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flowers of the field fōlded their leaves, or bent their heads, as it past over them; the Buckwheat however, in his pride, still stood erect.

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"Bow thy head as we do!" said the Flowers. "I have no need," said the Buckwheat.

"Bow thy head, as we do!" said the Corn. The angel of storms comes flying hitherwârd; he has wings which reach from the clouds to thē earth; he will strike thee down, befōre thou hast time to entreat for mercy."

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Nō, I will not bow!" said the Buckwheat.

"Close thy flowers, and fōld thy leaves, said thē ōld Willōw-tree; look not into the flash, when the cloud breaks. Men ēven dāre not do that; for the flash reveals to us God's heaven, and that sight must dazzle even hūman eỹeṣ; what, then, would it prove to mēre vegetableṣ like us, if we should dare to look into it,-wē, who are so inferior to men ?"

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"Sō inferior, indeed!" said the Buckwheat. Now, then, I will look right into God's heaven." And in his pride and haughtiness, hē did gāze upon the lightning without shrinking. Such was the flash, that it seem'd as if the whōle world was in flames.

When the tempest was over, Flowers and Corn, greatly refresht by the rain, once mōre breathed pure air; but the Buckwheat had been

burnt as black as a coal by the lightning: it stood on the field, a dead useless plant.

And the ōld Willow-tree waved its branches to and fro in the wind, and lärge drops of wâter fell from the green leaves, as though the tree wept. And the Sparrows askt, "Why weepest thou? it is so beautifül here! See how the sun shines; how the clouds pass over the clear sky; how sweet is the fragrance of the flowers! Why, then, weepest thou, ōld Willow-tree?"

And the Willow-tree tōld of the Buckwheat's pride and haughtiness; and of the punishment which follow'd. I, who relate this story, heard it from the Sparrows-they told it to me one evening when I askt them for a tāle.-H. C. 'Andersen.

THE COAT AND BUTTONS.

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Edward had one day been reading a fairy tāle, in which not only beasts and birds, but inanimate things, flowers in the gärden, and teacups on the table, were made to speak and "I think it give an account of themselves. would be very funny to hear my coat speak," said Edward; and a few moments afterwârds a soft voice issued from the bosom of his coat, and spōke as follows:

"I recollect once growing on the back of a

sheep," Edward could not help stärting back with surprise; however, he interrupted him, saying, “I am afraid, Mr. (pr. Mister) Coat, ÿoü do not know what you are talking about, for coats do not grow, nor do sheep wear coats." "I was only wool when I grew on the sheep," replied the voice; "and a very pleasant life wē led together, spending all the day in the green fields, and resting at night on the grass. Sometimeș, indeed the sheep rubb'd himself sō roughly against the trees and shrubs, that I was afraid of being tōrn off; and sometimes the birds came and peckt off a few flakes of the wool to līne their nests, and make them soft and wârm for their young; but they took so little that I could easily spare it. Wē had long led this quiët life, when one day there was a greāt alärm. The shep-herd and his dog drove all the sheep into a fōld, and then took them out one by one, and washt them in a stream of wâter that ran close by. The sheep on which I grew was sadly frightened when his turn came; and, for my pärt, I could not imagine what they were going to do with me, they rubb'd and scrubb'd mẽ sō much; but when it was over, I lookt sō delicately white, that I was quite vain of mỹ beauty, and I thought we were now to return and frisk and gambol in the meadow as we had

done befōre. But, alas, the sheep and I were going to be parted for ever. Instead of setting the sheep at liberty, the shep-herd took out a lärge pair of shears. Only imagine our terror! the poor sheep, I believe, thought his head was going to be cut off, and began to bleat most pitëously; but the shep-herd, without attending to hiş crieș, held him down, and began cutting mē off close to his skin. When the sheep found that the shears did not hurt him, hē remain'd quiet; it was then my turn to be frightened. It is true that the shears did not hurt mē ēițher, because I could not feel; but then I could not bear the thoughts of being pärted from my dear friend, the sheep; for we had grown up together ever since he had been a little lamb, As soon as the sheep was released, he went about shivering with cold, bleating and moaning for the loss of his beloved fleece. As for me, I was packt in a bag with a great many other fleeces, and sent to some mills, where there were a great number of strange little things that were for ever twisting and turning round. They seized hōld of us, and püll'd us, and twisted us about in such a wonderful manner, that at last wē were all drawn out into worsted threads, so unlike wool, that I härdly knew myself again.

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But it was still worse when, sometime afterwards, they plunged me into a large copper of därk dirty-looking water, and when I was taken out, instead of being white, I was of a bright blue color, and lookt very beautifüll. Well, sometime after this, I was sent to the cloth mills, and my threads were stretcht in a machine (pr. masheen) câll'd a loom, and there I was woven into a piece of cloth. I then folded up, and lay quiet for some time." Indeed," said Edward, "I think you wanted a little rest, after going through sō many changes."

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I was

Soon after," resumed the voice, “I was bought by a tailor, and lay on the shelf of his shop, when one day you and your papä cāme in, and askt to see some cloth to make ÿoü a coat. I was taken down and unfolded on the counter with several other pieces, and, if you remember, you chōṣe me on account of my beautiful color." "Sō I did," said Edward; "but you are not sō bright a blue now as you were then."

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Something the worse for wear," replied the coat; "if you stain mē, and cover me with dust, that is your fault, not mine. But to conclūde my stōry: the tailor took out his enormous scissors, which reminded me of the shears that had separated me from the sheep, and cut

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