The first to come are the Narcissi, the 

 N. tazetta being my favourite. I seek 

 some Chinese store to buy these, and 

 set the large, heavy bulbs amid bright- 

 hued stones that I have been for years 

 collecting from the seashore. These 

 bulbs are always placed in a bowl of 

 Chinese porcelain, gay in colour and 

 inimitable in design, for I have a fancy 

 that the bulbs bloom more freely if 

 placed in a vessel of their own nation- 

 ality ! Who knows but they whisper 

 together of when they were in their own 

 homes, and the Narcissi long for the 

 presence of the sweet singing insects, 

 so numerous in their own flowery land ? 



After the Chinese lilies have bloomed 

 then come the Paper-white Narcissus, 

 sweet and free-bloomers, filling the 

 house with their perfume, so that when 

 you enter from out of doors you feel 

 as if spring were within, no matter 

 what the temperature without. 



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