430 



THE FLOWERS PERSONIFIED. 



tender Anemone ; and the haughty Ama- 

 ryllis listened, without much disdain, to the 

 rather vulgar conversation of the Bladder- 

 nut tree. As it often happens in well ar- 

 ranged societies, at times of great emer- 

 gency, a forced reconciliation had taken 

 place among the flowers. 



" Lilies, with their brows encircled by but- 

 terflies, and Bellflowers, with glow-worms 

 shining like living lanthorns among their 

 petals, lighted the procession ; which was 

 brought up, in a somewhat disorderly man- 

 ner b}'' a careless troop of Daisies. 



" The procession drew up in good order 

 before the palace of the astonished fairy, 

 and an eloquent Hellebore, stepping from 

 the ranks, thus addressed her: 



" ' Your Majesty — 



" ' The flowers here present, beg you to ac- 

 cept their homage, and to lend a favorable 

 ear to their humble complaint. For thou- 

 sands of years we have supplied mankind 

 with their themes of comparison ; we alone 

 have given them all their metaphors ; in- 

 deed, without us, poetry could not exist. 

 Men lend to us their virtues and their vices ; 

 their good and their bad qualities ; and it is 

 time that we should have some experience 

 of what these are. We are tired of this 

 flower-life. We wish for permission to as- 

 sume the human form, and to judge, for 

 ourselves, whether that which they say 

 above,ofour character, is agreeable to truth.' 

 "A murmur of approbation followed this 

 speech. The fairy could not believe the 

 testimony of her own eyes and ears. 



" ' What,' said she, ' do you wish to change 

 your existence, so like that of the gods, for 

 the miserable life which men lead ? What 

 is there wanting to make you happy? Have 

 you not for your adornment diamonds of 

 dew? — conversations with the zephyrs for 

 your entertainment?- — and the kisses of 

 butterflies to make you dream of love ? ' 



" ' The dews make me take cold,' said, 

 with a yawn, the Belle de Nuit. 



" ' The songs of the Zephyr tire me to 

 death,' said a Rose. 'He has repeated the 

 same thing for these thousand years. The 

 poets of an academy must surely be more 

 amusing.' 



" ' What care I,' murmured a sentimental 

 Periwinkle, ' for the caresses of the butter- 

 fly, since he never participates in the en- 

 joyment? The Butterfly is the very sym- 

 bol of selfishness. He would not know his 

 own mother; and his children, in their 

 turn, would not recognize him. How can 

 he have learned anything of love ? He has 

 neither a past nor a future ; he remembers 

 nothing, and is himself forgotten. Men 

 alone know how to love.' 



" The fairy turned upon the Periwinkle 

 a mournful look, which seemed to say — 

 ' And thou, too, ! ' She felt that her efforts 

 to put down the rebellion would be una- 

 vailing ; still, she resolved to make one 

 more attempt. 



" ' Once upon the earth,' said she to her 

 revolted subjects, 'hoiv do you intend to 

 live ? ' 



" ' I shall be an author,' said the Wild 

 Rose.' 



" ' And I a shepherdess,' added the Corn- 

 poppy. 



" ' I shall come out as a marriage-maker, 

 — I as a schoolmaster, — I as a teacher of 

 the piano, — I as a trinket vender, — and I 

 as a fortune teller,' exclaimed, altogether, 

 the Orange flower, the Thistle, the Hy- 

 drangea, the Iris, and the Dais}''. 



"The Larkspur talked of his debut at 

 the opera ; and the Rose vowed that when 

 she should have become a duchess, she 

 would have the satisfaction of crowning 

 rosicres* without number. 



" Many flowers were there which had al- 



* Young maidens who have won the prize of goodness. 



