little Eva\u2019s flowers, and when she\nlooks at them she will think of you. Come now and lead her to the Fairy\ngarden, and show her what we think our fairest sight. Weep no more, but\nstrive to make her last hours with us happy as you can.\u201d\n\nWith gentle caresses and most tender words the loving Elves gathered\nabout the child, and, with Rose-Leaf by her side, they led her through\nthe palace, and along green, winding paths, till Eva saw what seemed a\nwall of flowers rising before her, while the air was filled with the\nmost fragrant odors, and the low, sweet music as of singing blossoms.\n\n\u201cWhere have you brought me, and what mean these lovely sounds?\u201d asked\nEva.\n\n\u201cLook here, and you shall see,\u201d said Rose-Leaf, as she bent aside the\nvines, \u201cbut listen silently or you cannot hear.\u201d\n\nThen Eva, looking through the drooping vines, beheld a garden filled\nwith the loveliest flowers; fair as were all the blossoms she had seen\nin Fairy-Land, none were so beautiful as these. The rose glowed with a\ndeeper crimson, the lily\u2019s soft leaves were more purely white, the\ncrocus and humble cowslip shone like sunlight, and the violet was blue\nas the sky that smiled above it.\n\n\u201cHow beautiful they are,\u201d whispered Eva, \u201cbut, dear Rose-Leaf, why do\nyou keep them here, and why call you this your fairest sight?\u201d\n\n\u201cLook again, and I will tell you,\u201d answered the Fairy.\n\nEva looked, and saw from every flower a tiny form come forth to welcome\nthe Elves, who all, save Rose-Leaf, had flown above the wall, and were\nnow scattering dew upon the flowers\u2019 bright leaves and talking gayly\nwith the Spirits, who gathered around them, and seemed full of joy that\nthey had come. The child saw that each one wore the colors of the\nflower that was its home. Delicate and graceful were the little forms,\nbright the silken hair that fell about each lovely face; and Eva heard\nthe low, sweet murmur of their silvery voices and the rustle of their\nwings. She gazed in silent wonder, forgetting she knew not who they\nwere, till the Fairy said,\u2014\n\n\u201cThese are the spirits of the flowers, and this the Fairy Home where\nthose whose hearts were pure and loving on the earth come to bloom in\nfadeless beauty here, when their earthly life is past. The humblest\nflower that blooms has a home with us, for outward beauty is a\nworthless thing if all be not fair and sweet within. Do you see yonder\nlovely spirit singing with my sister Moonlight? a clover blossom was\nher home, and she dwelt unknown, unloved; yet patient and content,\nbearing cheerfully the sorrows sent her. We watched and saw how fair\nand sweet the humble flower grew, and then gladly bore her here, to\nblossom with the lily and the rose. The flowers\u2019 lives are often short,\nfor cruel hands destroy them; therefore is it our greatest joy to bring\nthem hither, where no careless foot or wintry wind can harm them, where\nthey bloom in quiet beauty, repaying our care by their love and\nsweetest perfumes.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will never break another flower,\u201d cried Eva; \u201cbut let me go to them,\ndear Fairy; I would gladly know the lovely spirits, and ask forgiveness\nfor the sorrow I have caused. May I not go in?\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, dear Eva, you are a mortal child, and cannot enter here; but I\nwill tell them of the kind little maiden who has learned to love them,\nand they will remember you when you are gone. Come now, for you have\nseen enough, and we must be away.\u201d\n\nOn a rosy morning cloud, surrounded by the loving Elves, went Eva\nthrough the sunny sky. The fresh wind bore them gently on, and soon\nthey stood again beside the brook, whose waves danced brightly as if to\nwelcome them.\n\n\u201cNow, ere we say farewell,\u201d said the Queen, as they gathered nearer to\nthe child, \u201ctell me, dear Eva, what among all our Fairy gifts will make\nyou happiest, and it shall be yours.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou good little Fairies,\u201d said Eva, folding them in her arms, for she\nwas no longer the tiny child she had been in Fairy-Land, \u201cyou dear good\nlittle Elves, what can I ask of you, who have done so much to make me\nhappy, and taught me so many good and gentle lessons, the memory of\nwhich will never pass away? I can only ask of you the power to be as\npure and gentle as yourselves, as tender and loving to the weak and\nsorrowing, as untiring in kindly deeds to all. Grant me this gift, and\nyou shall see that little Eva has not forgotten what you have taught\nher.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe power shall be yours,\u201d said the Elves, and laid their soft hands\non her head; \u201cwe will watch over you in dreams, and when you would have\ntidings of us, ask the flowers in your garden, and they will tell you\nall you would know. Farewell. Remember Fairy-Land and all your loving\nfriends.\u201d\n\nThey clung about her tenderly, and little Rose-Leaf placed a flower\ncrown on her head, whispering softly, \u201cWhen you would come to us again,\nstand by the brook-side and wave this in the air, and we will gladly\ntake you to our home again. Farewell, dear Eva. Think of your little\nRose-Leaf when among the flowers.\u201d\n\nLong Eva watched their shining wings, and listened to the music of\ntheir voices as they flew singing home, and when at length the last\nlittle form had vanished among the clouds, she saw that all around her\nwhere the Elves had been, the fairest flowers had sprung up, and the\nlonely brook-side was a blooming garden.\n\nThus she stood among the waving blossoms, with the Fairy garland in her\nhair, and happy feelings in her heart, better and wiser for her visit\nto Fairy-Land.\n\n\u201cNow, Star-Twinkle, what have you to teach?\u201d asked the Queen.\n\n\u201cNothing but a little song I heard the hare-bells singing,\u201d replied the\nFairy, and, taking her harp, sang, in a low, sweet voice:\u2014\n\n\n\n\nTHE FLOWER\u2019S LESSON.\n\n\nThere grew a fragrant rose-tree where the brook flows,\nWith two little tender buds, and one full rose;\nWhen the sun went down to his bed in the west,\nThe little buds leaned on the rose-mother\u2019s breast,\nWhile the bright eyed stars their long watch kept,\nAnd the flowers of the valley in their green cradles slept;\nThen silently in odors they communed with each other,\nThe two little buds on the bosom of their mother.\n\u201cO sister,\u201d said the little one, as she gazed at the sky,\n\u201cI wish that the Dew Elves, as they wander lightly by,\nWould bring me a star; for they never grow dim,\nAnd the Father does not need them to burn round him.\nThe shining drops of dew the Elves bring each day\nAnd place in my bosom, so soon pass away;\nBut a star would glitter brightly through the long summer hours,\nAnd I should be fairer than all my sister flowers.\nThat were better far than the dew-drops that fall\nOn the high and the low, and come alike to all.\nI would be fair and stately, with a bright star to shine\nAnd give a queenly air to this crimson robe of mine.\u201d\nAnd proudly she cried, \u201cThese fire-flies shall be\nMy jewels, since the stars can never come to me.\u201d\nJust then a tiny dew-drop that hung o\u2019er the dell\nOn the breast of the bud like a soft star fell;\nBut impatiently she flung it away from her leaf,\nAnd it fell on her mother like a tear of grief,\nWhile she folded to her breast, with wilful pride,\nA glittering fire-fly that hung by her side.\n\u201cHeed,\u201d said the mother rose, \u201cdaughter mine,\nWhy shouldst thou seek for beauty not thine?\nThe Father hath made thee what thou now art;\nAnd what he most loveth is a sweet, pure heart.\nThen why dost thou take with such discontent\nThe loving gift which he to thee hath sent?\nFor the cool fresh dew will render thee far\nMore lovely and sweet than the brightest star;\nThey were made for Heaven, and can never come to shine\nLike the fire-fly thou hast in that foolish breast of thine.\nO my foolish little bud, do listen to thy mother;\nCare only for true beauty, and seek for no other.\nThere will be grief and trouble in that wilful little heart;\nUnfold thy leaves, my daughter, and let the fly depart.\u201d\nBut the proud little bud would have her own will,\nAnd folded the fire-fly more closely still;\nTill the struggling insect tore open the vest\nOf purple and green, that covered her breast.\nWhen the sun came up, she saw with grief\nThe blooming of her sister bud leaf by leaf.\nWhile she, once as fair and bright as the rest,\nHung her weary head down on her wounded breast.\nBright grew the sunshine, and the soft summer air\nWas filled with the music of flowers singing there;\nBut faint grew the little bud with thirst and pain,\nAnd longed for the cool dew; but now \u2019t was in vain.\nThen bitterly she wept for her folly and pride,\nAs drooping she stood by her fair sister\u2019s side.\nThen the rose mother leaned the weary little head\nOn her bosom to rest, and tenderly she said:\n\u201cThou hast learned, my little bud, that, whatever may betide,\nThou canst win thyself no joy by passion or by pride.\nThe loving Father sends the sunshine and the shower,\nThat thou mayst become a perfect little flower;\u2014\nThe sweet dews to feed thee, the soft wind to cheer,\nAnd the earth as a pleasant home, while thou art dwelling here.\nThen shouldst thou not be grateful for all this kindly care,\nAnd strive to keep thyself most innocent and fair?\nThen seek, my little blossom, to win humility;\nBe fair without, be pure within, and thou wilt happy be.\nSo when the quiet Autumn of thy fragrant life shall come,\nThou mayst pass away, to bloom in the Flower Spirits\u2019 home.\u201d\nThen from the mother\u2019s breast, where it still lay hid,\nInto the fading bud the dew-drop gently slid;\nStronger grew the little form, and happy tears fell,\nAs the dew did its silent work, and the bud grew well,\nWhile the gentle rose leaned, with motherly pride,\nO\u2019er the fair little ones that bloomed at her side.\n\n\nNight came again, and the fire-flies flew;\nBut the bud let them pass, and drank of the dew;\nWhile the soft stars shone, from the still summer heaven,\nOn the happy little flower that had learned the lesson given.\n\n\nThe music-loving Elves clapped their hands, as Star-Twinkle ceased; and\nthe Queen placed a flower crown, with a gentle smile, upon the Fairy\u2019s\nhead, saying,\u2014\n\n\u201cThe little bud\u2019s lesson shall teach us how sad a thing is pride, and\nthat humility alone can bring true happiness to flower and Fairy. You\nshall come next, Zephyr.\u201d\n\nAnd the little Fairy, who lay rocking to and fro upon a fluttering\nvine-leaf, thus began her story:\u2014\n\n\u201cAs I lay resting in the bosom of a cowslip that bent above the brook,\na little wind, tired of play, told me this tale of\n\n\n\n\nLILY-BELL AND THISTLEDOWN.\n\n\nOnce upon a time, two little Fairies went out into the world, to seek\ntheir fortune. Thistledown was as gay and gallant a little Elf as ever\nspread a wing. His purple mantle, and doublet of green, were\nembroidered with the brightest threads, and the plume in his cap came\nalways from the wing of the gayest butterfly.\n\nBut he was not loved in Fairy-Land, for, like the flower whose name and\ncolors he wore, though fair to look upon, many were the little thorns\nof cruelty and selfishness that lay concealed by his gay mantle. Many a\ngentle flower and harmless bird died by his hand, for he cared for\nhimself alone, and whatever gave him pleasure must be his, though happy\nhearts were rendered sad, and peaceful homes destroyed.\n\nSuch was Thistledown; but far different was his little friend,\nLily-Bell. Kind, compassionate, and loving, wherever her gentle face\nwas seen, joy and gratitude were found; no suffering flower or insect,\nthat did not love and bless the kindly Fairy; and thus all Elf-Land\nlooked upon her as a friend.\n\nNor did this make her vain and heedless of others; she humbly dwelt\namong them, seeking to do all the good she might; and many a houseless\nbird and hungry insect that Thistledown had harmed did she feed and\nshelter, and in return no evil could befall her, for so many friends\nwere all about her, seeking to repay her tenderness and love by their\nwatchful care.\n\nShe would not now have left Fairy-Land, but to help and counsel her\nwild companion, Thistledown, who, discontented with his quiet home,\nWOULD seek his fortune in the great world, and she feared he would\nsuffer from his own faults for others would not always be as gentle and\nforgiving as his kindred. So the kind little Fairy left her home and\nfriends to go with him; and thus, side by side, they flew beneath the\nbright summer sky.\n\nOn and on, over hill and valley, they went, chasing the gay\nbutterflies, or listening to the bees, as they flew from flower to\nflower like busy little housewives, singing as they worked; till at\nlast they reached a pleasant garden, filled with flowers and green, old\ntrees.\n\n\u201cSee,\u201d cried Thistledown, \u201cwhat a lovely home is here; let us rest\namong the cool leaves, and hear the flowers sing, for I am sadly tired\nand hungry.\u201d\n\nSo into the quiet garden they went, and the winds gayly welcomed them,\nwhile the flowers nodded on their stems, offering their bright leaves\nfor the Elves to rest upon, and fresh, sweet honey to refresh them.\n\n\u201cNow, dear Thistle, do not harm these friendly blossoms,\u201d said\nLily-Bell; \u201csee how kindly they spread their leaves, and offer us their\ndew. It would be very wrong in you to repay their care with cruelty and\npain. You will be tender for my sake, dear Thistle.\u201d\n\nThen she went among the flowers, and they bent lovingly before her, and\nlaid their soft leaves against her little face, that she might see how\nglad they were to welcome one so good and gentle, and kindly offered\ntheir dew and honey to the weary little Fairy, who sat among their\nfragrant petals and looked smilingly on the happy blossoms, who, with\ntheir soft, low voices, sang her to sleep.\n\nWhile Lily-Bell lay dreaming among the rose-leaves, Thistledown went\nwandering through the garden. First he robbed the bees of their honey,\nand rudely shook the little flowers, that he might get the dew they had\ngathered to bathe their buds in. Then he chased the bright winged\nflies, and wounded them with the sharp thorn he carried for a sword; he\nbroke the spider\u2019s shining webs, lamed the birds, and soon wherever he\npassed lay wounded insects and drooping flowers; while the winds\ncarried the tidings over the garden, and bird and blossom looked upon\nhim as an evil spirit, and fled away or closed their leaves, lest he\nshould harm them.\n\nThus he went, leaving sorrow and pain behind him, till he came to the\nroses where Lily-Bell lay sleeping. There, weary of his cruel sport, he\nstayed to rest beneath a graceful rose-tree, where grew one blooming\nflower and a tiny bud.\n\n\u201cWhy are you so slow in blooming, little one? You are too old to be\nrocked in your green cradle longer, and should be out among your sister\nflowers,\u201d said Thistle, as he lay idly in the shadow of the tree.\n\n\u201cMy little bud is not yet strong enough to venture forth,\u201d replied the\nrose, as she bent fondly over it; \u201cthe sunlight and the rain would\nblight her tender form, were she to blossom now, but soon she will be\nfit to bear them; till then she is content to rest beside her mother,\nand to wait.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou silly flower,\u201d said Thistledown, \u201csee how quickly I will make you\nbloom! your waiting is all useless.\u201d And speaking thus, he pulled\nrudely apart the folded leaves, and laid them open to the sun and air;\nwhile the rose mother implored the cruel Fairy to leave her little bud\nuntouched.\n\n\u201cIt is my first, my only one,\u201d said she, \u201cand I have watched over it\nwith such care, hoping it would soon bloom beside me; and now you have\ndestroyed it. How could you harm the little helpless one, that never\ndid aught to injure you?\u201d And while her tears fell like summer rain,\nshe drooped in grief above the little bud, and sadly watched it fading\nin the sunlight; but Thistledown, heedless of the sorrow he had given,\nspread his wings and flew away.\n\nSoon the sky grew dark, and heavy drops began to fall. Then Thistle\nhastened to the lily, for her cup was deep, and the white leaves fell\nlike curtains over the fragrant bed; he was a dainty little Elf, and\ncould not sleep among the clovers and bright buttercups. But when he\nasked the flower to unfold her leaves and take him in, she turned her\npale, soft face away, and answered sadly, \u201cI must shield my little\ndrooping sisters whom you have harmed, and cannot let you in.\u201d\n\nThen Thistledown was very angry, and turned to find shelter among the\nstately roses; but they showed their sharp thorns, and, while their\nrosy faces glowed with anger, told him to begone, or they would repay\nhim for the wrong he had done their gentle kindred.\n\nHe would have stayed to harm them, but the rain fell fast, and he\nhurried away, saying, \u201cThe tulips will take me in, for I have praised\ntheir beauty, and they are vain and foolish flowers.