In·Garden·& Meadow
Reading edition
120
121
bur ied plant voice won der ful
THE LITTLE PLANT
In the heart of a seed
Buried deep, so deep,
A dear little plant
Lay fast asleep.
“Wake!” said the sunshine,
“And creep to the light.”
“Wake!” said the voice
Of the raindrops bright.
The little plant heard
And it rose to see
What the wonderful
Outside world might be.
—Kate Louise Brown.
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(with) (is) (h ark) (k ind)
with er ’t is d ark be h ind
BE GLAD
Is it raining, little flower?
Be glad of rain.
Too much sun would wither thee;
’Twill shine again.
The clouds are very dark,
’Tis true;
But right behind them
Shines the blue.
Butterfly, butterfly, you’re a fairy bright,
Flying high, flying low, in the summer light.
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searching cried honey
THE FAIRY BUTTERFLY
It was a glad summer day.
May was playing in the meadow.
Something flew near.
“What a beautiful butterfly!” she cried.
“What shining bright wings it has!”
124The butterfly flew nearer.
May crept close to it.
“Oh, it is not a butterfly!
What can it be?” she cried.
“Oh, it is a dear little fairy!
Stop and play, dear fairy,” she cried.
But the fairy flew away.
She was too busy to stop.
She was searching for honey.
125
work among (m ead ow)
lift h ead
THE BUTTERFLY IN THE GARDEN
One day I saw a beautiful butterfly.
She was in the garden.
She was flying among the flowers.
She was playing with them.
“Good morning, beautiful butterfly!
Good morning,” said I again.
But the butterfly made no answer.
“Good morning, little fairy,” said I.
But the butterfly just went on playing.
She seemed to be searching for honey.
She flew in and out among the flowers.
The butterfly loves the flowers.
126And the flowers all love the butterfly.
She flies from flower to flower, now high, now low.
She flies this way and that way.
She likes the sweet bright flowers best of all.
These give the butterfly honey.
They seem to lift their heads when she comes.
The butterfly works very little.
She plays almost all the time.
Would you like to play always?
Would you like to be a butterfly?
127
(in) shone (c ame)
th in waits n ame
sto ry
THE LITTLE FAIRY
A dear little fairy lives in a garden.
The garden is full of beautiful flowers.
The fairy has lived there all summer.
Fairies always live among flowers.
Did you not know that?
This fairy is very beautiful.
Her thin wings are bright and shining.
128All day she flies from flower to flower.
Is she telling them some sweet story?
What do you think she says?
This is what the fairy is saying.
Listen if you want to hear.
“The blue violet is sweet.
The lily is white and tall.
The daisy’s eye is bright.
But the rose is the fairest of all.”
129Some nights this fairy creeps into the tall white lily.
There she clings through the night.
She holds on very fast.
She does not feel the cold wind.
Other nights she rests in a red rose.
She is buried out of sight.
There she waits for the morning.
She hears the voice of the wind.
The wind blows among the flowers.
It rocks the fairy’s flower cradle.
The stars shine down on her.
She drops asleep.
She sleeps all the long night.
What a wonderful fairy she is!
What name do we call her?
130Can you tell me?
Yes, that is right.
It is fairy butterfly.
Sleep, little fairy, sleep and rest,
Of all the flowers, Rose loves you best.
(sh one) (d own) (s ee)
st one g own gr ee n
131
THE WHITE LILY
A tall white lily grew in a beautiful garden.
Her home was near the old stone wall.
Her gown was white and shining green.
May cared for Lily.
She kept the ground soft.
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Lily seemed to know that May loved her.
She lifted her head and smiled at the girl.
One day the sun shone.
O how warm it grew!
Lily could not lift up her head.
“Dear rain,” she cried.
“Do come to the garden.
We want you.
Come, kind friend.
Come before all the sweet flowers wither.”
The rain heard Lily’s call.
“I am coming,” he cried.
133“Lift up your head.
I will be with you soon, dear Lily.”
The bright raindrops fell to the ground.
Faster and faster and faster they came.
A soft wind blew.
Lily lifted her cup.
The rain filled it.
How glad she was!
“Thank you, dear rain,” she said.
“Now I am happy again.
My gown looks new.
How kind you are!”
