"No one ever places it in a nosegay; it is
trodden under foot, there are so many of them; and when they run to seed
they have flowers like wool, which fly away in little pieces over the
roads and cling to the dresses of the people; they are only weeds--but
of course there must be weeds. Oh, I am really very thankful that I was
not made like one of these flowers." There came presently across the fields a whole group of children, the
youngest of whom was so small that he had to be carried by the others;
and when he was seated on the grass, among the yellow flowers, he
laughed aloud with joy, kicked out his little legs, rolled about,
plucked the yellow flowers and kissed them in childlike innocence. The elder children broke off the flowers with long stems, bent the
stalks one round the other to form links, and made first a chain for the
neck, then one to go across the shoulders and hang down to the waist,
and at last a wreath to wear about the head; so that they looked quite
splendid in their garlands of green stems and golden flowers. But the
eldest among them gathered carefully the faded flowers, on the stem of
which were grouped together the seeds, in the form of a white, feathery
coronal. These loose, airy wool-flowers are very beautiful, and look like fine,
snowy feathers or down. The children held them to their mouths and tried
to blow away the whole coronal with one puff of the breath. They had
been told by their grandmothers that whoever did so would be sure to
have new clothes before the end of the year. The despised flower was by
this raised to the position of a prophet, or foreteller of events. "Do you see," said the sunbeam, "do you see the beauty of these flowers? Do you see their powers of giving pleasure?" "Yes, to children," said the apple bough. By and by an old woman came into the field and, with a blunt knife
without a handle, began to dig round the roots of some of the dandelion
plants and pull them up. With some she intended to make tea for herself,
but the rest she was going to sell to the chemist and obtain money. "But beauty is of higher value than all this," said the apple-tree
branch; "only the chosen ones can be admitted into the realms of the
beautiful. There is a difference between plants, just as there is a
difference between men." Then the sunbeam spoke of the boundless love of God as seen in creation
and over all that lives, and of the equal distribution of His gifts,
both in time and in eternity. "That is your opinion," said the apple bough. Then some people came into the room and among them the young
countess--the lady who had placed the apple bough in the transparent
vase, so pleasantly beneath the rays of sunlight. She carried in her
hand something that seemed like a flower. The object was hidden by two
or three great leaves which covered it like a shield so that no draft or
gust of wind could injure it, and it was carried more carefully than the
apple branch had ever been. Very cautiously the large leaves were removed, and there appeared the
feathery seed crown of the despised yellow dandelion. This was what the
lady had so carefully plucked and carried home so safely covered, so
that not one of the delicate feathery arrows of which its mistlike shape
was so lightly formed should flutter away. She now drew it forth quite
uninjured and wondered at its beautiful form, its airy lightness and
singular construction so soon to be blown away by the wind. "See," she exclaimed, "how wonderfully God has made this little flower. I will paint it in a picture with the apple branch. Every one admires
the beauty of the apple bough, but this humble flower has been endowed
by Heaven with another kind of loveliness, and although they differ in
appearance both are children of the realms of beauty." Then the sunbeam kissed both the lowly flower and the blooming apple
branch, upon whose leaves appeared a rosy blush. NOTES


LITTLE TUK

        PAGE 21. _Seeland_: one of the islands of Denmark,
          the country in which little Tuk lived. PAGE 22. _Kjöge_ (ke ẽ gĕh): a town about which
          Tuk was to learn. PAGE 24. _Præstö_ (præs´tẽ): another town about
          which Tuk was to learn. _popinjay_ (pŏp´ĭn jāy): an image of a parrot. _Thorwaldsen_ (tôr vȧl s_e_n): one of the
          greatest of modern sculptors. Supposed to have
          been a native of Denmark. _Vordingborg_ (vōr´dĭng bŏrk): in ancient
          times this was a place of great importance. Now it
          is an insignificant town; only a single lonely
          tower remains where once a noble castle stood. PAGE 25. _Korsör_ (kôr´sor): before the time of
          steamers this used to be called the most tiresome
          town in Denmark. Travelers had to wait for a
          favorable wind. The poet mentioned in the story
          was Baggeson. PAGE 26. _Roskilde_ (rôs gĕl lẽ): once the
          capital of Denmark. PAGE 27. _Sorö_ (so´rẽ): a very quiet little
          town, in a beautiful situation, surrounded by
          forests and lakes. Holberg, one of Denmark's
          greatest poets, founded a celebrated academy here. Other noted poets also had their homes here, and
          taught in the academy. LITTLE THUMBELINA

        PAGE 88. Decaying wood sometimes gives out a faint
          light called _phosphorescence_. SUNSHINE STORIES

        PAGE 106. For the story of the Golden Fleece, see
          Kingsley's "Greek Heroes." OLE-LUK-OIE, THE DREAM GOD

        PAGE 145. _Ole-Luk-Oie_ (ō´le l[)oo]k´oi): the
          Danish name for the sandman. ELDER-TREE MOTHER

        PAGE 179. _Copenhagen_ (kō pĕn hā´gĕn): the capital
          of Denmark. _Fredericksburg_ (frĕd´ẽr ĭcks bûrg):
          twenty-one miles from Copenhagen; the summer
          residence of the royal family. THE SNOW QUEEN

FOURTH STORY

THE PRINCE AND PRINCESS

        PAGE 217. Children have a kind of language, or
          gibberish, which is sometimes called _crows'
          language_. It is formed by adding letters or
          syllables to every word. *       *       *       *       *

Transcriber's Notes:

Obvious punctuation errors repaired. Page 24, "Thorvaldsen" changed to "Thorwaldsen" (Thorwaldsen lived in
one)

Page 299, Glossary, some of the words were missing the stressing accent. This was retained. Glossary: The double o with a breve above had been rendered as [)oo]. *** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HANS ANDERSEN'S FAIRY TALES. FIRST SERIES ***


    

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