\u201d\n\nBut when he came, all wet and cold, praying for shelter among their\nthick leaves, they only laughed and said scornfully, \u201cWe know you, and\nwill not let you in, for you are false and cruel, and will only bring\nus sorrow. You need not come to us for another mantle, when the rain\nhas spoilt your fine one; and do not stay here, or we will do you\nharm.\u201d\n\nThen they waved their broad leaves stormily, and scattered the heavy\ndrops on his dripping garments.\n\n\u201cNow must I go to the humble daisies and blue violets,\u201d said Thistle,\n\u201cthey will be glad to let in so fine a Fairy, and I shall die in this\ncold wind and rain.\u201d\n\nSo away he flew, as fast as his heavy wings would bear him, to the\ndaisies; but they nodded their heads wisely, and closed their leaves\nyet closer, saying sharply,\u2014\n\n\u201cGo away with yourself, and do not imagine we will open our leaves to\nyou, and spoil our seeds by letting in the rain. It serves you rightly;\nto gain our love and confidence, and repay it by such cruelty! You will\nfind no shelter here for one whose careless hand wounded our little\nfriend Violet, and broke the truest heart that ever beat in a flower\u2019s\nbreast. We are very angry with you, wicked Fairy; go away and hide\nyourself.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh,\u201d cried the shivering Elf, \u201cwhere can I find shelter? I will go to\nthe violets: they will forgive and take me in.\u201d\n\nBut the daisies had spoken truly; the gentle little flower was dead,\nand her blue-eyed sisters were weeping bitterly over her faded leaves.\n\n\u201cNow I have no friends,\u201d sighed poor Thistledown, \u201cand must die of\ncold. Ah, if I had but minded Lily-Bell, I might now be dreaming\nbeneath some flower\u2019s leaves.\u201d\n\n\u201cOthers can forgive and love, beside Lily-Bell and Violet,\u201d said a\nfaint, sweet voice; \u201cI have no little bud to shelter now, and you can\nenter here.\u201d It was the rose mother that spoke, and Thistle saw how\npale the bright leaves had grown, and how the slender stem was bowed.\nGrieved, ashamed, and wondering at the flower\u2019s forgiving words, he\nlaid his weary head on the bosom he had filled with sorrow, and the\nfragrant leaves were folded carefully about him.\n\nBut he could find no rest. The rose strove to comfort him; but when she\nfancied he was sleeping, thoughts of her lost bud stole in, and the\nlittle heart beat so sadly where he lay, that no sleep came; while the\nbitter tears he had caused to flow fell more coldly on him than the\nrain without. Then he heard the other flowers whispering among\nthemselves of his cruelty, and the sorrow he had brought to their happy\nhome; and many wondered how the rose, who had suffered most, could yet\nforgive and shelter him.\n\n\u201cNever could I forgive one who had robbed me of my children. I could\nbow my head and die, but could give no happiness to one who had taken\nall my own,\u201d said Hyacinth, bending fondly over the little ones that\nblossomed by her side.\n\n\u201cDear Violet is not the only one who will leave us,\u201d sobbed little\nMignonette; \u201cthe rose mother will fade like her little bud, and we\nshall lose our gentlest teacher. Her last lesson is forgiveness; let us\nshow our love for her, and the gentle stranger Lily-Bell, by allowing\nno unkind word or thought of him who has brought us all this grief.\u201d\n\nThe angry words were hushed, and through the long night nothing was\nheard but the dropping of the rain, and the low sighs of the rose.\n\nSoon the sunlight came again, and with it Lily-Bell seeking for\nThistledown; but he was ashamed, and stole away.\n\nWhen the flowers told their sorrow to kind-hearted Lily-Bell, she wept\nbitterly at the pain her friend had given, and with loving words strove\nto comfort those whom he had grieved; with gentle care she healed the\nwounded birds, and watched above the flowers he had harmed, bringing\neach day dew and sunlight to refresh and strengthen, till all were well\nagain; and though sorrowing for their dead friends, still they forgave\nThistle for the sake of her who had done so much for them. Thus,\nerelong, buds fairer than that she had lost lay on the rose mother\u2019s\nbreast, and for all she had suffered she was well repaid by the love of\nLily-Bell and her sister flowers.\n\nAnd when bird, bee, and blossom were strong and fair again, the gentle\nFairy said farewell, and flew away to seek her friend, leaving behind\nmany grateful hearts, who owed their joy and life to her.\n\n\nMeanwhile, over hill and dale went Thistledown, and for a time was kind\nand gentle to every living thing. He missed sadly the little friend who\nhad left her happy home to watch over him, but he was too proud to own\nhis fault, and so went on, hoping she would find him.\n\nOne day he fell asleep, and when he woke the sun had set, and the dew\nbegan to fall; the flower-cups were closed, and he had nowhere to go,\ntill a friendly little bee, belated by his heavy load of honey, bid the\nweary Fairy come with him.\n\n\u201cHelp me to bear my honey home, and you can stay with us tonight,\u201d he\nkindly said.\n\nSo Thistle gladly went with him, and soon they came to a pleasant\ngarden, where among the fairest flowers stood the hive, covered with\nvines and overhung with blossoming trees. Glow-worms stood at the door\nto light them home, and as they passed in, the Fairy thought how\ncharming it must be to dwell in such a lovely place. The floor of wax\nwas pure and white as marble, while the walls were formed of golden\nhoney-comb, and the air was fragrant with the breath of flowers.\n\n\u201cYou cannot see our Queen to-night,\u201d said the little bee, \u201cbut I will\nshow you to a bed where you can rest.\u201d\n\nAnd he led the tired Fairy to a little cell, where on a bed of\nflower-leaves he folded his wings and fell asleep.\n\nAs the first ray of sunlight stole in, he was awakened by sweet music.\nIt was the morning song of the bees.\n\n\n\u201cAwake! awake! for the earliest gleam\nOf golden sunlight shines\nOn the rippling waves, that brightly flow\nBeneath the flowering vines.\nAwake! awake! for the low, sweet chant\nOf the wild-birds\u2019 morning hymn\nComes floating by on the fragrant air,\nThrough the forest cool and dim;\nThen spread each wing,\nAnd work, and sing,\nThrough the long, bright sunny hours;\nO\u2019er the pleasant earth\nWe journey forth,\nFor a day among the flowers.\n\n\n\u201cAwake! awake! for the summer wind\nHath bidden the blossoms unclose,\nHath opened the violet\u2019s soft blue eye,\nAnd wakened the sleeping rose.\nAnd lightly they wave on their slender stems\nFragrant, and fresh, and fair,\nWaiting for us, as we singing come\nTo gather our honey-dew there.\nThen spread each wing,\nAnd work, and sing,\nThrough the long, bright sunny hours;\nO\u2019er the pleasant earth\nWe journey forth,\nFor a day among the flowers!\u201d\n\n\nSoon his friend came to bid him rise, as the Queen desired to speak\nwith him. So, with his purple mantle thrown gracefully over his\nshoulder, and his little cap held respectfully in his hand, he followed\nNimble-Wing to the great hall, where the Queen was being served by her\nlittle pages. Some bore her fresh dew and honey, some fanned her with\nfragrant flower-leaves, while others scattered the sweetest perfumes on\nthe air.\n\n\u201cLittle Fairy,\u201d said the Queen, \u201cyou are welcome to my palace; and we\nwill gladly have you stay with us, if you will obey our laws. We do not\nspend the pleasant summer days in idleness and pleasure, but each one\nlabors for the happiness and good of all. If our home is beautiful, we\nhave made it so by industry; and here, as one large, loving family, we\ndwell; no sorrow, care, or discord can enter in, while all obey the\nvoice of her who seeks to be a wise and gentle Queen to them. If you\nwill stay with us, we will teach you many things. Order, patience,\nindustry, who can teach so well as they who are the emblems of these\nvirtues?\n\n\u201cOur laws are few and simple. You must each day gather your share of\nhoney, see that your cell is sweet and fresh, as you yourself must be;\nrise with the sun, and with him to sleep. You must harm no flower in\ndoing your work, nor take more than your just share of honey; for they\nso kindly give us food, it were most cruel to treat them with aught\nsave gentleness and gratitude. Now will you stay with us, and learn\nwhat even mortals seek to know, that labor brings true happiness?\u201d\n\nAnd Thistle said he would stay and dwell with them; for he was tired of\nwandering alone, and thought he might live here till Lily-Bell should\ncome, or till he was weary of the kind-hearted bees. Then they took\naway his gay garments, and dressed him like themselves, in the black\nvelvet cloak with golden bands across his breast.\n\n\u201cNow come with us,\u201d they said. So forth into the green fields they\nwent, and made their breakfast among the dewy flowers; and then till\nthe sun set they flew from bud to blossom, singing as they went; and\nThistle for a while was happier than when breaking flowers and harming\ngentle birds.\n\nBut he soon grew tired of working all day in the sun, and longed to be\nfree again. He could find no pleasure with the industrious bees, and\nsighed to be away with his idle friends, the butterflies; so while the\nothers worked he slept or played, and then, in haste to get his share,\nhe tore the flowers, and took all they had saved for their own food.\nNor was this all; he told such pleasant tales of the life he led before\nhe came to live with them, that many grew unhappy and discontented, and\nthey who had before wished no greater joy than the love and praise of\ntheir kind Queen, now disobeyed and blamed her for all she had done for\nthem.\n\nLong she bore with their unkind words and deeds; and when at length she\nfound it was the ungrateful Fairy who had wrought this trouble in her\nquiet kingdom, she strove, with sweet, forgiving words, to show him all\nthe wrong he had done; but he would not listen, and still went on\ndestroying the happiness of those who had done so much for him.\n\nThen, when she saw that no kindness could touch his heart, she said:\u2014\n\n\u201cThistledown, we took you in, a friendless stranger, fed and clothed\nyou, and made our home as pleasant to you as we could; and in return\nfor all our care, you have brought discontent and trouble to my\nsubjects, grief and care to me. I cannot let my peaceful kingdom be\ndisturbed by you; therefore go and seek another home. You may find\nother friends, but none will love you more than we, had you been worthy\nof it; so farewell.\u201d And the doors of the once happy home he had\ndisturbed were closed behind him.\n\nThen he was very angry, and determined to bring some great sorrow on\nthe good Queen. So he sought out the idle, wilful bees, whom he had\nfirst made discontented, bidding them follow him, and win the honey the\nQueen had stored up for the winter.\n\n\u201cLet us feast and make merry in the pleasant summer-time,\u201d said\nThistle; \u201cwinter is far off, why should we waste these lovely days,\ntoiling to lay up the food we might enjoy now. Come, we will take what\nwe have made, and think no more of what the Queen has said.\u201d\n\nSo while the industrious bees were out among the flowers, he led the\ndrones to the hive, and took possession of the honey, destroying and\nlaying waste the home of the kind bees; then, fearing that in their\ngrief and anger they might harm him, Thistle flew away to seek new\nfriends.\n\n\nAfter many wanderings, he came at length to a great forest, and here\nbeside a still lake he stayed to rest. Delicate wood-flowers grew near\nhim in the deep green moss, with drooping heads, as if they listened to\nthe soft wind singing among the pines. Bright-eyed birds peeped at him\nfrom their nests, and many-colored insects danced above the cool, still\nlake.\n\n\u201cThis is a pleasant place,\u201d said Thistle; \u201cit shall be my home for a\nwhile. Come hither, blue dragon-fly, I would gladly make a friend of\nyou, for I am all alone.\u201d\n\nThe dragon-fly folded his shining wings beside the Elf, listened to the\ntale he told, promised to befriend the lonely one, and strove to make\nthe forest a happy home to him.\n\nSo here dwelt Thistle, and many kind friends gathered round him, for he\nspoke gently to them, and they knew nothing of the cruel deeds he had\ndone; and for a while he was happy and content. But at length he grew\nweary of the gentle birds, and wild-flowers, and sought new pleasure in\ndestroying the beauty he was tired of; and soon the friends who had so\nkindly welcomed him looked upon him as an evil spirit, and shrunk away\nas he approached.\n\nAt length his friend the dragon-fly besought him to leave the quiet\nhome he had disturbed. Then Thistle was very angry, and while the\ndragon-fly was sleeping among the flowers that hung over the lake, he\nled an ugly spider to the spot, and bade him weave his nets about the\nsleeping insect, and bind him fast. The cruel spider gladly obeyed the\nungrateful Fairy; and soon the poor fly could move neither leg nor\nwing. Then Thistle flew away through the wood, leaving sorrow and\ntrouble behind him.\n\nHe had not journeyed far before he grew weary, and lay down to rest.\nLong he slept, and when he awoke, and tried to rise, his hands and\nwings were bound; while beside him stood two strange little figures,\nwith dark faces and garments, that rustled like withered leaves; who\ncried to him, as he struggled to get free,\u2014\n\n\u201cLie still, you naughty Fairy, you are in the Brownies\u2019 power, and\nshall be well punished for your cruelty ere we let you go.\u201d\n\nSo poor Thistle lay sorrowfully, wondering what would come of it, and\nwishing Lily-Bell would come to help and comfort him; but he had left\nher, and she could not help him now.\n\nSoon a troop of Brownies came rustling through the air, and gathered\nround him, while one who wore an acorn-cup on his head, and was their\nKing, said, as he stood beside the trembling Fairy,\u2014\n\n\u201cYou have done many cruel things, and caused much sorrow to happy\nhearts; now you are in my power, and I shall keep you prisoner till you\nhave repented. You cannot dwell on the earth without harming the fair\nthings given you to enjoy, so you shall live alone in solitude and\ndarkness, till you have learned to find happiness in gentle deeds, and\nforget yourself in giving joy to others. When you have learned this, I\nwill set you free.\u201d\n\nThen the Brownies bore him to a high, dark rock, and, entering a little\ndoor, led him to a small cell, dimly lighted by a crevice through which\ncame a single gleam of sunlight; and there, through long, long days,\npoor Thistle sat alone, and gazed with wistful eyes at the little\nopening, longing to be out on the green earth. No one came to him, but\nthe silent Brownies who brought his daily food; and with bitter tears\nhe wept for Lily-Bell, mourning his cruelty and selfishness, seeking to\ndo some kindly deed that might atone for his wrong-doing.\n\nA little vine that grew outside his prison rock came creeping up, and\nlooked in through the crevice, as if to cheer the lonely Fairy, who\nwelcomed it most gladly, and daily sprinkled its soft leaves with his\nsmall share of water, that the little vine might live, even if it\ndarkened more and more his dim cell.\n\nThe watchful Brownies saw this kind deed, and brought him fresh\nflowers, and many things, which Thistle gratefully received, though he\nnever knew it was his kindness to the vine that gained for him these\npleasures.\n\nThus did poor Thistle strive to be more gentle and unselfish, and grew\ndaily happier and better.\n\nNow while Thistledown was a captive in the lonely cell, Lily-Bell was\nseeking him far and wide, and sadly traced him by the sorrowing hearts\nhe had left behind.\n\nShe healed the drooping flowers, cheered the Queen Bee\u2019s grief, brought\nback her discontented subjects, restored the home to peace and order,\nand left them blessing her.\n\nThus she journeyed on, till she reached the forest where Thistledown\nhad lost his freedom. She unbound the starving dragon-fly, and tended\nthe wounded birds; but though all learned to love her, none could tell\nwhere the Brownies had borne her friend, till a little wind came\nwhispering by, and told her that a sweet voice had been heard, singing\nFairy songs, deep in a moss-grown rock.\n\nThen Lily-Bell went seeking through the forest, listening for the\nvoice. Long she looked and listened in vain; when one day, as she was\nwandering through a lonely dell, she heard a faint, low sound of music,\nand soon a distant voice mournfully singing,\u2014\n\n\n\u201cBright shines the summer sun,\nSoft is the summer air;\nGayly the wood-birds sing,\nFlowers are blooming fair.\n\n\n\u201cBut, deep in the dark, cold rock,\nSadly I dwell,\nLonging for thee, dear friend,\nLily-Bell! Lily-Bell!\u201d\n\n\n\u201cThistle, dear Thistle, where are you?\u201d joyfully cried Lily-Bell, as\nshe flew from rock to rock. But the voice was still, and she would have\nlooked in vain, had she not seen a little vine, whose green leaves\nfluttering to and fro seemed beckoning her to come; and as she stood\namong its flowers she sang,\u2014\n\n\n\u201cThrough sunlight and summer air\nI have sought for thee long,\nGuided by birds and flowers,\nAnd now by thy song.\n\n\n\u201cThistledown! Thistledown!\nO\u2019er hill and dell\nHither to comfort thee\nComes Lily-Bell.