134
(lea ves) (k ept) (b ig) (h ung)
lea f sl ept tw ig cl ung
cat er pil lar o pen ed
THE CATERPILLAR
A caterpillar rested on a lily leaf.
He lay there very still.
He was very big and very green.
“Go away,” cried the lily, “go away!
I do not like caterpillars.”
“I am so tired,” said the caterpillar. “I can not go away.
Let me rest.
I am so sleepy.
Do let me stay.
I will be very still.”
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“No! No! Go away,” said the lily.
“You must go away.
You may not stay.
I will not have you.”
The caterpillar fell from the lily leaf.
In his fall he kept hold of a little twig.
There he clung fast.
He was tired, so very tired.
He spun a little coat around him.
Then he fell asleep.
All winter he slept there soundly.
In the spring the bright sun shone warm.
Its rays fell on the caterpillar’s coat.
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The caterpillar’s coat opened.
And what do you think came out?
A caterpillar? No! No! No!
A wonderful thing! A beautiful butterfly!
What shining, bright wings!
How it flew among the flowers!
It came flying to the lily.
The lily said, “Come, beautiful butterfly, come to my sweet blossoms!
Rest on me—I love you, butterfly!
You are so bright and beautiful!”
137But the butterfly answered, “When I was a caterpillar, you did not want me.
You would not let me rest on you then.
You said you did not like caterpillars.
You would not let me stay.
Now I will not stay with you.
I will go to the red rose.
Good-by, lily; you are fair but cold.”
138
(h im) grass (f air)
d im pled h air
THE DANDELION
O dandelion yellow as gold,
What do you do all day?
I just wait here in the tall green grass
Till the children come to play.
O dandelion yellow as gold,
What do you do all night?
I wait and wait till the cool dews fall
And my hair grows long and white.
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And what do you do when your hair is white
And the children come to play?
They take me up in their dimpled hands
And blow my hair away.
140
or chard fields (over) car ry
weath er vis it cl over hive
gath er snug buzz store
THE BEE
“Buzz, buzz,” said the bee,
“I have much work to do,
The garden and orchard
I must search through and through.
I must visit the meadows
And fields of red clover,
And search them for honey
Over and over.
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To the hive I must carry
My honey with care,
And store it away
While the weather is fair.
For soon will come winter,
The ice and the snow,
And round our snug bee-hive
The cold winds will blow.
Buzz, buzz, little children,
Keep out of my way;
I must gather and store
All I can this bright day.”
142
(h eat) (work) (st ore)
eat work er m ore
THE BUSY BEE
Hear the bee.
“Buzz, buzz,” he says.
“Keep out of my way!
I can’t stop for you.”
He is a busy worker.
When the weather is fair he is busy all day.
He flies through garden and orchard.
He visits all the sweet flowers.
143He is searching for honey.
All little flowers are glad to have him come to them.
The red clover has more honey than many other flowers.
So the bee and the clover are friends.
The bee gathers honey from all the sweet flowers.
He gathers all he can carry.
Then he flies away.
Over the fields he goes to his hive.
There he stores his honey with care.
He knows the cold winter is coming.
Then he can gather no honey.
There will be no flowers in the fields.
The cold winter winds will blow.
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Snow will cover fields and flowers.
But the little bee will be happy.
He will be safe in his snug hive.
There he will keep snug and warm.
Now he can eat his store of honey.
He can eat all he wants.
He will be glad he worked in summer.
He will be glad of his snug warm hive.
He can sleep and rest waiting for another summer.
When it comes he will be busy again.
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WHY THE CLOVER IS SWEET
A little fairy flew to a daisy.
“Dear Daisy,” she said, “will you give me some honey?”
“No, go away,” said the daisy.
The fairy flew away to a rose.
“Beautiful Rose,” she said, “will you give me some honey?”
“You may have just a little,” answered the rose.
“Thank you,” said the fairy.
“I do not care for your honey.”
Away she flew to the clover.
“Little Clover,” she said, “will you give me some honey?”
146“Indeed I will, dear Fairy.
Take all that you want.”
“Thank you,” said the fairy.
“Now I will be kind to you.
Hereafter you will have more honey than any other flower.”
And from that day, the clover has been sweet with honey.
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