《安徒生童话英文版》第209章

　　"Here it is splendid in summer!" she said, and they passed byold castles of the age of chivalry. The high walls and indentedbattlements were reflected in the water of the ditches, on which swanswere swimming and peering into the old shady avenues. The corn wavedin the field like a yellow sea. Red and yellow flowers grew in theditches, wild hops and convolvuli in full bloom in the hedges. Inthe evening the moon rose, large and round, and the hayricks in themeadows smelt sweetly. "One can never forget it!"

　　"Here it is beautiful in autumn!" said the little girl, and theatmosphere seemed twice as high and blue, while the wood shone withcrimson, green, and gold. The hounds were running off, flocks ofwild fowl flew screaming over the barrows, while the bramble bushestwined round the old stones. The dark-blue sea was covered withwhite-sailed ships, and in the barns sat old women, girls, andchildren picking hops into a large tub; the young ones sang songs, andthe old people told fairy tales about goblins and sorcerers. Itcould not be more pleasant anywhere.

　　"Here it's agreeable in winter!" said the little girl, and all thetrees were covered with hoar-frost, so that they looked like whitecoral. The snow creaked under one's feet, as if one had new bootson. One shooting star after another traversed the sky. In the room theChristmas tree was lit, and there were song and merriment. In thepeasant's cottage the violin sounded, and games were played forapple quarters; even the poorest child said, "It is beautiful inwinter!"

　　And indeed it was beautiful! And the little girl showed everythingto the boy, and the elder-tree continued to breathe forth sweetperfume, while the red flag with the white cross was streaming inthe wind; it was the flag under which the old sailor had served. Theboy became a youth; he was to go out into the wide world, far awayto the countries where the coffee grows. But at parting the littlegirl took an elder-blossom from her breast and gave it to him as akeepsake. He placed it in his prayer-book, and when he opened it indistant lands it was always at the place where the flower ofremembrance was lying; and the more he looked at it the fresher itbecame, so that he could almost smell the fragrance of the woods athome. He distinctly saw the little girl, with her bright blue eyes,peeping out from behind the petals, and heard her whispering, "Here itis beautiful in spring, in summer, in autumn, and in winter," andhundreds of pictures passed through his mind.

　　Thus many years rolled by. He had now become an old man, and wassitting, with his old wife, under an elder-tree in full bloom. Theyheld each other by the hand exactly as the great-grandfather and thegreat-grandmother had done outside, and, like them, they talkedabout bygone days and of their golden wedding. The little girl withthe blue eyes and elder-blossoms in her hair was sitting high up inthe tree, and nodded to them, saying, "To-day is the goldenwedding!" And then she took two flowers out of her wreath and kissedthem. They glittered at first like silver, then like gold, and whenshe placed them on the heads of the old people each flower became agolden crown. There they both sat like a king and queen under thesweet-smelling tree, which looked exactly like an elder-tree, and hetold his wife the story of the elder-tree mother as it had been toldhim when he was a little boy. They were both of opinion that the storycontained many points like their own, and these similarities theyliked best.

　　"Yes, so it is," said the little girl in the tree. "Some call meLittle Elder-tree Mother; others a Dryad; but my real name is'Remembrance.' It is I who sit in the tree which grows and grows. Ican remember things and tell stories!