\u201d\n\n\nThen from the vine-leaves two little arms were stretched out to her,\nand Thistledown was found. So Lily-Bell made her home in the shadow of\nthe vine, and brought such joy to Thistle, that his lonely cell seemed\npleasanter to him than all the world beside; and he grew daily more\nlike his gentle friend. But it did not last long, for one day she did\nnot come. He watched and waited long, for the little face that used to\npeep smiling in through the vine-leaves. He called and beckoned through\nthe narrow opening, but no Lily-Bell answered; and he wept sadly as he\nthought of all she had done for him, and that now he could not go to\nseek and help her, for he had lost his freedom by his own cruel and\nwicked deeds.\n\nAt last he besought the silent Brownie earnestly to tell him whither\nshe had gone.\n\n\u201cO let me go to her,\u201d prayed Thistle; \u201cif she is in sorrow, I will\ncomfort her, and show my gratitude for all she has done for me: dear\nBrownie, set me free, and when she is found I will come and be your\nprisoner again. I will bear and suffer any danger for her sake.\u201d\n\n\u201cLily-Bell is safe,\u201d replied the Brownie; \u201ccome, you shall learn the\ntrial that awaits you.\u201d\n\nThen he led the wondering Fairy from his prison, to a group of tall,\ndrooping ferns, beneath whose shade a large white lily had been placed,\nforming a little tent, within which, on a couch of thick green moss,\nlay Lily-Bell in a deep sleep; the sunlight stole softly in, and all\nwas cool and still.\n\n\u201cYou cannot wake her,\u201d said the Brownie, as Thistle folded his arms\ntenderly about her. \u201cIt is a magic slumber, and she will not wake till\nyou shall bring hither gifts from the Earth, Air, and Water Spirits. \u2019T\nis a long and weary task, for you have made no friends to help you, and\nwill have to seek for them alone. This is the trial we shall give you;\nand if your love for Lily-Bell be strong enough to keep you from all\ncruelty and selfishness, and make you kind and loving as you should be,\nshe will awake to welcome you, and love you still more fondly than\nbefore.\u201d\n\nThen Thistle, with a last look on the little friend he loved so well,\nset forth alone to his long task.\n\n\nThe home of the Earth Spirits was the first to find, and no one would\ntell him where to look. So far and wide he wandered, through gloomy\nforests and among lonely hills, with none to cheer him when sad and\nweary, none to guide him on his way.\n\nOn he went, thinking of Lily-Bell, and for her sake bearing all; for in\nhis quiet prison many gentle feelings and kindly thoughts had sprung up\nin his heart, and he now strove to be friends with all, and win for\nhimself the love and confidence of those whom once he sought to harm\nand cruelly destroy.\n\nBut few believed him; for they remembered his false promises and evil\ndeeds, and would not trust him now; so poor Thistle found few to love\nor care for him.\n\nLong he wandered, and carefully he sought; but could not find the Earth\nSpirits\u2019 home. And when at length he reached the pleasant garden where\nhe and Lily-Bell first parted, he said within himself,\u2014\n\n\u201cHere I will stay awhile, and try to win by kindly deeds the flowers\u2019\nforgiveness for the pain and sorrow I brought them long ago; and they\nmay learn to love and trust me. So, even if I never find the Spirits, I\nshall be worthier of Lily-Bell\u2019s affection if I strive to atone for the\nwrong I have done.\u201d\n\nThen he went among the flowers, but they closed their leaves, and\nshrank away, trembling with fear; while the birds fled to hide among\nthe leaves as he passed.\n\nThis grieved poor Thistle, and he longed to tell them how changed he\nhad become; but they would not listen. So he tried to show, by quiet\ndeeds of kindness, that he meant no harm to them; and soon the\nkind-hearted birds pitied the lonely Fairy, and when he came near sang\ncheering songs, and dropped ripe berries in his path, for he no longer\nbroke their eggs, or hurt their little ones.\n\nAnd when the flowers saw this, and found the once cruel Elf now\nwatering and tending little buds, feeding hungry insects, and helping\nthe busy ants to bear their heavy loads, they shared the pity of the\nbirds, and longed to trust him; but they dared not yet.\n\nHe came one day, while wandering through the garden, to the little rose\nhe had once harmed so sadly. Many buds now bloomed beside her, and her\nsoft face glowed with motherly pride, as she bent fondly over them. But\nwhen Thistle came, he saw with sorrow how she bade them close their\ngreen curtains, and conceal themselves beneath the leaves, for there\nwas danger near; and, drooping still more closely over them, she seemed\nto wait with trembling fear the cruel Fairy\u2019s coming.\n\nBut no rude hand tore her little ones away, no unkind words were\nspoken; but a soft shower of dew fell lightly on them, and Thistle,\nbending tenderly above them, said,\u2014\n\n\u201cDear flower, forgive the sorrow I once brought you, and trust me now\nfor Lily-Bell\u2019s sake. Her gentleness has changed my cruelty to\nkindness, and I would gladly repay all for the harm I have done; but\nnone will love and trust me now.\u201d\n\nThen the little rose looked up, and while the dew-drops shone like\nhappy tears upon her leaves, she said,\u2014\n\n\u201cI WILL love and trust you, Thistle, for you are indeed much changed.\nMake your home among us, and my sister flowers will soon learn to love\nyou as you deserve. Not for sweet Lily-Bell\u2019s sake, but for your own,\nwill I become your friend; for you are kind and gentle now, and worthy\nof our love. Look up, my little ones, there is no danger near; look up,\nand welcome Thistle to our home.\u201d\n\nThen the little buds raised their rosy faces, danced again upon their\nstems, and nodded kindly at Thistle, who smiled on them through happy\ntears, and kissed the sweet, forgiving rose, who loved and trusted him\nwhen most forlorn and friendless.\n\nBut the other flowers wondered among themselves, and Hyacinth said,\u2014\n\n\u201cIf Rose-Leaf is his friend, surely we may be; yet still I fear he may\nsoon grow weary of this gentleness, and be again the wicked Fairy he\nonce was, and we shall suffer for our kindness to him now.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh, do not doubt him!\u201d cried warm-hearted little Mignonette; \u201csurely\nsome good spirit has changed the wicked Thistle into this good little\nElf. See how tenderly he lifts aside the leaves that overshadow pale\nHarebell, and listen now how softly he sings as he rocks little\nEglantine to sleep. He has done many friendly things, though none save\nRose-Leaf has been kind to him, and he is very sad. Last night when I\nawoke to draw my curtains closer, he sat weeping in the moonlight, so\nbitterly, I longed to speak a kindly word to him. Dear sisters, let us\ntrust him.\u201d\n\nAnd they all said little Mignonette was right; and, spreading wide\ntheir leaves, they bade him come, and drink their dew, and lie among\nthe fragrant petals, striving to cheer his sorrow. Thistle told them\nall, and, after much whispering together, they said,\u2014\n\n\u201cYes, we will help you to find the Earth Spirits, for you are striving\nto be good, and for love of Lily-Bell we will do much for you.\u201d\n\nSo they called a little bright-eyed mole, and said, \u201cDowny-Back, we\nhave given you a pleasant home among our roots, and you are a grateful\nlittle friend; so will you guide dear Thistle to the Earth Spirits\u2019\nhome?\u201d\n\nDowny-Back said, \u201cYes,\u201d and Thistle, thanking the kindly flowers,\nfollowed his little guide, through long, dark galleries, deeper and\ndeeper into the ground; while a glow-worm flew before to light the way.\nOn they went, and after a while, reached a path lit up by bright jewels\nhung upon the walls. Here Downy-Back, and Glimmer, the glow-worm, left\nhim, saying,\u2014\n\n\u201cWe can lead you no farther; you must now go on alone, and the music of\nthe Spirits will guide you to their home.\u201d\n\nThen they went quickly up the winding path, and Thistle, guided by the\nsweet music, went on alone.\n\nHe soon reached a lovely spot, whose golden halls were bright with\njewels, which sparkled brightly, and threw many-colored shadows on the\nshining garments of the little Spirits, who danced below to the melody\nof soft, silvery bells.\n\nLong Thistle stood watching the brilliant forms that flashed and\nsparkled round him; but he missed the flowers and the sunlight, and\nrejoiced that he was not an Earth Spirit.\n\nAt last they spied him out, and, gladly welcoming him, bade him join in\ntheir dance. But Thistledown was too sad for that, and when he told\nthem all his story they no longer urged, but sought to comfort him; and\none whom they called little Sparkle (for her crown and robe shone with\nthe brightest diamonds), said: \u201cYou will have to work for us, ere you\ncan win a gift to show the Brownies; do you see those golden bells that\nmake such music, as we wave them to and fro? We worked long and hard\nere they were won, and you can win one of those, if you will do the\ntask we give you.\u201d\n\nAnd Thistle said, \u201cNo task will be too hard for me to do for dear\nLily-Bell\u2019s sake.\u201d\n\nThen they led him to a strange, dark place, lit up with torches; where\ntroops of Spirits flew busily to and fro, among damp rocks, and through\ndark galleries that led far down into the earth. \u201cWhat do they here?\u201d\nasked Thistle.\n\n\u201cI will tell,\u201d replied little Sparkle, \u201cfor I once worked here myself.\nSome of them watch above the flower-roots, and keep them fresh and\nstrong; others gather the clear drops that trickle from the damp rocks,\nand form a little spring, which, growing ever larger, rises to the\nlight above, and gushes forth in some green field or lonely forest;\nwhere the wild-birds come to drink, and wood-flowers spread their\nthirsty leaves above the clear, cool waves, as they go dancing away,\ncarrying joy and freshness wherever they go. Others shape the bright\njewels into lovely forms, and make the good-luck pennies which we give\nto mortals whom we love. And here you must toil till the golden flower\nis won.\u201d\n\nThen Thistle went among the Spirits, and joined in their tasks; he\ntended the flower-roots, gathered the water-drops, and formed the\ngood-luck pennies. Long and hard he worked, and was often sad and\nweary, often tempted by unkind and selfish thoughts; but he thought of\nLily-Bell, and strove to be kind and loving as she had been; and soon\nthe Spirits learned to love the patient Fairy, who had left his home to\ntoil among them for the sake of his gentle friend.\n\nAt length came little Sparkle to him, saying, \u201cYou have done enough;\ncome now, and dance and feast with us, for the golden flower is won.\u201d\n\nBut Thistle could not stay, for half his task was not yet done; and he\nlonged for sunlight and Lily-Bell. So, taking a kind farewell, he\nhastened through the torch-lit path up to the light again; and,\nspreading his wings, flew over hill and dale till he reached the forest\nwhere Lily-Bell lay sleeping.\n\nIt was early morning, and the rosy light shone brightly through the\nlily-leaves upon her, as Thistle entered, and laid his first gift at\nthe Brownie King\u2019s feet.\n\n\u201cYou have done well,\u201d said he, \u201cwe hear good tidings of you from bird\nand flower, and you are truly seeking to repair the evil you have done.\nTake now one look at your little friend, and then go forth to seek from\nthe Air Spirits your second gift.\u201d\n\nThen Thistle said farewell again to Lily-Bell, and flew far and wide\namong the clouds, seeking the Air Spirits; but though he wandered till\nhis weary wings could bear him no longer, it was in vain. So, faint and\nsad, he lay down to rest on a broad vine-leaf, that fluttered gently in\nthe wind; and as he lay, he saw beneath him the home of the kind bees\nwhom he had so disturbed, and Lily-Bell had helped and comforted.\n\n\u201cI will seek to win their pardon, and show them that I am no longer the\ncruel Fairy who so harmed them,\u201d thought Thistle, \u201cand when they become\nagain my friends, I will ask their help to find the Air Spirits; and if\nI deserve it, they will gladly aid me on my way.\u201d\n\nSo he flew down into the field below, and hastened busily from flower\nto flower, till he had filled a tiny blue-bell with sweet, fresh honey.\nThen he stole softly to the hive, and, placing it near the door,\nconcealed himself to watch. Soon his friend Nimble-Wing came flying\nhome, and when he spied the little cup, he hummed with joy, and called\nhis companions around him.\n\n\u201cSurely, some good Elf has placed it here for us,\u201d said they; \u201clet us\nbear it to our Queen; it is so fresh and fragrant it will be a fit gift\nfor her\u201d; and they joyfully took it in, little dreaming who had placed\nit there.\n\nSo each day Thistle filled a flower-cup, and laid it at the door; and\neach day the bees wondered more and more, for many strange things\nhappened. The field-flowers told of the good spirit who watched above\nthem, and the birds sang of the same kind little Elf bringing soft moss\nfor their nests, and food for their hungry young ones; while all around\nthe hive had grown fairer since the Fairy came.\n\nBut the bees never saw him, for he feared he had not yet done enough to\nwin their forgiveness and friendship; so he lived alone among the\nvines, daily bringing them honey, and doing some kindly action.\n\nAt length, as he lay sleeping in a flower-bell, a little bee came\nwandering by, and knew him for the wicked Thistle; so he called his\nfriends, and, as they flew murmuring around him, he awoke.\n\n\u201cWhat shall we do to you, naughty Elf?\u201d said they. \u201cYou are in our\npower, and we will sting you if you are not still.\u201d\n\n\u201cLet us close the flower-leaves around him and leave him here to\nstarve,\u201d cried one, who had not yet forgotten all the sorrow Thistle\nhad caused them long ago.\n\n\u201cNo, no, that were very cruel, dear Buzz,\u201d said little Hum; \u201clet us\ntake him to our Queen, and she will tell us how to show our anger for\nthe wicked deeds he did. See how bitterly he weeps; be kind to him, he\nwill not harm us more.\u201d\n\n\u201cYou good little Hum!\u201d cried a kind-hearted robin who had hopped near\nto listen to the bees. \u201cDear friends, do you not know that this is the\ngood Fairy who has dwelt so quietly among us, watching over bird and\nblossom, giving joy to all he helps? It is HE who brings the honey-cup\neach day to you, and then goes silently away, that you may never know\nwho works so faithfully for you. Be kind to him, for if he has done\nwrong, he has repented of it, as you may see.\u201d\n\n\u201cCan this be naughty Thistle?\u201d said Nimble-Wing.\n\n\u201cYes, it is I,\u201d said Thistle, \u201cbut no longer cruel and unkind. I have\ntried to win your love by patient industry. Ah, trust me now, and you\nshall see I am not naughty Thistle any more.\u201d\n\nThen the wondering bees led him to their Queen, and when he had told\nhis tale, and begged their forgiveness, it was gladly given; and all\nstrove to show him that he was loved and trusted. Then he asked if they\ncould tell him where the Air Spirits dwelt, for he must not forget dear\nLily-Bell; and to his great joy the Queen said, \u201cYes,\u201d and bade little\nHum guide Thistle to Cloud-Land.\n\nLittle Hum joyfully obeyed; and Thistle followed him, as he flew higher\nand higher among the soft clouds, till in the distance they saw a\nradiant light.\n\n\u201cThere is their home, and I must leave you now, dear Thistle,\u201d said the\nlittle bee; and, bidding him farewell, he flew singing back; while\nThistle, following the light, soon found himself in the Air Spirits\u2019\nhome.\n\nThe sky was gold and purple like an autumn sunset, and long walls of\nbrilliant clouds lay round him. A rosy light shone through the silver\nmist, on gleaming columns and the rainbow roof; soft, fragrant winds\nwent whispering by, and airy little forms were flitting to and fro.\n\nLong Thistle wondered at the beauty round him; and then he went among\nthe shining Spirits, told his tale, and asked a gift.\n\nBut they answered like the Earth Spirits. \u201cYou must serve us first, and\nthen we will gladly give you a robe of sunlight like our own.\u201d\n\nAnd then they told him how they wafted flower-seeds over the earth, to\nbeautify and brighten lonely spots; how they watched above the blossoms\nby day, and scattered dews at night, brought sunlight into darkened\nplaces, and soft winds to refresh and cheer.\n\n\u201cThese are the things we do,\u201d said they, \u201cand you must aid us for a\ntime.\u201d\n\nAnd Thistle gladly went with the lovely Spirits; by day he joined the\nsunlight and the breeze in their silent work; by night, with Star-Light\nand her sister spirits, he flew over the moon-lit earth, dropping cool\ndew upon the folded flowers, and bringing happy dreams to sleeping\nmortals. Many a kind deed was done, many a gentle word was spoken; and\neach day lighter grew his heart, and stronger his power of giving joy\nto others.\n\nAt length Star-Light bade him work no more, and gladly gave him the\ngift he had won. Then his second task was done, and he flew gayly back\nto the green earth and slumbering Lily-Bell.\n\nThe silvery moonlight shone upon her, as he came to give his second\ngift; and the Brownie spoke more kindly than before.