小艾达的花_故事_趣味英语-查字典英语网

小艾达的花

　　“But how can one flower tell another? Flowers cannot speak?

　　“No， certainly not， replied the student; “but they can make signs. Have you not often seen that when the wind blows they nod at one another， and rustle all their GREen leaves?

　　“Can the professor understand the signs? asked Ida.

　　“Yes， to be sure he can. He went one morning into his garden， and saw a stinging nettle making signs with its leaves to a beautiful red carnation. It was saying， 'You are so pretty， I like you very much.' But the professor did not approve of such nonsense， so he clapped his hands on the nettle to stop it. Then the leaves， which are its fingers， stung him so sharply that he has never ventured to touch a nettle since.

　　“Oh how funny! said Ida， and she laughed.

　　“How can anyone put such notions into a child's head? said a tiresome lawyer， who had come to pay a visit， and sat on the sofa. He did not like the student， and would grumble when he saw him cutting out droll or amusing pictures. Sometimes it would be a man hanging on a gibbet and holding a heart in his hand as if he had been stealing hearts. Sometimes it was an old witch riding through the air on a broom and carrying her husband on her nose. But the lawyer did not like such jokes， and he would say as he had just said， “How can anyone put such nonsense into a child's head! what absurd fancies there are!