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雏菊

　　How happy the daisy was! No one has the least idea. The bird kissed it with its beak， sang to it， and then rose again up to the blue sky. It was certainly more than a quarter of an hour before the daisy recovered its senses. Half ashamed， yet glad at heart， it looked over to the other flowers in the garden; surely they had witnessed its pleasure and the honour that had been done to it; they understood its joy. But the tulips stood more stiffly than ever， their faces were pointed and red， because they were vexed. The peonies were sulky; it was well that they could not speak， otherwise they would have given the daisy a good lecture. The little flower could very well see that they were ill at ease， and pitied them sincerely.

　　Shortly after this a girl came into the garden， with a large sharp knife. She went to the tulips and began cutting them off， one after another. “Ugh! sighed the daisy， “that is terrible; now they are done for.

　　the girl carried the tulips away. The daisy was glad that it was outside， and only a small flower—it felt very grateful. At sunset it folded its petals， and fell asleep， and dreamt all night of the sun and the little bird.

　　On the following morning， when the flower once more stretched forth its tender petals， like little arms， towards the air and light， the daisy recognised the bird's voice， but what it sang sounded so sad. Indeed the poor bird had good reason to be sad， for it had been caught and put into a cage close by the open window. It sang of the happy days when it could merrily fly about， of fresh GREen corn in the fields， and of the time when it could soar almost up to the clouds. The poor lark was most unhappy as a prisoner in a cage. The little daisy would have liked so much to help it， but what could be done? Indeed， that was very difficult for such a small flower to find out. It entirely forgot how beautiful everything around it was， how warmly the sun was shining， and how splendidly white its own petals were. It could only think of the poor captive bird， for which it could do nothing. Then two little boys came out of the garden; one of them had a large sharp knife， like that with which the girl had cut the tulips. They came straight towards the little daisy， which could not understand what they wanted.