\n\n\u201cOne more trial, Thistle, and she will awake. Go bravely forth and win\nyour last and hardest gift.\u201d\n\n\nThen with a light heart Thistle journeyed away to the brooks and\nrivers, seeking the Water Spirits. But he looked in vain; till,\nwandering through the forest where the Brownies took him captive, he\nstopped beside the quiet lake.\n\nAs he stood here he heard a sound of pain, and, looking in the tall\ngrass at his side, he saw the dragon-fly whose kindness he once repayed\nby pain and sorrow, and who now lay suffering and alone.\n\nThistle bent tenderly beside him, saying, \u201cDear Flutter, do not fear\nme. I will gladly ease your pain, if you will let me; I am your friend,\nand long to show you how I grieve for all the wrong I did you, when you\nwere so kind to me. Forgive, and let me help and comfort you.\u201d\n\nThen he bound up the broken wing, and spoke so tenderly that Flutter\ndoubted him no longer, and was his friend again.\n\nDay by day did Thistle watch beside him, making little beds of cool,\nfresh moss for him to rest upon, fanning him when he slept, and singing\nsweet songs to cheer him when awake. And often when poor Flutter longed\nto be dancing once again over the blue waves, the Fairy bore him in his\narms to the lake, and on a broad leaf, with a green flag for a sail,\nthey floated on the still water; while the dragon-fly\u2019s companions flew\nabout them, playing merry games.\n\nAt length the broken wing was well, and Thistle said he must again seek\nthe Water Spirits. \u201cI can tell you where to find them,\u201d said Flutter;\n\u201cyou must follow yonder little brook, and it will lead you to the sea,\nwhere the Spirits dwell. I would gladly do more for you, dear Thistle,\nbut I cannot, for they live deep beneath the waves. You will find some\nkind friend to aid you on your way; and so farewell.\u201d\n\nThistle followed the little brook, as it flowed through field and\nvalley, growing ever larger, till it reached the sea. Here the wind\nblew freshly, and the great waves rolled and broke at Thistle\u2019s feet,\nas he stood upon the shore, watching the billows dancing and sparkling\nin the sun.\n\n\u201cHow shall I find the Spirits in this great sea, with none to help or\nguide me? Yet it is my last task, and for Lily-Bell\u2019s sake I must not\nfear or falter now,\u201d said Thistle. So he flew hither and thither over\nthe sea, looking through the waves. Soon he saw, far below, the\nbranches of the coral tree.\n\n\u201cThey must be here,\u201d thought he, and, folding his wings, he plunged\ninto the deep, cold sea. But he saw only fearful monsters and dark\nshapes that gathered round him; and, trembling with fear, he struggled\nup again.\n\nThe great waves tossed him to and fro, and cast him bruised and faint\nupon the shore. Here he lay weeping bitterly, till a voice beside him\nsaid, \u201cPoor little Elf, what has befallen you? These rough waves are\nnot fit playmates for so delicate a thing as you. Tell me your sorrow,\nand I will comfort you.\u201d\n\nAnd Thistle, looking up, saw a white sea-bird at his side, who tried\nwith friendly words to cheer him. So he told all his wanderings, and\nhow he sought the Sea Spirits.\n\n\u201cSurely, if bee and blossom do their part to help you, birds should aid\nyou too,\u201d said the Sea-bird. \u201cI will call my friend, the Nautilus, and\nhe will bear you safely to the Coral Palace where the Spirits dwell.\u201d\n\nSo, spreading his great wings, he flew away, and soon Thistle saw a\nlittle boat come dancing over the waves, and wait beside the shore for\nhim.\n\nIn he sprang. Nautilus raised his little sail to the wind, and the\nlight boat glided swiftly over the blue sea. At last Thistle cried, \u201cI\nsee lovely arches far below; let me go, it is the Spirits\u2019 home.\u201d\n\n\u201cNay, close your eyes, and trust to me. I will bear you safely down,\u201d\nsaid Nautilus.\n\nSo Thistle closed his eyes, and listened to the murmur of the sea, as\nthey sank slowly through the waves. The soft sound lulled him to sleep,\nand when he awoke the boat was gone, and he stood among the Water\nSpirits, in their strange and lovely home.\n\nLofty arches of snow-white coral bent above him, and the walls of\nbrightly tinted shells were wreathed with lovely sea-flowers, and the\nsunlight shining on the waves cast silvery shadows on the ground, where\nsparkling stones glowed in the sand. A cool, fresh wind swept through\nthe waving garlands of bright sea-moss, and the distant murmur of\ndashing waves came softly on the air. Soon troops of graceful Spirits\nflitted by, and when they found the wondering Elf, they gathered round\nhim, bringing pearl-shells heaped with precious stones, and all the\nrare, strange gifts that lie beneath the sea. But Thistle wished for\nnone of these, and when his tale was told, the kindly Spirits pitied\nhim; and little Pearl sighed, as she told him of the long and weary\ntask he must perform, ere he could win a crown of snow-white pearls\nlike those they wore. But Thistle had gained strength and courage in\nhis wanderings, and did not falter now, when they led him to a place\namong the coral-workers, and told him he must labor here, till the\nspreading branches reached the light and air, through the waves that\ndanced above.\n\nWith a patient hope that he might yet be worthy of Lily-Bell, the Fairy\nleft the lovely spirits and their pleasant home, to toil among the\ncoral-builders, where all was strange and dim. Long, long, he worked;\nbut still the waves rolled far above them, and his task was not yet\ndone; and many bitter tears poor Thistle shed, and sadly he pined for\nair and sunlight, the voice of birds, and breath of flowers. Often,\nfolded in the magic garments which the Spirits gave him, that he might\npass unharmed among the fearful creatures dwelling there, he rose to\nthe surface of the sea, and, gliding through the waves, gazed longingly\nupon the hills, now looking blue and dim so far away, or watched the\nflocks of summer birds, journeying to a warmer land; and they brought\nsad memories of green old forests, and sunny fields, to the lonely\nlittle Fairy floating on the great, wild sea.\n\nDay after day went by, and slowly Thistle\u2019s task drew towards an end.\nBusily toiled the coral-workers, but more busily toiled he; insect and\nSpirit daily wondered more and more, at the industry and patience of\nthe silent little Elf, who had a friendly word for all, though he never\njoined them in their sport.\n\nHigher and higher grew the coral-boughs, and lighter grew the Fairy\u2019s\nheart, while thoughts of dear Lily-Bell cheered him on, as day by day\nhe steadily toiled; and when at length the sun shone on his work, and\nit was done, he stayed but to take the garland he had won, and to thank\nthe good Spirits for their love and care. Then up through the cold,\nblue waves he swiftly glided, and, shaking the bright drops from his\nwings, soared singing up to the sunny sky.\n\n\nOn through the fragrant air went Thistle, looking with glad face upon\nthe fair, fresh earth below, where flowers looked smiling up, and green\ntrees bowed their graceful heads as if to welcome him. Soon the forest\nwhere Lily-Bell lay sleeping rose before him, and as he passed along\nthe cool, dim wood-paths, never had they seemed so fair.\n\nBut when he came where his little friend had slept, it was no longer\nthe dark, silent spot where he last saw her. Garlands hung from every\ntree, and the fairest flowers filled the air with their sweet breath.\nBird\u2019s gay voices echoed far and wide, and the little brook went\nsinging by, beneath the arching ferns that bent above it; green leaves\nrustled in the summer wind, and the air was full of music. But the\nfairest sight was Lily-Bell, as she lay on the couch of velvet moss\nthat Fairy hands had spread. The golden flower lay beside her, and the\nglittering robe was folded round her little form. The warmest sunlight\nfell upon her, and the softest breezes lifted her shining hair.\n\nHappy tears fell fast, as Thistle folded his arms around her, crying,\n\u201cO Lily-Bell, dear Lily-Bell, awake! I have been true to you, and now\nmy task is done.\u201d\n\nThen, with a smile, Lily-Bell awoke, and looked with wondering eyes\nupon the beauty that had risen round her.\n\n\u201cDear Thistle, what mean these fair things, and why are we in this\nlovely place?\u201d\n\n\u201cListen, Lily-Bell,\u201d said the Brownie King, as he appeared beside her.\nAnd then he told all that Thistle had done to show his love for her;\nhow he had wandered far and wide to seek the Fairy gifts, and toiled\nlong and hard to win them; how he had been loving, true, and tender,\nwhen most lonely and forsaken.\n\n\u201cBird, bee, and blossom have forgiven him, and none is more loved and\ntrusted now by all, than the once cruel Thistle,\u201d said the King, as he\nbent down to the happy Elf, who bowed low before him.\n\n\u201cYou have learned the beauty of a gentle, kindly heart, dear Thistle;\nand you are now worthy to become the friend of her for whom you have\ndone so much. Place the crown upon her head, for she is Queen of all\nthe Forest Fairies now.\u201d\n\nAnd as the crown shone on the head that Lily-Bell bent down on\nThistle\u2019s breast, the forest seemed alive with little forms, who sprang\nfrom flower and leaf, and gathered round her, bringing gifts for their\nnew Queen.\n\n\u201cIf I am Queen, then you are King, dear Thistle,\u201d said the Fairy. \u201cTake\nthe crown, and I will have a wreath of flowers. You have toiled and\nsuffered for my sake, and you alone should rule over these little Elves\nwhose love you have won.\u201d\n\n\u201cKeep your crown, Lily-Bell, for yonder come the Spirits with their\ngifts to Thistle,\u201d said the Brownie. And, as he pointed with his wand,\nout from among the mossy roots of an old tree came trooping the Earth\nSpirits, their flower-bells ringing softly as they came, and their\njewelled garments glittering in the sun. On to where Thistledown stood\nbeneath the shadow of the flowers, with Lily-Bell beside him, went the\nSpirits; and then forth sprang little Sparkle, waving a golden flower,\nwhose silvery music filled the air. \u201cDear Thistle,\u201d said the shining\nSpirit, \u201cwhat you toiled so faithfully to win for another, let us offer\nnow as a token of our love for you.\u201d\n\nAs she ceased, down through the air came floating bands of lovely Air\nSpirits, bringing a shining robe, and they too told their love for the\ngentle Fairy who had dwelt with them.\n\nThen softly on the breeze came distant music, growing ever nearer, till\nover the rippling waves came the singing Water Spirits, in their boats\nof many-colored shells; and as they placed their glittering crown on\nThistle\u2019s head, loud rang the flowers, and joyously sang the birds,\nwhile all the Forest Fairies cried, with silvery voices, \u201cLily-Bell and\nThistledown! Long live our King and Queen!\u201d\n\n\u201cHave you a tale for us too, dear Violet-Eye?\u201d said the Queen, as\nZephyr ceased. The little Elf thus named looked from among the\nflower-leaves where she sat, and with a smile replied, \u201cAs I was\nweaving garlands in the field, I heard a primrose tell this tale to her\nfriend Golden-Rod.\u201d\n\n\n\n\nLITTLE BUD.\n\n\nIn a great forest, high up among the green boughs, lived Bird\nBrown-Breast, and his bright-eyed little mate. They were now very\nhappy; their home was done, the four blue eggs lay in the soft nest,\nand the little wife sat still and patient on them, while the husband\nsang, and told her charming tales, and brought her sweet berries and\nlittle worms.\n\nThings went smoothly on, till one day she found in the nest a little\nwhite egg, with a golden band about it.\n\n\u201cMy friend,\u201d cried she, \u201ccome and see! Where can this fine egg have\ncome from? My four are here, and this also; what think you of it?\u201d\n\nThe husband shook his head gravely, and said, \u201cBe not alarmed, my love;\nit is doubtless some good Fairy who has given us this, and we shall\nfind some gift within; do not let us touch it, but do you sit carefully\nupon it, and we shall see in time what has been sent us.\u201d\n\nSo they said nothing about it, and soon their home had four little\nchirping children; and then the white egg opened, and, behold, a little\nmaiden lay singing within. Then how amazed were they, and how they\nwelcomed her, as she lay warm beneath the mother\u2019s wing, and how the\nyoung birds did love her.\n\nGreat joy was in the forest, and proud were the parents of their\nfamily, and still more of the little one who had come to them; while\nall the neighbors flocked in, to see Dame Brown-Breast\u2019s little child.\nAnd the tiny maiden talked to them, and sang so merrily, that they\ncould have listened for ever. Soon she was the joy of the whole forest,\ndancing from tree to tree, making every nest her home, and none were\never so welcome as little Bud; and so they lived right merrily in the\ngreen old forest.\n\nThe father now had much to do to supply his family with food, and\nchoice morsels did he bring little Bud. The wild fruits were her food,\nthe fresh dew in the flower-cups her drink, while the green leaves\nserved her for little robes; and thus she found garments in the flowers\nof the field, and a happy home with Mother Brown-Breast; and all in the\nwood, from the stately trees to the little mosses in the turf, were\nfriends to the merry child.\n\nAnd each day she taught the young birds sweet songs, and as their gay\nmusic rang through the old forest, the stern, dark pines ceased their\nsolemn waving, that they might hear the soft sounds stealing through\nthe dim wood-paths, and mortal children came to listen, saying softly,\n\u201cHear the flowers sing, and touch them not, for the Fairies are here.\u201d\n\nThen came a band of sad little Elves to Bud, praying that they might\nhear the sweet music; and when she took them by the hand, and spoke\ngently to them, they wept and said sadly, when she asked them whence\nthey came,\u2014\n\n\u201cWe dwelt once in Fairy-Land, and O how happy were we then! But alas!\nwe were not worthy of so fair a home, and were sent forth into the cold\nworld. Look at our robes, they are like the withered leaves; our wings\nare dim, our crowns are gone, and we lead sad, lonely lives in this\ndark forest. Let us stay with you; your gay music sounds like Fairy\nsongs, and you have such a friendly way with you, and speak so gently\nto us. It is good to be near one so lovely and so kind; and you can\ntell us how we may again become fair and innocent. Say we may stay with\nyou, kind little maiden.\u201d\n\nAnd Bud said, \u201cYes,\u201d and they stayed; but her kind little heart was\ngrieved that they wept so sadly, and all she could say could not make\nthem happy; till at last she said,\u2014\n\n\u201cDo not weep, and I will go to Queen Dew-Drop, and beseech her to let\nyou come back. I will tell her that you are repentant, and will do\nanything to gain her love again; that you are sad, and long to be\nforgiven. This will I say, and more, and trust she will grant my\nprayer.\u201d\n\n\u201cShe will not say no to you, dear Bud,\u201d said the poor little Fairies;\n\u201cshe will love you as we do, and if we can but come again to our lost\nhome, we cannot give you thanks enough. Go, Bud, and if there be power\nin Fairy gifts, you shall be as happy as our hearts\u2019 best love can make\nyou.\u201d\n\nThe tidings of Bud\u2019s departure flew through the forest, and all her\nfriends came to say farewell, as with the morning sun she would go; and\neach brought some little gift, for the land of Fairies was far away,\nand she must journey long.\n\n\u201cNay, you shall not go on your feet, my child,\u201d said Mother\nBrown-Breast; \u201cyour friend Golden-Wing shall carry you. Call him\nhither, that I may seat you rightly, for if you should fall off my\nheart would break.\u201d\n\nThen up came Golden-Wing, and Bud was safely seated on the cushion of\nviolet-leaves; and it was really charming to see her merry little face,\npeeping from under the broad brim of her cow-slip hat, as her butterfly\nsteed stood waving his bright wings in the sunlight. Then came the bee\nwith his yellow honey-bags, which he begged she would take, and the\nlittle brown spider that lived under the great leaves brought a veil\nfor her hat, and besought her to wear it, lest the sun should shine too\nbrightly; while the ant came bringing a tiny strawberry, lest she\nshould miss her favorite fruit. The mother gave her good advice, and\nthe papa stood with his head on one side, and his round eyes twinkling\nwith delight, to think that his little Bud was going to Fairy-Land.\n\nThen they all sang gayly together, till she passed out of sight over\nthe hills, and they saw her no more.\n\n\nAnd now Bud left the old forest far behind her. Golden-Wing bore her\nswiftly along, and she looked down on the green mountains, and the\npeasant\u2019s cottages, that stood among overshadowing trees; and the earth\nlooked bright, with its broad, blue rivers winding through soft\nmeadows, the singing birds, and flowers, who kept their bright eyes\never on the sky.\n\nAnd she sang gayly as they floated in the clear air, while her friend\nkept time with his waving wings, and ever as they went along all grew\nfairer; and thus they came to Fairy-Land.