Hi,
It's Stefania,
And we're back with part two of Little Ida's Flowers.
Okay,
Something to remember in our story.
You might know in the winter,
Many of the flowers die.
But as the weather gets warmer,
The sun comes out and they bloom again into beautiful,
Colorful flowers.
Now,
Let's continue with our story.
Little Ida's Flowers Part Two In the night she woke,
She had been dreaming of the student and the flowers and the counselor who told her they were making game of her.
All was still in the room.
The night lamp was burning on the table,
And her father and mother were both asleep.
I wonder if my flowers are still lying in Sophie's bed,
She thought to herself.
How I should like to know.
She raised herself a little and looked towards the door,
Which stood half open.
Within lay the flowers and all her playthings.
She listened,
And it seemed to her that she heard someone playing upon the piano,
But quite softly and more sweetly than she had ever heard before.
Now,
All the flowers are certainly dancing,
Thought she.
Oh,
How I should like to see them.
But she dared not get up for fear of waking her father and mother,
If they would only come in here.
But the flowers did not come,
And the music went on so prettily that she could restrain herself no longer.
And she crept out of her little bed,
Stole softly to the door,
And peeped into the room.
Oh,
What a pretty sight it was.
There was no night lamp in the room,
Still it was quite bright.
The moon shone through the window down upon the floor,
And it was almost like daylight.
The hyacinths and tulips stood there in two rows.
Not one was left on the window where stood the empty flower pots.
On the floor,
All the flowers danced gracefully,
Making all the turns and holding each other by their long green leaves as they twirled around.
At the piano sat a large yellow lily,
Which little Ida remembered to have seen in the summer,
For she recollected that the has said,
Oh,
Like she is to Miss Laura,
And how everyone had laughed at the remark.
But now she really thought that the lily was very much like the young lady.
It had exactly her manner of playing,
Bending its long yellow face,
Now to one side and now to the other,
And nodding its head to mark time to the beautiful music.
A large blue crocus now stepped forward,
Sprang upon the table on which lay Ida's playthings,
Went straight to the doll's cradle,
And drew back the curtains.
There lay the sick flowers,
But they rose at once,
Greeting the other flowers,
And made a sign that they would like to join in the dance.
They did not look at all sick now.
Suddenly,
A heavy noise was heard as of something falling from the table.
Ida glanced that way and saw that it was the rod she had found on her bed on Shrove Tuesday,
That it seemed to wish to belong to the flowers.
It was a pretty rod,
For a wax figure that looked exactly like the consular sat upon the head of it.
The rod began to dance,
And the wax figure that was riding on it became long and great,
Like the consular himself,
And began to exclaim,
How can one put such stuff into a child's head?
It was very funny to see,
And little Ida could not help laughing,
For the rod kept on dancing,
And the consular had to dance too.
There was no help for it,
Whether he remained tall and big,
Or became a little wax figure again.
But the other flowers said a good word for him,
Especially those that had lain in the doll's bed,
So that at last the rod left it in peace.
At the same time,
There was a loud knocking inside the drawer where Sophie,
Ida's doll,
Lay with many other toys.
She put out her head and asked in great astonishment,
Is there a ball here?
Why has no one told me of it?
She sat down upon the table,
Expecting some of the flowers to ask her to dance with them.
But as they did not,
She let herself fall upon the floor so as to make a great noise,
And then the flowers all came crowding about to ask if she were hurt,
And they were very polite,
Especially those that had lain in her bed.
She was not at all hurt,
And the flowers thanked her for the use of her pretty bed,
And took her into the middle of the room where the moon shone,
And danced with her,
While the other flowers formed a circle around them.
So now Sophie was pleased and said they might keep her bed,
For she did not mind sleeping in the drawer the least in the world.
But the flowers replied,
We thank you most heartily for your kindness,
But we shall not be long enough to need it.
We shall be quite dead by tomorrow.
But tell little Ida she is to plant us out in the garden near the canary bird,
And then we shall wake again next summer and be even more beautiful than we have this year.
Oh no,
You must not go,
Said Sophie,
Kissing them as she spoke.
And then a great company of flowers came dancing in.
Ida could not imagine where they could have come from,
Unless from the king's garden.
Two beautiful roses led the way,
Wearing golden crowns.
Then followed wallflowers and pinks,
Who bowed to all present.
They brought a band of music with them.
Wild hyacinths and little white snowdrops jingled merry bells.
It was a most remarkable orchestra.
Following these were an immense number of flowers,
All dancing.
Violets,
Daisies,
Lilies of the valley,
And others which it was a delight to see.
At last,
All the happy flowers wished one another good night.
Little Ida too crept back to her bed to dream of all that she had seen.
When she rose the next morning,
She went at once to her little table to see if her flowers were there.
She drew aside the curtains of her little bed.
Yes,
There lay the flowers,
But they were much more faded today than yesterday.
Sophie too was in the drawer,
But she looked very sleepy.
Do you remember what you were to say to me?
Asked Ida of her.
But Sophie looked quite dazed and had not a word to say.
You were not kind at all,
Said Ida,
And yet all the flowers let you dance with them.
Then she chose from her blathings a little pasteboard box with birds painted on it,
And in it she laid the dead flowers.
That shall be your pretty box,
Said she,
And when my cousins come to visit me by and by,
They shall help me to plant you in the garden,
In order that next summer you may grow again and be still more beautiful.
And that's it for our story for today.
We'll be back again soon with more stories for you.
In the meantime,
Be good,
Stay well.
Bye for now.
