chamber. Then the nicest flowers enter, and the great ball begins. The blue violets are midshipmen and cadets, and they dance with hyacinths and crocuses, which they call young ladies. The tulips and great yellow lilies, they are old ladies who look on and see that the dancing goes on properly, and that all is conducted with propriety.”
“But,” said little Ida, quite astonished, “may the flowers give a ball in the King’s palace in that way, and does nobody come in to disturb them?”
“No one in the palace knows anything about it,” answered the youth. “It’s true, sometimes the old inspector of the palace comes up stairs in the night with his great bunch of keys, to see if all is safe; but as soon as the flowers hear the rattling of his keys, they keep quite still, and hide themselves behind the long silken window-curtains, and peep out with their little heads. I smell flowers here somewhere about, says the old inspector; but he cannot find out where they are.”