\n\nAs Bud passed through the gates, she no longer wondered that the exiled\nFairies wept and sorrowed for the lovely home they had lost. Bright\nclouds floated in the sunny sky, casting a rainbow light on the Fairy\npalaces below, where the Elves were dancing; while the low, sweet\nvoices of the singing flowers sounded softly through the fragrant air,\nand mingled with the music of the rippling waves, as they flowed on\nbeneath the blossoming vines that drooped above them.\n\nAll was bright and beautiful; but kind little Bud would not linger, for\nthe forms of the weeping Fairies were before her; and though the\nblossoms nodded gayly on their stems to welcome her, and the soft winds\nkissed her cheek, she would not stay, but on to the Flower Palace she\nwent, into a pleasant hall whose walls were formed of crimson roses,\namid whose leaves sat little Elves, making sweet music on their harps.\nWhen they saw Bud, they gathered round her, and led her through the\nflower-wreathed arches to a group of the most beautiful Fairies, who\nwere gathered about a stately lily, in whose fragrant cup sat one whose\npurple robe and glittering crown told she was their Queen.\n\nBud knelt before her, and, while tears streamed down her little face,\nshe told her errand, and pleaded earnestly that the exiled Fairies\nmight be forgiven, and not be left to pine far from their friends and\nkindred. And as she prayed, many wept with her; and when she ceased,\nand waited for her answer, many knelt beside her, praying forgiveness\nfor the unhappy Elves.\n\nWith tearful eyes, Queen Dew-Drop replied,\u2014\n\n\u201cLittle maiden, your prayer has softened my heart. They shall not be\nleft sorrowing and alone, nor shall you go back without a kindly word\nto cheer and comfort them. We will pardon their fault, and when they\ncan bring hither a perfect Fairy crown, robe, and wand, they shall be\nagain received as children of their loving Queen. The task is hard, for\nnone but the best and purest can form the Fairy garments; yet with\npatience they may yet restore their robes to their former brightness.\nFarewell, good little maiden; come with them, for but for you they\nwould have dwelt for ever without the walls of Fairy-Land.\u201d\n\n\u201cGood speed to you, and farewell,\u201d cried they all, as, with loving\nmessages to their poor friends, they bore her to the gates.\n\n\nDay after day toiled little Bud, cheering the Fairies, who, angry and\ndisappointed, would not listen to her gentle words, but turned away and\nsat alone weeping. They grieved her kind heart with many cruel words;\nbut patiently she bore with them, and when they told her they could\nnever perform so hard a task, and must dwell for ever in the dark\nforest, she answered gently, that the snow-white lily must be planted,\nand watered with repentant tears, before the robe of innocence could be\nwon; that the sun of love must shine in their hearts, before the light\ncould return to their dim crowns, and deeds of kindness must be\nperformed, ere the power would come again to their now useless wands.\n\nThen they planted the lilies; but they soon drooped and died, and no\nlight came to their crowns. They did no gentle deeds, but cared only\nfor themselves; and when they found their labor was in vain, they tried\nno longer, but sat weeping. Bud, with ceaseless toil and patient care,\ntended the lilies, which bloomed brightly, the crowns grew bright, and\nin her hands the wands had power over birds and blossoms, for she was\nstriving to give happiness to others, forgetful of herself. And the\nidle Fairies, with thankful words, took the garments from her, and then\nwith Bud went forth to Fairy-Land, and stood with beating hearts before\nthe gates; where crowds of Fairy friends came forth to welcome them.\n\nBut when Queen Dew-Drop touched them with her wand, as they passed in,\nthe light faded from their crowns, their robes became like withered\nleaves, and their wands were powerless.\n\nAmid the tears of all the Fairies, the Queen led them to the gates, and\nsaid,\u2014\n\n\u201cFarewell! It is not in my power to aid you; innocence and love are not\nwithin your hearts, and were it not for this untiring little maiden,\nwho has toiled while you have wept, you never would have entered your\nlost home. Go and strive again, for till all is once more fair and\npure, I cannot call you mine.\u201d\n\n\u201cFarewell!\u201d sang the weeping Fairies, as the gates closed on their\noutcast friends; who, humbled and broken-hearted, gathered around Bud;\nand she, with cheering words, guided them back to the forest.\n\n\nTime passed on, and the Fairies had done nothing to gain their lovely\nhome again. They wept no longer, but watched little Bud, as she daily\ntended the flowers, restoring their strength and beauty, or with gentle\nwords flew from nest to nest, teaching the little birds to live happily\ntogether; and wherever she went blessings fell, and loving hearts were\nfilled with gratitude.\n\nThen, one by one, the Elves secretly did some little work of kindness,\nand found a quiet joy come back to repay them. Flowers looked lovingly\nup as they passed, birds sang to cheer them when sad thoughts made them\nweep. And soon little Bud found out their gentle deeds, and her\nfriendly words gave them new strength. So day after day they followed\nher, and like a band of guardian spirits they flew far and wide,\ncarrying with them joy and peace.\n\nAnd not only birds and flowers blessed them, but human beings also; for\nwith tender hands they guided little children from danger, and kept\ntheir young hearts free from evil thoughts; they whispered soothing\nwords to the sick, and brought sweet odors and fair flowers to their\nlonely rooms. They sent lovely visions to the old and blind, to make\ntheir hearts young and bright with happy thoughts.\n\nBut most tenderly did they watch over the poor and sorrowing, and many\na poor mother blessed the unseen hands that laid food before her hungry\nlittle ones, and folded warm garments round their naked limbs. Many a\npoor man wondered at the fair flowers that sprang up in his little\ngarden-plot, cheering him with their bright forms, and making his\ndreary home fair with their loveliness, and looked at his once barren\nfield, where now waved the golden corn, turning its broad leaves to the\nwarm sun, and promising a store of golden ears to give him food; while\nthe care-worn face grew bright, and the troubled heart filled with\ngratitude towards the invisible spirits who had brought him such joy.\n\nThus time passed on, and though the exiled Fairies longed often for\ntheir home, still, knowing they did not deserve it, they toiled on,\nhoping one day to see the friends they had lost; while the joy of their\nown hearts made their life full of happiness.\n\nOne day came little Bud to them, saying,\u2014\n\n\u201cListen, dear friends. I have a hard task to offer you. It is a great\nsacrifice for you light loving Fairies to dwell through the long winter\nin the dark, cold earth, watching over the flower roots, to keep them\nfree from the little grubs and worms that seek to harm them. But in the\nsunny Spring when they bloom again, their love and gratitude will give\nyou happy homes among their bright leaves.\n\n\u201cIt is a wearisome task, and I can give you no reward for all your\ntender care, but the blessings of the gentle flowers you will have\nsaved from death. Gladly would I aid you; but my winged friends are\npreparing for their journey to warmer lands, and I must help them teach\ntheir little ones to fly, and see them safely on their way. Then,\nthrough the winter, must I seek the dwellings of the poor and\nsuffering, comfort the sick and lonely, and give hope and courage to\nthose who in their poverty are led astray. These things must I do; but\nwhen the flowers bloom again I will be with you, to welcome back our\nfriends from over the sea.\u201d\n\nThen, with tears, the Fairies answered, \u201cAh, good little Bud, you have\ntaken the hardest task yourself, and who will repay you for all your\ndeeds of tenderness and mercy in the great world? Should evil befall\nyou, our hearts would break. We will labor trustingly in the earth, and\nthoughts of you shall cheer us on; for without you we had been\nworthless beings, and never known the joy that kindly actions bring.\nYes, dear Bud, we will gladly toil among the roots, that the fair\nflowers may wear their gayest robes to welcome you.\u201d\n\nThen deep in the earth the Fairies dwelt, and no frost or snow could\nharm the blossoms they tended. Every little seed was laid in the soft\nearth, watered, and watched. Tender roots were folded in withered\nleaves, that no chilling drops might reach them; and safely dreamed the\nflowers, till summer winds should call them forth; while lighter grew\neach Fairy heart, as every gentle deed was tenderly performed.\n\nAt length the snow was gone, and they heard little voices calling them\nto come up; but patiently they worked, till seed and root were green\nand strong. Then, with eager feet, they hastened to the earth above,\nwhere, over hill and valley, bright flowers and budding trees smiled in\nthe warm sunlight, blossoms bent lovingly before them, and rang their\ncolored bells, till the fragrant air was full of music; while the\nstately trees waved their great arms above them, and scattered soft\nleaves at their feet.\n\nThen came the merry birds, making the wood alive with their gay voices,\ncalling to one another, as they flew among the vines, building their\nlittle homes. Long waited the Elves, and at last she came with Father\nBrown-Breast. Happy days passed; and summer flowers were in their\nfullest beauty, when Bud bade the Fairies come with her.\n\n\nMounted on bright-winged butterflies, they flew over forest and meadow,\ntill with joyful eyes they saw the flower-crowned walls of Fairy-Land.\n\nBefore the gates they stood, and soon troops of loving Elves came forth\nto meet them. And on through the sunny gardens they went, into the Lily\nHall, where, among the golden stamens of a graceful flower, sat the\nQueen; while on the broad, green leaves around it stood the brighteyed\nlittle maids of honor.\n\nThen, amid the deep silence, little Bud, leading the Fairies to the\nthrone, said,\u2014\n\n\u201cDear Queen, I here bring back your subjects, wiser for their sorrow,\nbetter for their hard trial; and now might any Queen be proud of them,\nand bow to learn from them that giving joy and peace to others brings\nit fourfold to us, bearing a double happiness in the blessings to those\nwe help. Through the dreary months, when they might have dwelt among\nfair Southern flowers, beneath a smiling sky, they toiled in the dark\nand silent earth, filling the hearts of the gentle Flower Spirits with\ngrateful love, seeking no reward but the knowledge of their own good\ndeeds, and the joy they always bring. This they have done unmurmuringly\nand alone; and now, far and wide, flower blessings fall upon them, and\nthe summer winds bear the glad tidings unto those who droop in sorrow,\nand new joy and strength it brings, as they look longingly for the\nfriends whose gentle care hath brought such happiness to their fair\nkindred.\n\n\u201cAre they not worthy of your love, dear Queen? Have they not won their\nlovely home? Say they are pardoned, and you have gained the love of\nhearts pure as the snow-white robes now folded over them.\u201d\n\nAs Bud ceased, she touched the wondering Fairies with her wand, and the\ndark faded garments fell away; and beneath, the robes of lily-leaves\nglittered pure and spotless in the sun-light. Then, while happy tears\nfell, Queen Dew-Drop placed the bright crowns on the bowed heads of the\nkneeling Fairies, and laid before them the wands their own good deeds\nhad rendered powerful.\n\nThey turned to thank little Bud for all her patient love, but she was\ngone; and high above, in the clear air, they saw the little form\njourneying back to the quiet forest.\n\nShe needed no reward but the joy she had given. The Fairy hearts were\npure again, and her work was done; yet all Fairy-Land had learned a\nlesson from gentle little Bud.\n\n\n\u201cNow, little Sunbeam, what have you to tell us?\u201d said the Queen,\nlooking down on a bright-eyed Elf, who sat half hidden in the deep moss\nat her feet.\n\n\u201cI too, like Star-Twinkle, have nothing but a song to offer,\u201d replied\nthe Fairy; and then, while the nightingale\u2019s sweet voice mingled with\nher own, she sang,\u2014\n\n\n\n\nCLOVER-BLOSSOM.\n\n\nIn a quiet, pleasant meadow,\nBeneath a summer sky,\nWhere green old trees their branches waved,\nAnd winds went singing by;\nWhere a little brook went rippling\nSo musically low,\nAnd passing clouds cast shadows\nOn the waving grass below;\nWhere low, sweet notes of brooding birds\nStole out on the fragrant air,\nAnd golden sunlight shone undimmed\nOn all most fresh and fair;\u2014\nThere bloomed a lovely sisterhood\nOf happy little flowers,\nTogether in this pleasant home,\nThrough quiet summer hours.\nNo rude hand came to gather them,\nNo chilling winds to blight;\nWarm sunbeams smiled on them by day,\nAnd soft dews fell at night.\nSo here, along the brook-side,\nBeneath the green old trees,\nThe flowers dwelt among their friends,\nThe sunbeams and the breeze.\n\n\nOne morning, as the flowers awoke,\nFragrant, and fresh, and fair,\nA little worm came creeping by,\nAnd begged a shelter there.\n\u201cAh! pity and love me,\u201d sighed the worm,\n\u201cI am lonely, poor, and weak;\nA little spot for a resting-place,\nDear flowers, is all I seek.\nI am not fair, and have dwelt unloved\nBy butterfly, bird, and bee.\nThey little knew that in this dark form\nLay the beauty they yet may see.\nThen let me lie in the deep green moss,\nAnd weave my little tomb,\nAnd sleep my long, unbroken sleep\nTill Spring\u2019s first flowers come.\nThen will I come in a fairer dress,\nAnd your gentle care repay\nBy the grateful love of the humble worm;\nKind flowers, O let me stay!\u201d\nBut the wild rose showed her little thorns,\nWhile her soft face glowed with pride;\nThe violet hid beneath the drooping ferns,\nAnd the daisy turned aside.\nLittle Houstonia scornfully laughed,\nAs she danced on her slender stem;\nWhile the cowslip bent to the rippling waves,\nAnd whispered the tale to them.\nA blue-eyed grass looked down on the worm,\nAs it silently turned away,\nAnd cried, \u201cThou wilt harm our delicate leaves,\nAnd therefore thou canst not stay.\u201d\nThen a sweet, soft voice, called out from far,\n\u201cCome hither, poor worm, to me;\nThe sun lies warm in this quiet spot,\nAnd I\u2019ll share my home with thee.\u201d\nThe wondering flowers looked up to see\nWho had offered the worm a home:\n\u2019T was a clover-blossom, whose fluttering leaves\nSeemed beckoning him to come;\nIt dwelt in a sunny little nook,\nWhere cool winds rustled by,\nAnd murmuring bees and butterflies came,\nOn the flower\u2019s breast to lie.\nDown through the leaves the sunlight stole,\nAnd seemed to linger there,\nAs if it loved to brighten the home\nOf one so sweet and fair.\nIts rosy face smiled kindly down,\nAs the friendless worm drew near;\nAnd its low voice, softly whispering, said\n\u201cPoor thing, thou art welcome here;\nClose at my side, in the soft green moss,\nThou wilt find a quiet bed,\nWhere thou canst softly sleep till Spring,\nWith my leaves above thee spread.\nI pity and love thee, friendless worm,\nThough thou art not graceful or fair;\nFor many a dark, unlovely form,\nHath a kind heart dwelling there;\nNo more o\u2019er the green and pleasant earth,\nLonely and poor, shalt thou roam,\nFor a loving friend hast thou found in me,\nAnd rest in my little home.\u201d\nThen, deep in its quiet mossy bed,\nSheltered from sun and shower,\nThe grateful worm spun its winter tomb,\nIn the shadow of the flower.\nAnd Clover guarded well its rest,\nTill Autumn\u2019s leaves were sere,\nTill all her sister flowers were gone,\nAnd her winter sleep drew near.\nThen her withered leaves were softly spread\nO\u2019er the sleeping worm below,\nEre the faithful little flower lay\nBeneath the winter snow.\n\n\nSpring came again, and the flowers rose\nFrom their quiet winter graves,\nAnd gayly danced on their slender stems,\nAnd sang with the rippling waves.\nSoftly the warm winds kissed their cheeks;\nBrightly the sunbeams fell,\nAs, one by one, they came again\nIn their summer homes to dwell.\nAnd little Clover bloomed once more,\nRosy, and sweet, and fair,\nAnd patiently watched by the mossy bed,\nFor the worm still slumbered there.\nThen her sister flowers scornfully cried,\nAs they waved in the summer air,\n\u201cThe ugly worm was friendless and poor;\nLittle Clover, why shouldst thou care?\nThen watch no more, nor dwell alone,\nAway from thy sister flowers;\nCome, dance and feast, and spend with us\nThese pleasant summer hours.\nWe pity thee, foolish little flower,\nTo trust what the false worm said;\nHe will not come in a fairer dress,\nFor he lies in the green moss dead.\u201d\nBut little Clover still watched on,\nAlone in her sunny home;\nShe did not doubt the poor worm\u2019s truth,\nAnd trusted he would come.\n\n\nAt last the small cell opened wide,\nAnd a glittering butterfly,\nFrom out the moss, on golden wings,\nSoared up to the sunny sky.\nThen the wondering flowers cried aloud,\n\u201cClover, thy watch was vain;\nHe only sought a shelter here,\nAnd never will come again.\u201d\nAnd the unkind flowers danced for joy,\nWhen they saw him thus depart;\nFor the love of a beautiful butterfly\nIs dear to a flower\u2019s heart.