“ She placed them in her bosom, and as she bent her head to smell of one, she heard a very small voice, like the Æolian harp-tones of the fairy queen; they were so very faint, she thought they came from a distance. She looked around and above, but saw no fairies, nor elves neither, for the black troop, seeing her cherish the lilies, had vanished. The voice sounded a little louder, and said, “Rosa, dear child! love us and we will love you; do well, and we will always be with you to guard you; feel, think, or do ill, and you force us to leave you.” “Ah! is it the lily speaking? ”

“ Each of the elves leaped upon the back of one, and the king placed Rosa before him on his. This was certainly fine; the peacocks spread their tails so wide and looked so proud, and held their pretty crowned heads so high; and though the elf-king’s claw grasped Rosa’s waist rather tightly, and his voice grated harshly upon her ear, when he now and then cried, “high! high, boy!” to his steed, she did not much care for it, it was so fine to be sweeping through the air on the beautiful bird. ”

“ The little maid you see gazing at the great dragon-fly, is the foster child of a good shepherd; she has risen with the morning sun, and has come forth into the silent wood, to lift up her little voice, with the birds, in songs of praise and thanksgiving to the Creator, and to ask His blessing on all that lives. The little lamb by her side is the companion of all her walks ”

“ But Corinne soon found that the rainbow fled as fast as she pursued it; but as she passed by the rose-bush, she saw a young and handsome female, who seemed to be hiding among the roses, and was now looking out upon the child.
[Pg 13]
“My pretty little Corinne,” said the female, “don’t run any more after the rainbow—you will never be able to overtake it. But stop a moment here by the roses. I am the Fairy of the Rose, and I love to make good little children happy. You may come here every day while the roses bloom, and carry one home with you in the evening. ”

“ I fancy I hear thy gentle voice breathing forth thy joy, in sweet and happy words, such as little children are wont to use when they first begin to look up into the blue sky, to gaze upon the rainbow, or at the bright, fleecy clouds that float over the moon. ”

“ She makes garlands of the choicest flowers, and hangs them upon his neck. She loves the flowers, the green grass, and the rippling [Pg 74] stream. She loves to walk with her lamb in the still woods, and listen to the hum of the little insects that dwell there. She is Nature’s happy child, and her discourses are with its wonders. It is in the quiet dell, by the softly murmuring stream, that she loves most to stay; she is talking now with that large dragon-fly ”

“ She ran about over the moss-covered rocks, and plucked the gay columbines that bent at their sides for shelter. She walked by the sparkling brook, and threw herself down amongst the violets that decked its borders, and her ear was delighted with the joyous gurgling of its waters, and with the cheerful melody of the spring birds, and the drowsy hum of the newly-awakened insects. She returned [Pg 48] home with her basket full of flowers, and her heart and mind full of those beautiful feelings and thoughts which good angels delight to infuse into the minds of little children ”

“ Spider-like little creatures they were, very black, and with long slender limbs, which they threw about in a most fantastic manner, and with large owlish eyes, which they seemed to think were made on purpose to be rolled from side to side. “Rosa,” said one of the elves, which seemed [Pg 18] to be the king, “do not believe what that pond says; I know his tricks. He always was given to telling falsehoods; believe me, he is a wrinkled sinner. You are a good child, and your face is a pretty one. Come, we love you; come with us; we have a fine home.” ”

“ Then the child awakened; and he told the flowers how angels sat each side of him, and sang to him of his mother and sisters, who lived in heaven, and how happy they were; and how beautiful heaven was, and how he might go there and live; this made him feel very happy. But then the angels told him, with sweet, sad voices, how naughty he was, and how much he [Pg 67] must do to be good enough to live in heaven; and his heart sank, and he feared that he never should see his dear mother again. Then he wept;—but soon he felt on his brow other tears, and he looked up, and saw the angels weeping. ”

