文档介绍：1872
FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN
THE SNOWDROP
by Hans Christian Andersen
IT was winter-time; the air was cold, the wind was sharp, but
within the closed doors it was warm and comfortable, and within the
closed door lay the flower; it lay in the bulb under the
snow-covered earth.
One day rain fell. The drops penetrated through the snowy covering
down into the earth, and touched the flower-bulb, and talked of the
bright world above. Soon the Sunbeam pierced its way through the
snow to the root, and within the root there was a stirring.
"Come in," said the flower.
"I cannot," said the Sunbeam. "I am not strong enough to unlock
the door! When the summer comes I shall be strong!"
"When will it be summer?" asked the Flower, and she repeated
this question each time a new sunbeam made its way down to her. But
the summer was yet far distant. The snow still lay upon the ground,
and there was a coat of ice on the water every night.
"What a long time it takes! what a long time it takes!" said the
Flower. "I feel a stirring and striving within me; I must stretch
myself, I must unlock the door, I must get out, and must nod a good
morning to the summer, and what a happy time that will be!"
And the Flower stirred and stretch