\nThey feared he would stay in Clover\u2019s home,\nAnd her tender care repay;\nSo they danced for joy, when at last he rose\nAnd silently flew away.\nThen little Clover bowed her head,\nWhile her soft tears fell like dew;\nFor her gentle heart was grieved, to find\nThat her sisters\u2019 words were true,\nAnd the insect she had watched so long\nWhen helpless, poor, and lone,\nThankless for all her faithful care,\nOn his golden wings had flown.\nBut as she drooped, in silent grief,\nShe heard little Daisy cry,\n\u201cO sisters, look! I see him now,\nAfar in the sunny sky;\nHe is floating back from Cloud-Land now,\nBorne by the fragrant air.\nSpread wide your leaves, that he may choose\nThe flower he deems most fair.\u201d\nThen the wild rose glowed with a deeper blush,\nAs she proudly waved on her stem;\nThe Cowslip bent to the clear blue waves,\nAnd made her mirror of them.\nLittle Houstonia merrily danced,\nAnd spread her white leaves wide;\nWhile Daisy whispered her joy and hope,\nAs she stood by her gay friends\u2019 side.\nViolet peeped from the tall green ferns,\nAnd lifted her soft blue eye\nTo watch the glittering form, that shone\nAfar in the summer sky.\nThey thought no more of the ugly worm,\nWho once had wakened their scorn;\nBut looked and longed for the butterfly now,\nAs the soft wind bore him on.\n\n\nNearer and nearer the bright form came,\nAnd fairer the blossoms grew;\nEach welcomed him, in her sweetest tones;\nEach offered her honey and dew.\nBut in vain did they beckon, and smile, and call,\nAnd wider their leaves unclose;\nThe glittering form still floated on,\nBy Violet, Daisy, and Rose.\nLightly it flew to the pleasant home\nOf the flower most truly fair,\nOn Clover\u2019s breast he softly lit,\nAnd folded his bright wings there.\n\u201cDear flower,\u201d the butterfly whispered low,\n\u201cLong hast thou waited for me;\nNow I am come, and my grateful love\nShall brighten thy home for thee;\nThou hast loved and cared for me, when alone,\nHast watched o\u2019er me long and well;\nAnd now will I strive to show the thanks\nThe poor worm could not tell.\nSunbeam and breeze shall come to thee,\nAnd the coolest dews that fall;\nWhate\u2019er a flower can wish is thine,\nFor thou art worthy all.\nAnd the home thou shared with the friendless worm\nThe butterfly\u2019s home shall be;\nAnd thou shalt find, dear, faithful flower,\nA loving friend in me.\u201d\nThen, through the long, bright summer hours\nThrough sunshine and through shower,\nTogether in their happy home\nDwelt butterfly and flower.\n\n\n\u201cAh, that is very lovely,\u201d cried the Elves, gathering round little\nSunbeam as she ceased, to place a garland in her hair and praise her\nsong.\n\n\u201cNow,\u201d said the Queen, \u201ccall hither Moon-light and Summer-Wind, for\nthey have seen many pleasant things in their long wanderings, and will\ngladly tell us them.\u201d\n\n\u201cMost joyfully will we do our best, dear Queen,\u201d said the Elves, as\nthey folded their wings beside her.\n\n\u201cNow, Summer-Wind,\u201d said Moonlight, \u201ctill your turn comes, do you sit\nhere and fan me while I tell this tale of\n\n\n\n\nLITTLE ANNIE\u2019S DREAM;\nOR,\nTHE FAIRY FLOWER.\n\n\nIn a large and pleasant garden sat little Annie all alone, and she\nseemed very sad, for drops that were not dew fell fast upon the flowers\nbeside her, who looked wonderingly up, and bent still nearer, as if\nthey longed to cheer and comfort her. The warm wind lifted up her\nshining hair and softly kissed her cheek, while the sunbeams, looking\nmost kindly in her face, made little rainbows in her tears, and\nlingered lovingly about her. But Annie paid no heed to sun, or wind, or\nflower; still the bright tears fell, and she forgot all but her sorrow.\n\n\u201cLittle Annie, tell me why you weep,\u201d said a low voice in her ear; and,\nlooking up, the child beheld a little figure standing on a vine-leaf at\nher side; a lovely face smiled on her, from amid bright locks of hair,\nand shining wings were folded on a white and glittering robe, that\nfluttered in the wind.\n\n\u201cWho are you, lovely little thing?\u201d cried Annie, smiling through her\ntears.\n\n\u201cI am a Fairy, little child, and am come to help and comfort you; now\ntell me why you weep, and let me be your friend,\u201d replied the spirit,\nas she smiled more kindly still on Annie\u2019s wondering face.\n\n\u201cAnd are you really, then, a little Elf, such as I read of in my fairy\nbooks? Do you ride on butterflies, sleep in flower-cups, and live among\nthe clouds?\u201d\n\n\u201cYes, all these things I do, and many stranger still, that all your\nfairy books can never tell; but now, dear Annie,\u201d said the Fairy,\nbending nearer, \u201ctell me why I found no sunshine on your face; why are\nthese great drops shining on the flowers, and why do you sit alone when\nBIRD and BEE are calling you to play?\u201d\n\n\u201cAh, you will not love me any more if I should tell you all,\u201d said\nAnnie, while the tears began to fall again; \u201cI am not happy, for I am\nnot good; how shall I learn to be a patient, gentle child? good little\nFairy, will you teach me how?\u201d\n\n\u201cGladly will I aid you, Annie, and if you truly wish to be a happy\nchild, you first must learn to conquer many passions that you cherish\nnow, and make your heart a home for gentle feelings and happy thoughts;\nthe task is hard, but I will give this fairy flower to help and counsel\nyou. Bend hither, that I may place it in your breast; no hand can take\nit hence, till I unsay the spell that holds it there.\u201d\n\nAs thus she spoke, the Elf took from her bosom a graceful flower, whose\nsnow-white leaves shone with a strange, soft light. \u201cThis is a fairy\nflower,\u201d said the Elf, \u201cinvisible to every eye save yours; now listen\nwhile I tell its power, Annie. When your heart is filled with loving\nthoughts, when some kindly deed has been done, some duty well\nperformed, then from the flower there will arise the sweetest, softest\nfragrance, to reward and gladden you. But when an unkind word is on\nyour lips, when a selfish, angry feeling rises in your heart, or an\nunkind, cruel deed is to be done, then will you hear the soft, low\nchime of the flower-bell; listen to its warning, let the word remain\nunspoken, the deed undone, and in the quiet joy of your own heart, and\nthe magic perfume of your bosom flower, you will find a sweet reward.\u201d\n\n\u201cO kind and generous Fairy, how can I ever thank you for this lovely\ngift!\u201d cried Annie. \u201cI will be true, and listen to my little bell\nwhenever it may ring. But shall I never see YOU more? Ah! if you would\nonly stay with me, I should indeed be good.\u201d\n\n\u201cI cannot stay now, little Annie,\u201d said the Elf, \u201cbut when another\nSpring comes round, I shall be here again, to see how well the fairy\ngift has done its work. And now farewell, dear child; be faithful to\nyourself, and the magic flower will never fade.\u201d\n\nThen the gentle Fairy folded her little arms around Annie\u2019s neck, laid\na soft kiss on her cheek, and, spreading wide her shining wings, flew\nsinging up among the white clouds floating in the sky.\n\nAnd little Annie sat among her flowers, and watched with wondering joy\nthe fairy blossom shining on her breast.\n\nThe pleasant days of Spring and Summer passed away, and in little\nAnnie\u2019s garden Autumn flowers were blooming everywhere, with each day\u2019s\nsun and dew growing still more beautiful and bright; but the fairy\nflower, that should have been the loveliest of all, hung pale and\ndrooping on little Annie\u2019s bosom; its fragrance seemed quite gone, and\nthe clear, low music of its warning chime rang often in her ear.\n\nWhen first the Fairy placed it there, she had been pleased with her new\ngift, and for a while obeyed the fairy bell, and often tried to win\nsome fragrance from the flower, by kind and pleasant words and actions;\nthen, as the Fairy said, she found a sweet reward in the strange, soft\nperfume of the magic blossom, as it shone upon her breast; but selfish\nthoughts would come to tempt her, she would yield, and unkind words\nfell from her lips; and then the flower drooped pale and scentless, the\nfairy bell rang mournfully, Annie would forget her better resolutions,\nand be again a selfish, wilful little child.\n\nAt last she tried no longer, but grew angry with the faithful flower,\nand would have torn it from her breast; but the fairy spell still held\nit fast, and all her angry words but made it ring a louder, sadder\npeal. Then she paid no heed to the silvery music sounding in her ear,\nand each day grew still more unhappy, discontented, and unkind; so,\nwhen the Autumn days came round, she was no better for the gentle\nFairy\u2019s gift, and longed for Spring, that it might be returned; for now\nthe constant echo of the mournful music made her very sad.\n\nOne sunny morning, when the fresh, cool Winds were blowing, and not a\ncloud was in the sky, little Annie walked among her flowers, looking\ncarefully into each, hoping thus to find the Fairy, who alone could\ntake the magic blossom from her breast. But she lifted up their\ndrooping leaves, peeped into their dewy cups in vain; no little Elf lay\nhidden there, and she turned sadly from them all, saying, \u201cI will go\nout into the fields and woods, and seek her there. I will not listen to\nthis tiresome music more, nor wear this withered flower longer.\u201d So out\ninto the fields she went, where the long grass rustled as she passed,\nand timid birds looked at her from their nests; where lovely\nwild-flowers nodded in the wind, and opened wide their fragrant leaves,\nto welcome in the murmuring bees, while butterflies, like winged\nflowers, danced and glittered in the sun.\n\nLittle Annie looked, searched, and asked them all if any one could tell\nher of the Fairy whom she sought; but the birds looked wonderingly at\nher with their soft, bright eyes, and still sang on; the flowers nodded\nwisely on their stems, but did not speak, while butterfly and bee\nbuzzed and fluttered away, one far too busy, the other too idle, to\nstay and tell her what she asked.\n\nThen she went through broad fields of yellow grain, that waved around\nher like a golden forest; here crickets chirped, grasshoppers leaped,\nand busy ants worked, but they could not tell her what she longed to\nknow.\n\n\u201cNow will I go among the hills,\u201d said Annie, \u201cshe may be there.\u201d So up\nand down the green hill-sides went her little feet; long she searched\nand vainly she called; but still no Fairy came. Then by the river-side\nshe went, and asked the gay dragon-flies, and the cool white lilies, if\nthe Fairy had been there; but the blue waves rippled on the white sand\nat her feet, and no voice answered her.\n\nThen into the forest little Annie went; and as she passed along the\ndim, cool paths, the wood-flowers smiled up in her face, gay squirrels\npeeped at her, as they swung amid the vines, and doves cooed softly as\nshe wandered by; but none could answer her. So, weary with her long and\nuseless search, she sat amid the ferns, and feasted on the rosy\nstrawberries that grew beside her, watching meanwhile the crimson\nevening clouds that glowed around the setting sun.\n\nThe night-wind rustled through the boughs, rocking the flowers to\nsleep; the wild birds sang their evening hymns, and all within the wood\ngrew calm and still; paler and paler grew the purple light, lower and\nlower drooped little Annie\u2019s head, the tall ferns bent to shield her\nfrom the dew, the whispering pines sang a soft lullaby; and when the\nAutumn moon rose up, her silver light shone on the child, where,\npillowed on green moss, she lay asleep amid the wood-flowers in the dim\nold forest.\n\nAnd all night long beside her stood the Fairy she had sought, and by\nelfin spell and charm sent to the sleeping child this dream.\n\nLittle Annie dreamed she sat in her own garden, as she had often sat\nbefore, with angry feelings in her heart, and unkind words upon her\nlips. The magic flower was ringing its soft warning, but she paid no\nheed to anything, save her own troubled thoughts; thus she sat, when\nsuddenly a low voice whispered in her ear,\u2014\n\n\u201cLittle Annie, look and see the evil things that you are cherishing; I\nwill clothe in fitting shapes the thoughts and feelings that now dwell\nwithin your heart, and you shall see how great their power becomes,\nunless you banish them for ever.\u201d\n\nThen Annie saw, with fear and wonder, that the angry words she uttered\nchanged to dark, unlovely forms, each showing plainly from what fault\nor passion it had sprung. Some of the shapes had scowling faces and\nbright, fiery eyes; these were the spirits of Anger. Others, with\nsullen, anxious looks, seemed gathering up all they could reach, and\nAnnie saw that the more they gained, the less they seemed to have; and\nthese she knew were shapes of Selfishness. Spirits of Pride were there,\nwho folded their shadowy garments round them, and turned scornfully\naway from all the rest. These and many others little Annie saw, which\nhad come from her own heart, and taken form before her eyes.\n\nWhen first she saw them, they were small and weak; but as she looked\nthey seemed to grow and gather strength, and each gained a strange\npower over her. She could not drive them from her sight, and they grew\never stronger, darker, and more unlovely to her eyes. They seemed to\ncast black shadows over all around, to dim the sunshine, blight the\nflowers, and drive away all bright and lovely things; while rising\nslowly round her Annie saw a high, dark wall, that seemed to shut out\neverything she loved; she dared not move, or speak, but, with a strange\nfear at her heart, sat watching the dim shapes that hovered round her.\n\nHigher and higher rose the shadowy wall, slowly the flowers near her\ndied, lingeringly the sunlight faded; but at last they both were gone,\nand left her all alone behind the gloomy wall. Then the spirits\ngathered round her, whispering strange things in her ear, bidding her\nobey, for by her own will she had yielded up her heart to be their\nhome, and she was now their slave. Then she could hear no more, but,\nsinking down among the withered flowers, wept sad and bitter tears, for\nher lost liberty and joy; then through the gloom there shone a faint,\nsoft light, and on her breast she saw her fairy flower, upon whose\nsnow-white leaves her tears lay shining.\n\nClearer and brighter grew the radiant light, till the evil spirits\nturned away to the dark shadow of the wall, and left the child alone.\n\nThe light and perfume of the flower seemed to bring new strength to\nAnnie, and she rose up, saying, as she bent to kiss the blossom on her\nbreast, \u201cDear flower, help and guide me now, and I will listen to your\nvoice, and cheerfully obey my faithful fairy bell.\u201d\n\nThen in her dream she felt how hard the spirits tried to tempt and\ntrouble her, and how, but for her flower, they would have led her back,\nand made all dark and dreary as before. Long and hard she struggled,\nand tears often fell; but after each new trial, brighter shone her\nmagic flower, and sweeter grew its breath, while the spirits lost still\nmore their power to tempt her. Meanwhile, green, flowering vines crept\nup the high, dark wall, and hid its roughness from her sight; and over\nthese she watched most tenderly, for soon, wherever green leaves and\nflowers bloomed, the wall beneath grew weak, and fell apart. Thus\nlittle Annie worked and hoped, till one by one the evil spirits fled\naway, and in their place came shining forms, with gentle eyes and\nsmiling lips, who gathered round her with such loving words, and\nbrought such strength and joy to Annie\u2019s heart, that nothing evil dared\nto enter in; while slowly sank the gloomy wall, and, over wreaths of\nfragrant flowers, she passed out into the pleasant world again, the\nfairy gift no longer pale and drooping, but now shining like a star\nupon her breast.\n\nThen the low voice spoke again in Annie\u2019s sleeping ear, saying, \u201cThe\ndark, unlovely passions you have looked upon are in your heart; watch\nwell while they are few and weak, lest they should darken your whole\nlife, and shut out love and happiness for ever. Remember well the\nlesson of the dream, dear child, and let the shining spirits make your\nheart their home.\u201d\n\nAnd with that voice sounding in her ear, little Annie woke to find it\nwas a dream; but like other dreams it did not pass away; and as she sat\nalone, bathed in the rosy morning light, and watched the forest waken\ninto life, she thought of the strange forms she had seen, and, looking\ndown upon the flower on her breast, she silently resolved to strive, as\nshe had striven in her dream, to bring back light and beauty to its\nfaded leaves, by being what the Fairy hoped to render her, a patient,\ngentle little child. And as the thought came to her mind, the flower\nraised its drooping head, and, looking up into the earnest little face\nbent over it, seemed by its fragrant breath to answer Annie\u2019s silent\nthought, and strengthen her for what might come.\n\nMeanwhile the forest was astir, birds sang their gay good-morrows from\ntree to tree, while leaf and flower turned to greet the sun, who rose\nup smiling on the world; and so beneath the forest boughs and through\nthe dewy fields went little Annie home, better and wiser for her dream.