哥妹旅行网小学英语 英语故事(童话故事)The RoseElf 玫瑰花精

2021年1月26日发(作者：米盛山)
The
Rose
—
Elf
玫瑰花精

In the midst of a garden there grew a rose bush, quite covered with roses, and in
the
most
beautiful
of
them
all
there
lived
an
elf-an
elf
so
tiny
that
no
mortal
eye
could see him. But he was as well made and as perfect as any child could be, and
he
had
wings
reaching
from
his
shoulders
to
his
feet.
Behind
each
petal
of
the
rose
he
had
a
tiny
bedroom.
Oh,
how
fragrant
his
rooms
were,
and
how
bright
and
transparent
the walls, for they were the beautiful pale pink petals of the rose! All day long
the little elf rejoiced in the warm sunshine as he flew from flower to flower or
danced on the wings of the fluttering butterflies and measured how many steps he
would have to take to pass along all the roads and paths on a single linden leaf.
You see, what we call the veins on a leaf were highroads and byways to him. It was
a
long
journey,
and
he
had
begun
it
rather
late,
so
before
he
finished,
the
sun
had
gone down!
It turned very cold, dew fell, and the wind blew, so now it was high time he went
home. He hurried as fast as he could, but to his dismay he found that the rose had
closed its petals for the night! Not a single rose stood open! He couldn't get in!
Now, the poor little rose elf was terribly frightened, for he had never been out
at night before; he had always slumbered sweetly and safely behind the warm rose
petals. This would surely be the death of him!
Suddenly he remembered that at the other end of the garden there was an arbor of
lovely honeysuckle, those flowers which looked like big painted horns. In one of
them, perhaps, he could go down and sleep safely till morning.
Swiftly
he
flew
to
the
far
end
of
the
garden.
But
suddenly
he
stopped!
Quiet!
There
were
already
two
people
in
the
arbor.
The
loveliest
maiden
and
a
handsome
young
man.
They sat closely
together and wished
they
might
never,
never part. They
loved each
other, even more than the best child can love its father and mother.

is sending me on a long journey, far over distant mountains and oceans. Farewell,
my sweetest bride, for that you will always be to me!
Then
they
kissed,
and
the
young
maiden
wept
and
gave
him
a
rose.
But
first
she
pressed
on it a kiss so warm and tender that the rose petals opened, and then the little
elf
slipped
quickly
inside.
As
he
leaned
his
tiny
head
against
the
delicate,
fragrant
walls,
he
could
hear,

Farewell!
and
he
felt
that
the
rose
was
being
placed
on the young man's heart. Ah, how that heart beat! The little elf couldn't go to
sleep for its beating!
But not long did the rose rest undisturbed on that throbbing heart. As the young
man
walked
lonely
through
the
dark
wood
he
took
the
rose
out
and
kissed
it
so
often
and so warmly that the little elf was almost crushed. Through the petals he could
feel the young man's burning lips, while the rose itself opened as if under the
strongest midday sun.
Suddenly
another
man
appeared.
It
was
the
pretty
maiden's
gloomy
and
wicked
brother!
He drew out a long sharp knife, and while the young man was kissing the rose, this
wicked one stabbed him to death! Then he cut off the head and buried head and body
in the soft earth beneath the linden tree.

he's
dead
and
forgotten!
the
evil
brother
thought.

never
come
back
again.
He was supposed to have left on a long journey where a man might easily lose his
life-and so he has lost his. No, he won't come back, and my sister won't ever dare
ask me about him.
the darkness of the night.
But he was not alone, as he thought. The little elf was with him. For, as he dug
the grave, a dried, rolled-up linden leaf had fallen in his hair, and the rose elf
was in that leaf. Now the man's hat was placed over the leaf, and it was very dark
in there where the little elf trembled in fear and anger at the wicked deed.
In the early morning, the evil man reached home. He took off his hat and went into
his sister's bedroom. There lay the pretty maiden, dreaming of her beloved, whom
she thought far away traveling over mountains and through the forests. The wicked
brother leaned over her and laughed-the hideous laugh of a devil-and the withered
leaf
dropped
from
his
hair
onto
her
bed
cover.
But
he
didn't
notice,
and
pretty
soon
he left her room to get a little sleep himself.
Now the little elf crept quietly out of the withered leaf, slipped into the ear of
the sleeping girl, and told her, as in a dream, the dreadful story of the murder.
He
described
the
spot
in
the
woods
where
her
brother
had
killed
her
sweetheart,
and
the
place
under
the
linden
tree
where
the
body
was
buried,
and
then
whispered,

so that you may not think this all a dream, you will find a withered leaf of the
tree on your bedspread!
Oh,
what
bitter,
bitter
tears
she
shed!
Yet
to
no
one
did
she
dare
betray
her
grief.
All that day her window stood open, and the little elf could easily have escaped
to
the
roses
and
all
the
other
flowers
of
the
garden,
but
he
could
not
bear
to
leave
the sorrowing girl.
In the window stood a bush that bore roses every month, and he found a spot in one
of those flowers from where he could watch the poor girl. Often her brother came
into the room, merry with an evil mirth, and she dared not say a word of the grief
in her heart.
When night came she stole out of the house and into the forest to the place where
the linden tree stood. She brushed away the leaves, dug into the earth, and so at
last came to the body of her beloved. How she wept then, and how she prayed to God
that
she
too
might
die!
She
would
gladly
have
taken
the
body
home
with
her,
but
since
that would be impossible, she took up the pale head, with its closed eyes, kissed
the
cold
mouth,
and
with
a
trembling
hand
brushed
the
dirt
from
the
beautiful
hair.

at
least,
I
can
keep,
she
wept.
Then
she
buried
the
body
again
and
scattered
the
leaves
once
more
over
it.
But
the
head,
together
with
a
little
sprig
from
a
jasmine
bush which bloomed in the wood where he had been killed, she took with her to her
home.
As soon as she reached her room she brought the biggest flowerpot she could find,
and in this she laid the dead man's head, covered it with earth, and planted the
sprig of jasmine.