THE Butterfly wished for a bride；naturally，he wanted a very pretty one from among the flowers；so he looked at them，and found that every flower sat quietly and demurely on her stalk，just as a maiden ought to sitbefore she is engaged；but there were a great many of them，and the choice threatened to become wearisome．The Butterfly did not care to take much trouble，and sohe flew off to the daisy．The French call this floweret "Marguerite"，and they know that Marguerite can prophesy，when lovers pluck off its leaves，and ask of every leaf they pluck some question concerning their lovers．"Heartily？Painfully？Loves me much？ A little？Not atall？"and so on．Every one asks in his own language．The Butterfly also came to inquire；but he did not pluck offher leaves：he kissed each of them，for he considered that most is to be done with kindness．

"Darling Marguerite daisy！"he said to her，"Youare the wisest woman among the flowers．Pray，pray tell me，shall I get this one or that？ Which will be my bride？When I know that，I will directly fly to her and proposefor her．"

But Marguerite did not answer him．She was angry that he had called her a"woman”，when she was yet agirl；and there is a great difference．He asked for thesecond and for the third time，and when she remained dumb，and answered him not a word，he would wait no longer，but flew away to begin his wooing at once．

It was in the beginning of spring；the crocus and thesnowdrop were blooming around．

"They are very pretty，"thought the Butterfly．"Charming little lasses，but a little too much of the school girl about them．"Like all young lads，he lookedout for the elder girls．

Then he flew off to the anemones．These were a littletoo bitter for his taste；the violet somewhat too sentimental；the tulips too showy；the eastern lilies too plebeian；thelime blossoms were too small，and，moreover，they had toomany relations；the apple blossoms-they looked like ros-es，but they bloomed today，to fall off tomorrow，to fallbeneath the first wind that blew；and he thought that amarriage with them would last too short a time．The PeaseBlossom pleased him best of all：she was white and red，and graceful and delicate，and belonged to the domesticmaidens who look well，and at the same time are useful inthe kitchen．He was just about to make his offer， whenclose by the maiden he saw a pod at whose end hung a withered flower．

"Who is that？" he asked．

"That is my sister，"replied the Pease Blossom．

"Oh，indeed；and you will get to look like her！"hesaid．

And away he flew， for he felt quite shocked．

The honeysuckle hung forth blooming from the hedge，but there were a number of girls like that，with long facesand sallow complexions．No，he did not like her．

But which one did he like？

The spring went by，and the summer drew towards itsclose；it was autumn，but he was still undecided．

And now the flowers appeared in their most gorgeousrobes，but in vain-they had lost the fresh fragrant air ofyouth．But the heart demands fragrance，even when it is nolonger young，and there is very little of that to be foundamong the dahlias and dry chrysanthemums，therefore theButterfly turned to the Mint on the ground．

This plant has no blossom；but indeed it is blossomall over，full of fragrance from head to foot，with flowerscent in every leaf．

"I shall take her，"said the Butterfly， And he made an offer to her．

But the Mint stood silent and stiff，listening to him．At last she said， "Friendship，but nothing more．I am old，and youare old，we may very well live for one another；but as tomarrying-no-don’t let us appear ridiculous at our age．”

And thus it happened that the Butterfly had no wifeat all．He had been too long choosing，and that is a badplan．So the Butterfly became what we call an old bachelor．

It was late in autumn，with rain and cloudy weath-er．The wind blew cold over the backs of the old willowtrees，so that they creaked again．It was no weather to be flying about in summer clothes，nor，indeed，was theButterfly in the open air．He had got under shelter by chance，where there was fire in the stove and the heat ofsummer．He could live well enough，hut he said．

"It’s not enough，merely to live．One must havefreedom，sunshine，and a little flower．”

And he flew against the window-frame，and was seen and admired，and then stuck upon a pin and placedin the box of curiosities；they could not do more for him．

"Now I am perched on a stalk，like the flowers，"said the Butterfly．"It certainly is not very pleasant．Itmust be something like being married，for one is stuckfast．"

And he consoled himself with that thought．

"That’s very poor comfort，"said the potted Plantsin the room．

"But，"thought the Butterfly，"one cannot well trustthese potted Plants．They've had too much to do withmankind．"

蝴蝶

一只蝴蝶想要找一个恋人。自然，他想要在群花中找到一位可爱的小恋人。因此他就把她们都看了一遍。每朵花都是安静地、端庄地坐在�............