\n\n\nAutumn flowers were dead and gone, yellow leaves lay rustling on the\nground, bleak winds went whistling through the naked trees, and cold,\nwhite Winter snow fell softly down; yet now, when all without looked\ndark and dreary, on little Annie\u2019s breast the fairy flower bloomed more\nbeautiful than ever. The memory of her forest dream had never passed\naway, and through trial and temptation she had been true, and kept her\nresolution still unbroken; seldom now did the warning bell sound in her\near, and seldom did the flower\u2019s fragrance cease to float about her, or\nthe fairy light to brighten all whereon it fell.\n\nSo, through the long, cold Winter, little Annie dwelt like a sunbeam in\nher home, each day growing richer in the love of others, and happier in\nherself; often was she tempted, but, remembering her dream, she\nlistened only to the music of the fairy bell, and the unkind thought or\nfeeling fled away, the smiling spirits of gentleness and love nestled\nin her heart, and all was bright again.\n\nSo better and happier grew the child, fairer and sweeter grew the\nflower, till Spring came smiling over the earth, and woke the flowers,\nset free the streams, and welcomed back the birds; then daily did the\nhappy child sit among her flowers, longing for the gentle Elf to come\nagain, that she might tell her gratitude for all the magic gift had\ndone.\n\nAt length, one day, as she sat singing in the sunny nook where all her\nfairest flowers bloomed, weary with gazing at the far-off sky for the\nlittle form she hoped would come, she bent to look with joyful love\nupon her bosom flower; and as she looked, its folded leaves spread wide\napart, and, rising slowly from the deep white cup, appeared the smiling\nface of the lovely Elf whose coming she had waited for so long.\n\n\u201cDear Annie, look for me no longer; I am here on your own breast, for\nyou have learned to love my gift, and it has done its work most\nfaithfully and well,\u201d the Fairy said, as she looked into the happy\nchild\u2019s bright face, and laid her little arms most tenderly about her\nneck.\n\n\u201cAnd now have I brought another gift from Fairy-Land, as a fit reward\nfor you, dear child,\u201d she said, when Annie had told all her gratitude\nand love; then, touching the child with her shining wand, the Fairy bid\nher look and listen silently.\n\nAnd suddenly the world seemed changed to Annie; for the air was filled\nwith strange, sweet sounds, and all around her floated lovely forms. In\nevery flower sat little smiling Elves, singing gayly as they rocked\namid the leaves. On every breeze, bright, airy spirits came floating\nby; some fanned her cheek with their cool breath, and waved her long\nhair to and fro, while others rang the flower-bells, and made a\npleasant rustling among the leaves. In the fountain, where the water\ndanced and sparkled in the sun, astride of every drop she saw merry\nlittle spirits, who plashed and floated in the clear, cool waves, and\nsang as gayly as the flowers, on whom they scattered glittering dew.\nThe tall trees, as their branches rustled in the wind, sang a low,\ndreamy song, while the waving grass was filled with little voices she\nhad never heard before. Butterflies whispered lovely tales in her ear,\nand birds sang cheerful songs in a sweet language she had never\nunderstood before. Earth and air seemed filled with beauty and with\nmusic she had never dreamed of until now.\n\n\u201cO tell me what it means, dear Fairy! is it another and a lovelier\ndream, or is the earth in truth so beautiful as this?\u201d she cried,\nlooking with wondering joy upon the Elf, who lay upon the flower in her\nbreast.\n\n\u201cYes, it is true, dear child,\u201d replied the Fairy, \u201cand few are the\nmortals to whom we give this lovely gift; what to you is now so full of\nmusic and of light, to others is but a pleasant summer world; they\nnever know the language of butterfly or bird or flower, and they are\nblind to all that I have given you the power to see. These fair things\nare your friends and playmates now, and they will teach you many\npleasant lessons, and give you many happy hours; while the garden where\nyou once sat, weeping sad and bitter tears, is now brightened by your\nown happiness, filled with loving friends by your own kindly thoughts\nand feelings; and thus rendered a pleasant summer home for the gentle,\nhappy child, whose bosom flower will never fade. And now, dear Annie, I\nmust go; but every Springtime, with the earliest flowers, will I come\nagain to visit you, and bring some fairy gift. Guard well the magic\nflower, that I may find all fair and bright when next I come.\u201d\n\nThen, with a kind farewell, the gentle Fairy floated upward through the\nsunny air, smiling down upon the child, until she vanished in the soft,\nwhite clouds, and little Annie stood alone in her enchanted garden,\nwhere all was brightened with the radiant light, and fragrant with the\nperfume of her fairy flower.\n\n\nWhen Moonlight ceased, Summer-Wind laid down her rose-leaf fan, and,\nleaning back in her acorn cup, told this tale of\n\n\n\n\nRIPPLE, THE WATER-SPIRIT.\n\n\nDown in the deep blue sea lived Ripple, a happy little Water-Spirit;\nall day long she danced beneath the coral arches, made garlands of\nbright ocean flowers, or floated on the great waves that sparkled in\nthe sunlight; but the pastime that she loved best was lying in the\nmany-colored shells upon the shore, listening to the low, murmuring\nmusic the waves had taught them long ago; and here for hours the little\nSpirit lay watching the sea and sky, while singing gayly to herself.\n\nBut when tempests rose, she hastened down below the stormy billows, to\nwhere all was calm and still, and with her sister Spirits waited till\nit should be fair again, listening sadly, meanwhile, to the cries of\nthose whom the wild waves wrecked and cast into the angry sea, and who\nsoon came floating down, pale and cold, to the Spirits\u2019 pleasant home;\nthen they wept pitying tears above the lifeless forms, and laid them in\nquiet graves, where flowers bloomed, and jewels sparkled in the sand.\n\nThis was Ripple\u2019s only grief, and she often thought of those who\nsorrowed for the friends they loved, who now slept far down in the dim\nand silent coral caves, and gladly would she have saved the lives of\nthose who lay around her; but the great ocean was far mightier than all\nthe tender-hearted Spirits dwelling in its bosom. Thus she could only\nweep for them, and lay them down to sleep where no cruel waves could\nharm them more.\n\nOne day, when a fearful storm raged far and wide, and the Spirits saw\ngreat billows rolling like heavy clouds above their heads, and heard\nthe wild winds sounding far away, down through the foaming waves a\nlittle child came floating to their home; its eyes were closed as if in\nsleep, the long hair fell like sea-weed round its pale, cold face, and\nthe little hands still clasped the shells they had been gathering on\nthe beach, when the great waves swept it into the troubled sea.\n\nWith tender tears the Spirits laid the little form to rest upon its bed\nof flowers, and, singing mournful songs, as if to make its sleep more\ncalm and deep, watched long and lovingly above it, till the storm had\ndied away, and all was still again.\n\nWhile Ripple sang above the little child, through the distant roar of\nwinds and waves she heard a wild, sorrowing voice, that seemed to call\nfor help. Long she listened, thinking it was but the echo of their own\nplaintive song, but high above the music still sounded the sad, wailing\ncry. Then, stealing silently away, she glided up through foam and\nspray, till, through the parting clouds, the sunlight shone upon her\nfrom the tranquil sky; and, guided by the mournful sound, she floated\non, till, close before her on the beach, she saw a woman stretching\nforth her arms, and with a sad, imploring voice praying the restless\nsea to give her back the little child it had so cruelly borne away. But\nthe waves dashed foaming up among the bare rocks at her feet, mingling\ntheir cold spray with her tears, and gave no answer to her prayer.\n\nWhen Ripple saw the mother\u2019s grief, she longed to comfort her; so,\nbending tenderly beside her, where she knelt upon the shore, the little\nSpirit told her how her child lay softly sleeping, far down in a lovely\nplace, where sorrowing tears were shed, and gentle hands laid garlands\nover him. But all in vain she whispered kindly words; the weeping\nmother only cried,\u2014\n\n\u201cDear Spirit, can you use no charm or spell to make the waves bring\nback my child, as full of life and strength as when they swept him from\nmy side? O give me back my little child, or let me lie beside him in\nthe bosom of the cruel sea.\u201d\n\n\u201cMost gladly will I help you if I can, though I have little power to\nuse; then grieve no more, for I will search both earth and sea, to find\nsome friend who can bring back all you have lost. Watch daily on the\nshore, and if I do not come again, then you will know my search has\nbeen in vain. Farewell, poor mother, you shall see your little child\nagain, if Fairy power can win him back.\u201d And with these cheering words\nRipple sprang into the sea; while, smiling through her tears, the woman\nwatched the gentle Spirit, till her bright crown vanished in the waves.\n\nWhen Ripple reached her home, she hastened to the palace of the Queen,\nand told her of the little child, the sorrowing mother, and the promise\nshe had made.\n\n\u201cGood little Ripple,\u201d said the Queen, when she had told her all, \u201cyour\npromise never can be kept; there is no power below the sea to work this\ncharm, and you can never reach the Fire-Spirits\u2019 home, to win from them\na flame to warm the little body into life. I pity the poor mother, and\nwould most gladly help her; but alas! I am a Spirit like yourself, and\ncannot serve you as I long to do.\u201d\n\n\u201cAh, dear Queen! if you had seen her sorrow, you too would seek to keep\nthe promise I have made. I cannot let her watch for ME in vain, till I\nhave done my best: then tell me where the Fire-Spirits dwell, and I\nwill ask of them the flame that shall give life to the little child and\nsuch great happiness to the sad, lonely mother: tell me the path, and\nlet me go.\u201d\n\n\u201cIt is far, far away, high up above the sun, where no Spirit ever dared\nto venture yet,\u201d replied the Queen. \u201cI cannot show the path, for it is\nthrough the air. Dear Ripple, do not go, for you can never reach that\ndistant place: some harm most surely will befall; and then how shall we\nlive, without our dearest, gentlest Spirit? Stay here with us in your\nown pleasant home, and think no more of this, for I can never let you\ngo.\u201d\n\nBut Ripple would not break the promise she had made, and besought so\nearnestly, and with such pleading words, that the Queen at last with\nsorrow gave consent, and Ripple joyfully prepared to go. She, with her\nsister Spirits, built up a tomb of delicate, bright-colored shells,\nwherein the child might lie, till she should come to wake him into\nlife; then, praying them to watch most faithfully above it, she said\nfarewell, and floated bravely forth, on her long, unknown journey, far\naway.\n\n\u201cI will search the broad earth till I find a path up to the sun, or\nsome kind friend who will carry me; for, alas! I have no wings, and\ncannot glide through the blue air as through the sea,\u201d said Ripple to\nherself, as she went dancing over the waves, which bore her swiftly\nonward towards a distant shore.\n\nLong she journeyed through the pathless ocean, with no friends to cheer\nher, save the white sea-birds who went sweeping by, and only stayed to\ndip their wide wings at her side, and then flew silently away.\nSometimes great ships sailed by, and then with longing eyes did the\nlittle Spirit gaze up at the faces that looked down upon the sea; for\noften they were kind and pleasant ones, and she gladly would have\ncalled to them and asked them to be friends. But they would never\nunderstand the strange, sweet language that she spoke, or even see the\nlovely face that smiled at them above the waves; her blue, transparent\ngarments were but water to their eyes, and the pearl chains in her hair\nbut foam and sparkling spray; so, hoping that the sea would be most\ngentle with them, silently she floated on her way, and left them far\nbehind.\n\nAt length green hills were seen, and the waves gladly bore the little\nSpirit on, till, rippling gently over soft white sand, they left her on\nthe pleasant shore.\n\n\u201cAh, what a lovely place it is!\u201d said Ripple, as she passed through\nsunny valleys, where flowers began to bloom, and young leaves rustled\non the trees.\n\n\u201cWhy are you all so gay, dear birds?\u201d she asked, as their cheerful\nvoices sounded far and near; \u201cis there a festival over the earth, that\nall is so beautiful and bright?\u201d\n\n\u201cDo you not know that Spring is coming? The warm winds whispered it\ndays ago, and we are learning the sweetest songs, to welcome her when\nshe shall come,\u201d sang the lark, soaring away as the music gushed from\nhis little throat.\n\n\u201cAnd shall I see her, Violet, as she journeys over the earth?\u201d asked\nRipple again.\n\n\u201cYes, you will meet her soon, for the sunlight told me she was near;\ntell her we long to see her again, and are waiting to welcome her\nback,\u201d said the blue flower, dancing for joy on her stem, as she nodded\nand smiled on the Spirit.\n\n\u201cI will ask Spring where the Fire-Spirits dwell; she travels over the\nearth each year, and surely can show me the way,\u201d thought Ripple, as\nshe went journeying on.\n\nSoon she saw Spring come smiling over the earth; sunbeams and breezes\nfloated before, and then, with her white garments covered with flowers,\nwith wreaths in her hair, and dew-drops and seeds falling fast from her\nhands the beautiful season came singing by.\n\n\u201cDear Spring, will you listen, and help a poor little Spirit, who seeks\nfar and wide for the Fire-Spirits\u2019 home?\u201d cried Ripple; and then told\nwhy she was there, and begged her to tell what she sought.\n\n\u201cThe Fire-Spirits\u2019 home is far, far away, and I cannot guide you there;\nbut Summer is coming behind me,\u201d said Spring, \u201cand she may know better\nthan I. But I will give you a breeze to help you on your way; it will\nnever tire nor fail, but bear you easily over land and sea. Farewell,\nlittle Spirit! I would gladly do more, but voices are calling me far\nand wide, and I cannot stay.\u201d\n\n\u201cMany thanks, kind Spring!\u201d cried Ripple, as she floated away on the\nbreeze; \u201cgive a kindly word to the mother who waits on the shore, and\ntell her I have not forgotten my vow, but hope soon to see her again.\u201d\n\nThen Spring flew on with her sunshine and flowers, and Ripple went\nswiftly over hill and vale, till she came to the land where Summer was\ndwelling. Here the sun shone warmly down on the early fruit, the winds\nblew freshly over fields of fragrant hay, and rustled with a pleasant\nsound among the green leaves in the forests; heavy dews fell softly\ndown at night, and long, bright days brought strength and beauty to the\nblossoming earth.\n\n\u201cNow I must seek for Summer,\u201d said Ripple, as she sailed slowly through\nthe sunny sky.\n\n\u201cI am here, what would you with me, little Spirit?\u201d said a musical\nvoice in her ear; and, floating by her side, she saw a graceful form,\nwith green robes fluttering in the air, whose pleasant face looked\nkindly on her, from beneath a crown of golden sunbeams that cast a\nwarm, bright glow on all beneath.\n\nThen Ripple told her tale, and asked where she should go; but Summer\nanswered,\u2014\n\n\u201cI can tell no more than my young sister Spring where you may find the\nSpirits that you seek; but I too, like her, will give a gift to aid\nyou. Take this sunbeam from my crown; it will cheer and brighten the\nmost gloomy path through which you pass. Farewell! I shall carry\ntidings of you to the watcher by the sea, if in my journey round the\nworld I find her there.\u201d\n\nAnd Summer, giving her the sunbeam, passed away over the distant hills,\nleaving all green and bright behind her.\n\nSo Ripple journeyed on again, till the earth below her shone with\nyellow harvests waving in the sun, and the air was filled with cheerful\nvoices, as the reapers sang among the fields or in the pleasant\nvineyards, where purple fruit hung gleaming through the leaves; while\nthe sky above was cloudless, and the changing forest-trees shone like a\nmany-colored garland, over hill and plain; and here, along the ripening\ncorn-fields, with bright wreaths of crimson leaves and golden\nwheat-ears in her hair and on her purple mantle, stately Autumn passed,\nwith a happy smile on her calm face, as she went scattering generous\ngifts from her full arms.\n\nBut when the wandering Spirit came to her, and asked for what she\nsought, this season, like the others, could not tell her where to go;\nso, giving her a yellow leaf, Autumn said, as she passed on,\u2014\n\n\u201cAsk Winter, little Ripple, when you come to his cold home; he knows\nthe Fire-Spirits well, for when he comes they fly to the earth, to warm\nand comfort those dwelling there; and perhaps he can tell you where\nthey are. So take this gift of mine, and when you meet his chilly\nwinds, fold it about you, and sit warm beneath its shelter, till you\ncome to sunlight again. I will carry comfort to the patient woman, as\nmy sisters have already done, and tell her you are faithful still.