“ It was not rainy that night, nor were the window curtains fluttering; but Rosa heard the rustling and pattering behind her as she stood by the pond, curling her ringlets around her fingers, and thinking how prettily she looked. “Rosa! Rosa!” said many cracked voices, “come and ride the peacock. Our peacock steeds will carry us up to the clouds, so that we can see the pavilion of the air-fairies. Come, we are all going up.” And the elf-king touched with his wand some flowers that grew on the banks of the pond, and instantly they were [Pg 32] changed into peacocks. ”

“ One day, when Delphine was walking in the meadows with her mother, some years after this, and was looking up into the sky, she saw a black speck, which, as it descended, grew larger and larger; and as it came towards her, she saw that it was a prodigious black swan. It had on its back a tent, with golden gauze curtains, and when it alighted upon the ground where Delphine was standing, there came out of the tent a little man, with friendly eyes, who thus addressed her, “I am the King of the Swans. I have heard that you will, in a short time, celebrate a joyful festival ”

“ There was once a little girl, who was called Delphine, so good and cheerful, that she was a favorite with everybody. This good girl had a friend called Hilda, who was also a good girl, and they loved each other dearly. ”

“ Lilla walked away, and seeing an apple-tree in full blossom, she said,—“This tree and its fair blossoms live for themselves, no doubt.”
“Nay,” answered the tree, “I draw nourishment from the earth, and spread out my leaves that they may receive heat and life from the sun; the showers of rain are for the sake of the fruit we bear; we clothe ourselves in blossoms, because they are the means of producing seed.”
[Pg 63]
“Yes,” said the blossoms, “we are content to wither and drop off as soon as our task is done; for it is for the sake of the fruit that we exist, and our fruit for the sake of man ”

“ It is quite as pleasant, though, to glide about on this smooth floor.” After some time, she had become so much accustomed to believing herself a lamb, that it really began to be as if she ran and leaped about, and presently she seemed to be running up the spiral staircase, and when she had reached the top, she seemed to spring along over the meadows, thinking to herself, Oh! now what will mother say, when she sees I am an innocent lamb? Yes, I am a lamb! Oh, the truth-telling mirror.
“The truth-telling mirror!” repeated a [Pg 24] soft, sweet voice directly in front of Rosa. ”

“ In her anxiety, she ran this way and that; still no gate was to be seen. Then she heard the sound of a whistle, and she exclaimed, with joy, “I hear a living sound, some one, surely, is in this wood who will be kind enough to show me the way out.” ”

“ There are about the flowers great mysteries; on some of them are beautiful stories, and the songs which we sing are here written—and when we learn them, we [Pg 59] write them on the brain of some sleeping mortal whose soul delights in melodies; when he awakes he gives them forth to the world. ”

“ Then her father and mother would say, “Dear Hilda, it is winter now, and there are none to be found this season.”
Hilda would then raise herself up in bed, and say, “Far away over the high hill there, and through the forest, is a green slope; there I can see plenty of strawberries.
“Who will go and fetch them for me—only one of those nice red berries—only one!” The children left the room, saying, to each other, “What nonsense poor Hilda [Pg 78] talked about; she must be dreaming.” But Delphine was much troubled that she could not help her friend. ”

“ The stories we write on the brain, as we said, but the mysteries we keep to ourselves.”
“Oh!” said Lilla, “make me to understand the notes, that I may sing more sweetly than the birds.”
Then the fairy taught her one of the songs, and it seemed in her dream as if she lifted up her voice and sang. Louder and louder it grew, till she seemed to fill the whole air with her music.
Then Dew-drop asked Lilla if she would like to go and amuse herself in the Elfin’s Cave ”

“ We fairy band will collect, and unite together, and a golden cloud shall enwrap us, and the cloud shall rise up, and thou shalt follow it till it reaches the pavilion.”
“I do not love you; you are not kind,” said Rosa; “but I am curious to look into [Pg 26] your mirror ”