THE ORIGIN OF THE MOSS ROSE.
Reading edition
One beautiful summer day a fairy saw a butterfly with golden wings. He tried to catch the lovely insect, and it led him a merry chase from flower to flower. At last the fairy found himself in a strange wood, and he did not know the way home. The sun had set, the wind had gone away, and no one could direct him.
Wearied with his search, he determined to rest until the moon rose, when the fairies would come forth to dance upon the mossy banks. He looked about him for a resting place, and asked a stately lily to let him sleep on her broad leaves; but the petals were closed, and she would not receive him. Many flowers refused him shelter. At last, worn out and almost hopeless, he came to a rose. This lovely flower spread wide her soft, fragrant petals as a downy couch for the tired fairy.
After a quiet nap he awoke, rested and grateful, and asked the rose what return he could make for her kindness. The rose bowed her pretty head, and replied, “Make me more beautiful.”
The fairy looked at the rose blushing in the silvery moonlight, and wondered how she could be more lovely. Soon he noticed the dainty green moss at his feet, and drew a delicate veil of it over the rose.
L. Perrault (modern).
Cupid Asleep.