\u201d\n\nThen on went the never-tiring Breeze, over forest, hill, and field,\ntill the sky grew dark, and bleak winds whistled by. Then Ripple,\nfolded in the soft, warm leaf, looked sadly down on the earth, that\nseemed to lie so desolate and still beneath its shroud of snow, and\nthought how bitter cold the leaves and flowers must be; for the little\nWater-Spirit did not know that Winter spread a soft white covering\nabove their beds, that they might safely sleep below till Spring should\nwaken them again. So she went sorrowfully on, till Winter, riding on\nthe strong North-Wind, came rushing by, with a sparkling ice-crown in\nhis streaming hair, while from beneath his crimson cloak, where\nglittering frost-work shone like silver threads, he scattered\nsnow-flakes far and wide.\n\n\u201cWhat do you seek with me, fair little Spirit, that you come so bravely\nhere amid my ice and snow? Do not fear me; I am warm at heart, though\nrude and cold without,\u201d said Winter, looking kindly on her, while a\nbright smile shone like sunlight on his pleasant face, as it glowed and\nglistened in the frosty air.\n\nWhen Ripple told him why she had come, he pointed upward, where the\nsunlight dimly shone through the heavy clouds, saying,\u2014\n\n\u201cFar off there, beside the sun, is the Fire-Spirits\u2019 home; and the only\npath is up, through cloud and mist. It is a long, strange path, for a\nlonely little Spirit to be going; the Fairies are wild, wilful things,\nand in their play may harm and trouble you. Come back with me, and do\nnot go this dangerous journey to the sky. I\u2019ll gladly bear you home\nagain, if you will come.\u201d\n\nBut Ripple said, \u201cI cannot turn back now, when I am nearly there. The\nSpirits surely will not harm me, when I tell them why I am come; and if\nI win the flame, I shall be the happiest Spirit in the sea, for my\npromise will be kept, and the poor mother happy once again. So\nfarewell, Winter! Speak to her gently, and tell her to hope still, for\nI shall surely come.\u201d\n\n\u201cAdieu, little Ripple! May good angels watch above you! Journey bravely\non, and take this snow-flake that will never melt, as MY gift,\u201d Winter\ncried, as the North-Wind bore him on, leaving a cloud of falling snow\nbehind.\n\n\u201cNow, dear Breeze,\u201d said Ripple, \u201cfly straight upward through the air,\nuntil we reach the place we have so long been seeking; Sunbeam shall go\nbefore to light the way, Yellow-leaf shall shelter me from heat and\nrain, while Snow-flake shall lie here beside me till it comes of use.\nSo farewell to the pleasant earth, until we come again. And now away,\nup to the sun!\u201d\n\nWhen Ripple first began her airy journey, all was dark and dreary;\nheavy clouds lay piled like hills around her, and a cold mist filled\nthe air but the Sunbeam, like a star, lit up the way, the leaf lay\nwarmly round her, and the tireless wind went swiftly on. Higher and\nhigher they floated up, still darker and darker grew the air, closer\nthe damp mist gathered, while the black clouds rolled and tossed, like\ngreat waves, to and fro.\n\n\u201cAh!\u201d sighed the weary little Spirit, \u201cshall I never see the light\nagain, or feel the warm winds on my cheek? It is a dreary way indeed,\nand but for the Seasons\u2019 gifts I should have perished long ago; but the\nheavy clouds MUST pass away at last, and all be fair again. So hasten\non, good Breeze, and bring me quickly to my journey\u2019s end.\u201d\n\nSoon the cold vapors vanished from her path, and sunshine shone upon\nher pleasantly; so she went gayly on, till she came up among the stars,\nwhere many new, strange sights were to be seen. With wondering eyes she\nlooked upon the bright worlds that once seemed dim and distant, when\nshe gazed upon them from the sea; but now they moved around her, some\nshining with a softly radiant light, some circled with bright,\nmany-colored rings, while others burned with a red, angry glare. Ripple\nwould have gladly stayed to watch them longer, for she fancied low,\nsweet voices called her, and lovely faces seemed to look upon her as\nshe passed; but higher up still, nearer to the sun, she saw a far-off\nlight, that glittered like a brilliant crimson star, and seemed to cast\na rosy glow along the sky.\n\n\u201cThe Fire-Spirits surely must be there, and I must stay no longer\nhere,\u201d said Ripple. So steadily she floated on, till straight before\nher lay a broad, bright path, that led up to a golden arch, beyond\nwhich she could see shapes flitting to and fro. As she drew near,\nbrighter glowed the sky, hotter and hotter grew the air, till Ripple\u2019s\nleaf-cloak shrivelled up, and could no longer shield her from the heat;\nthen she unfolded the white snow-flake, and, gladly wrapping the soft,\ncool mantle round her, entered through the shining arch.\n\nThrough the red mist that floated all around her, she could see high\nwalls of changing light, where orange, blue, and violet flames went\nflickering to and fro, making graceful figures as they danced and\nglowed; and underneath these rainbow arches, little Spirits glided, far\nand near, wearing crowns of fire, beneath which flashed their wild,\nbright eyes; and as they spoke, sparks dropped quickly from their lips,\nand Ripple saw with wonder, through their garments of transparent\nlight, that in each Fairy\u2019s breast there burned a steady flame, that\nnever wavered or went out.\n\nAs thus she stood, the Spirits gathered round her, and their hot breath\nwould have scorched her, but she drew the snow-cloak closer round her,\nsaying,\u2014\n\n\u201cTake me to your Queen, that I may tell her why I am here, and ask for\nwhat I seek.\u201d\n\nSo, through long halls of many-colored fire, they led her to a Spirit\nfairer than the rest, whose crown of flames waved to and fro like\ngolden plumes, while, underneath her violet robe, the light within her\nbreast glowed bright and strong.\n\n\u201cThis is our Queen,\u201d the Spirits said, bending low before her, as she\nturned her gleaming eyes upon the stranger they had brought.\n\nThen Ripple told how she had wandered round the world in search of\nthem, how the Seasons had most kindly helped her on, by giving\nSun-beam, Breeze, Leaf, and Flake; and how, through many dangers, she\nhad come at last to ask of them the magic flame that could give life to\nthe little child again.\n\nWhen she had told her tale, the spirits whispered earnestly among\nthemselves, while sparks fell thick and fast with every word; at length\nthe Fire-Queen said aloud,\u2014\n\n\u201cWe cannot give the flame you ask, for each of us must take a part of\nit from our own breasts; and this we will not do, for the brighter our\nbosom-fire burns, the lovelier we are. So do not ask us for this thing;\nbut any other gift we will most gladly give, for we feel kindly towards\nyou, and will serve you if we may.\u201d\n\nBut Ripple asked no other boon, and, weeping sadly, begged them not to\nsend her back without the gift she had come so far to gain.\n\n\u201cO dear, warm-hearted Spirits! give me each a little light from your\nown breasts, and surely they will glow the brighter for this kindly\ndeed; and I will thankfully repay it if I can.\u201d As thus she spoke, the\nQueen, who had spied out a chain of jewels Ripple wore upon her neck,\nreplied,\u2014\n\n\u201cIf you will give me those bright, sparkling stones, I will bestow on\nyou a part of my own flame; for we have no such lovely things to wear\nabout our necks, and I desire much to have them. Will you give it me\nfor what I offer, little Spirit?\u201d\n\nJoyfully Ripple gave her the chain; but, as soon as it touched her\nhand, the jewels melted like snow, and fell in bright drops to the\nground; at this the Queen\u2019s eyes flashed, and the Spirits gathered\nangrily about poor Ripple, who looked sadly at the broken chain, and\nthought in vain what she could give, to win the thing she longed so\nearnestly for.\n\n\u201cI have many fairer gems than these, in my home below the sea; and I\nwill bring all I can gather far and wide, if you will grant my prayer,\nand give me what I seek,\u201d she said, turning gently to the fiery\nSpirits, who were hovering fiercely round her.\n\n\u201cYou must bring us each a jewel that will never vanish from our hands\nas these have done,\u201d they said, \u201cand we will each give of our fire; and\nwhen the child is brought to life, you must bring hither all the jewels\nyou can gather from the depths of the sea, that we may try them here\namong the flames; but if they melt away like these, then we shall keep\nyou prisoner, till you give us back the light we lend. If you consent\nto this, then take our gift, and journey home again; but fail not to\nreturn, or we shall seek you out.\u201d\n\nAnd Ripple said she would consent, though she knew not if the jewels\ncould be found; still, thinking of the promise she had made, she forgot\nall else, and told the Spirits what they asked most surely should be\ndone. So each one gave a little of the fire from their breasts, and\nplaced the flame in a crystal vase, through which it shone and\nglittered like a star.\n\nThen, bidding her remember all she had promised them, they led her to\nthe golden arch, and said farewell.\n\nSo, down along the shining path, through mist and cloud, she travelled\nback; till, far below, she saw the broad blue sea she left so long ago.\n\nGladly she plunged into the clear, cool waves, and floated back to her\npleasant home; where the Spirits gathered joyfully about her, listening\nwith tears and smiles, as she told all her many wanderings, and showed\nthe crystal vase that she had brought.\n\n\u201cNow come,\u201d said they, \u201cand finish the good work you have so bravely\ncarried on.\u201d So to the quiet tomb they went, where, like a marble\nimage, cold and still, the little child was lying. Then Ripple placed\nthe flame upon his breast, and watched it gleam and sparkle there,\nwhile light came slowly back into the once dim eyes, a rosy glow shone\nover the pale face, and breath stole through the parted lips; still\nbrighter and warmer burned the magic fire, until the child awoke from\nhis long sleep, and looked in smiling wonder at the faces bending over\nhim.\n\nThen Ripple sang for joy, and, with her sister Spirits, robed the child\nin graceful garments, woven of bright sea-weed, while in his shining\nhair they wreathed long garlands of their fairest flowers, and on his\nlittle arms hung chains of brilliant shells.\n\n\u201cNow come with us, dear child,\u201d said Ripple; \u201cwe will bear you safely\nup into the sunlight and the pleasant air; for this is not your home,\nand yonder, on the shore, there waits a loving friend for you.\u201d\n\nSo up they went, through foam and spray, till on the beach, where the\nfresh winds played among her falling hair, and the waves broke\nsparkling at her feet, the lonely mother still stood, gazing wistfully\nacross the sea. Suddenly, upon a great blue billow that came rolling\nin, she saw the Water-Spirits smiling on her; and high aloft, in their\nwhite gleaming arms, her child stretched forth his hands to welcome\nher; while the little voice she so longed to hear again cried gayly,\u2014\n\n\u201cSee, dear mother, I am come; and look what lovely things the gentle\nSpirits gave, that I might seem more beautiful to you.\u201d\n\nThen gently the great wave broke, and rolled back to the sea, leaving\nRipple on the shore, and the child clasped in his mother\u2019s arms.\n\n\u201cO faithful little Spirit! I would gladly give some precious gift to\nshow my gratitude for this kind deed; but I have nothing save this\nchain of little pearls: they are the tears I shed, and the sea has\nchanged them thus, that I might offer them to you,\u201d the happy mother\nsaid, when her first joy was passed, and Ripple turned to go.\n\n\u201cYes, I will gladly wear your gift, and look upon it as my fairest\nornament,\u201d the Water-Spirit said; and with the pearls upon her breast,\nshe left the shore, where the child was playing gayly to and fro, and\nthe mother\u2019s glad smile shone upon her, till she sank beneath the\nwaves.\n\nAnd now another task was to be done; her promise to the Fire-Spirits\nmust be kept. So far and wide she searched among the caverns of the\nsea, and gathered all the brightest jewels shining there; and then upon\nher faithful Breeze once more went journeying through the sky.\n\nThe Spirits gladly welcomed her, and led her to the Queen, before whom\nshe poured out the sparkling gems she had gathered with such toil and\ncare; but when the Spirits tried to form them into crowns, they\ntrickled from their hands like colored drops of dew, and Ripple saw\nwith fear and sorrow how they melted one by one away, till none of all\nthe many she had brought remained. Then the Fire-Spirits looked upon\nher angrily, and when she begged them to be merciful, and let her try\nonce more, saying,\u2014\n\n\u201cDo not keep me prisoner here. I cannot breathe the flames that give\nyou life, and but for this snow-mantle I too should melt away, and\nvanish like the jewels in your hands. O dear Spirits, give me some\nother task, but let me go from this warm place, where all is strange\nand fearful to a Spirit of the sea.\u201d\n\nThey would not listen; and drew nearer, saying, while bright sparks\nshowered from their lips, \u201cWe will not let you go, for you have\npromised to be ours if the gems you brought proved worthless; so fling\naway this cold white cloak, and bathe with us in the fire fountains,\nand help us bring back to our bosom flames the light we gave you for\nthe child.\u201d\n\nThen Ripple sank down on the burning floor, and felt that her life was\nnearly done; for she well knew the hot air of the fire-palace would be\ndeath to her. The Spirits gathered round, and began to lift her mantle\noff; but underneath they saw the pearl chain, shining with a clear,\nsoft light, that only glowed more brightly when they laid their hands\nupon it.\n\n\u201cO give us this!\u201d cried they; \u201cit is far lovelier than all the rest,\nand does not melt away like them; and see how brilliantly it glitters\nin our hands. If we may but have this, all will be well, and you are\nonce more free.\u201d\n\nAnd Ripple, safe again beneath her snow flake, gladly gave the chain to\nthem; and told them how the pearls they now placed proudly on their\nbreasts were formed of tears, which but for them might still be\nflowing. Then the Spirits smiled most kindly on her, and would have put\ntheir arms about her, and have kissed her cheek, but she drew back,\ntelling them that every touch of theirs was like a wound to her.\n\n\u201cThen, if we may not tell our pleasure so, we will show it in a\ndifferent way, and give you a pleasant journey home. Come out with us,\u201d\nthe Spirits said, \u201cand see the bright path we have made for you.\u201d So\nthey led her to the lofty gate, and here, from sky to earth, a lovely\nrainbow arched its radiant colors in the sun.\n\n\u201cThis is indeed a pleasant road,\u201d said Ripple. \u201cThank you, friendly\nSpirits, for your care; and now farewell. I would gladly stay yet\nlonger, but we cannot dwell together, and I am longing sadly for my own\ncool home. Now Sunbeam, Breeze, Leaf, and Flake, fly back to the\nSeasons whence you came, and tell them that, thanks to their kind\ngifts, Ripple\u2019s work at last is done.\u201d\n\nThen down along the shining pathway spread before her, the happy little\nSpirit glided to the sea.\n\n\n\u201cThanks, dear Summer-Wind,\u201d said the Queen; \u201cwe will remember the\nlessons you have each taught us, and when next we meet in Fern Dale,\nyou shall tell us more. And now, dear Trip, call them from the lake,\nfor the moon is sinking fast, and we must hasten home.\u201d\n\nThe Elves gathered about their Queen, and while the rustling leaves\nwere still, and the flowers\u2019 sweet voices mingled with their own, they\nsang this\n\n\n\n\nFAIRY SONG.\n\n\nThe moonlight fades from flower and tree,\nAnd the stars dim one by one;\nThe tale is told, the song is sung,\nAnd the Fairy feast is done.\nThe night-wind rocks the sleeping flowers,\nAnd sings to them, soft and low.\nThe early birds erelong will wake:\n\u2019T is time for the Elves to go.\n\n\nO\u2019er the sleeping earth we silently pass,\nUnseen by mortal eye,\nAnd send sweet dreams, as we lightly float\nThrough the quiet moonlit sky;\u2014\nFor the stars\u2019 soft eyes alone may see,\nAnd the flowers alone may know,\nThe feasts we hold, the tales we tell:\nSo \u2019t is time for the Elves to go.\n\n\nFrom bird, and blossom, and bee,\nWe learn the lessons they teach;\nAnd seek, by kindly deeds, to win\nA loving friend in each.\nAnd though unseen on earth we dwell,\nSweet voices whisper low,\nAnd gentle hearts most joyously greet\nThe Elves where\u2019er they go.\n\n\nWhen next we meet in the Fairy dell,\nMay the silver moon\u2019s soft light\nShine then on faces gay as now,\nAnd Elfin hearts as light.\nNow spread each wing, for the eastern sky\nWith sunlight soon will glow.\nThe morning star shall light us home:\nFarewell! for the Elves must go.\n\n\nAs the music ceased, with a soft, rustling sound the Elves spread their\nshining wings, and flew silently over the sleeping earth; the flowers\nclosed their bright eyes, the little winds were still, for the feast\nwas over, and the Fairy lessons ended.","title":"Flower Fables","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":34130}