文本内容:
a ThereIs aDifference^区别It was in themonth ofMay.The windwas stillcold,but springhad come,said thetrees andthebushes,the fieldsand the meadows.Everywhere flowerswere buddinginto blossom;even thehedgeswere alivewith them.Here springspoke aboutherself;it spokefrom alittle appletree,from whichhung asingle branchso freshand blooming,and fairlyweighed downby agloriousmass ofrosy budsjust readyto open.Now thisbranch knewhow lovelyit was,for thatknowledgelies in the leafas well asin the flesh,so it wasn,t abit surprisedwhen oneday agrand carriagestoppedin theroad besideit,and the young Countessinthecarriage saidthat thisapple branchwasthe mostbeautiful she had everseen-it wasspring itselfin itsloveliest form.So shebrokeoff the apple branchand carriedit inher owndainty hand,shading itfrom thesun withhersilk parasol,as theydrove onto hercastle,in whichthere werelofty hallsand beautifullydecoratedrooms.Fleecy-white curtainsfluttered atits openwindows,and there were manyshining,transparent vasesfull ofbeautiful flowers.In oneof thesevases,which lookedas ifit werecarvedof new-fallen snow,she placedthe apple branch,among freshgreen beechleaves-a lovelysightindeed.And soit happenedthat the apple branchgrew proud,and thatsquite human.All sortsof peoplepassed throughthe rooms,and accordingto theirrank expressedtheiradmiration indifferent ways;some saidtoo much,some saidtoo little,and somesaid nothingatall.And theapple branchbegan torealize thatthereweredifferences inpeople aswell asinplants.“Some areused fornourishment,some arefor ornament,and someyou couldvery welldowithout,thought theapple branch.From itsposition atthe openwindow theapple branchcould lookdown overthe gardensand meadowsbelow,and considerthe differencesamong theflowers andplants beneath.Some wererich,somewere poor,and somewere verypoor.,Miserable,rejected plants,said theapple branch.There isa differenceindeed!Its quiteproperand justthat distinctionsshould bemade.Yet howunhappy theymust feel,if indeedacreature likethat iscapable offeeling anything,as Iand myequals do;but itmust bethatway,otherwise everybodywould betreated asthough theywere justalike.〃And theapple branchlooked downwith especialpity onone kindof flowerthat greweverywherein meadowsand ditches.They weremuch toocommon everto begathered intobouquets;they couldbefound betweenthe pavingstones;they shotup likethe rankestand mostworthless ofweeds.They weredandelions,but peoplehave giventhem theugly name,“the devil,s milkpails.”“Poor wretchedoutcasts,said theapple branch.〃I supposeyou can,t helpbeing ascommon asyou are,and havingsuch avulgar name!Its the same withplants aswith men-there must be adifference.〃〃A difference^repeated thesunbeam,as itkissed theapple branch;but itkissed thegoldendevils milkpails,〃too.And all the othersunbeams didthesame,kissing allthe flowersequally,poor aswellasrich.The apple branch had never thoughtabout our Lord,s infinite love foreverything thatlives andmovesin Him,hadneverthought howmuch thatit isgood andbeautiful canlie hiddenbut stillnotbe forgotten;and that,too,was human.But thesunbeam,the rayof light,knew better.You don,t seevery clearly;youarenot veryfarsighted.Who arethese outcastflowers thatyou pityso much”“Those devil,s milkpailsdown there,〃replied theapple branch.Nobody everties themup inbouquets;they,re troddenunderfoot,because thereare toomany of them.And whenthey goto seedthey flyabout alongtheroad likelittle bitsof wooland hangon people,s clothes.Theyre justweeds!I supposetheremustbeweeds too,but rm certainlyhappy andgrateful thatIm notlike oneof them!”Now awhole flockof childrenran outinto themeadow toplay.The youngestof them was sotinythat hehad to be carriedby theothers.When theyset himdown inthe grassamong thegoldenblossoms,he laughedand gurgledwith joy,kicked hislittle legs,rolled overand over,andplucked onlythe yellowdandelions.These hekissed ininnocent delight.The biggerchildren brokeoff theflowers of the dandelionsand joinedthe hollowstalks linkbylink intochains.First theywould makeone fora necklace,then alonger one to hangacrossthe shouldersand aroundthe waist,and finallyonetogo aroundtheir heads;it wasa beautifulwreathof splendidgreen linksand chains.But thebiggest of the childrencarefully gatheredthestalks thathad goneto seed,those loose,aerial,woolly blossoms,those wonderfullyperfectballs ofdainty whiteplumes,and heldthem to their lips,trying toblow awayallthewhitefeathers withone breath.Granny hadtold themthat whoevercould dothat wouldreceive newclothesbefore theyear wasout.The poor,despised dandelionwas consideredquite aprophet onsuchoccasions.“Now doyou see”asked thesunbeam.Do yousee itsbeauty andpower”〃0h,its allright-forchildren,,z replied theapple branch.Now anold womancame into themeadow.She stoopedand dugup the roots of the dandelionwitha bluntknife thathad lostits handle.Some oftherootsshe wouldroast insteadof coffeeberries,others shewould selltotheapothecary tobe usedas drugs.“Beauty issomething higherthan this,〃said theapple branch.Only thechosen fewcan reallybeallowed intothe kingdomofthe beautiful;theres asmuch differencebetween plantsas betweenmen.〃Then thesunbeam spokeoftheinfiniteloveoftheCreator forall Hiscreatures,for everythingthathas life,and ofthe equaldistribution of all thingsin timeand eternity.Thats justyour opinion,repliedtheapplebranch.Now somepeople cameintotheroom,and amongthemwastheyoungCountess whohad placedtheapple branchinthetransparent vase.She wascarrying aflower-or whateveritwas-that wasprotectedby threeor fourlarge leavesaround itlike acap,so thatno breathof airor gustofwind couldinjure it.She carriedit morecarefully andtenderly thanshehadtheapplebranchwhen shehad broughtit tothe castle.Very gentlyshe removedthe leaves,and thenthe applebranchcould seewhat shecarried.It wasa delicate,feathery crownof starryseeds bornebythe despiseddandelion!This waswhat shehad pluckedso carefullyand carriedso tenderly,so thatno singleone oftheloose,dainty,feathered arrowsthat roundedout itsdowny formshould beblown away.Thereit was,whole andperfect.With delightshe admiredthebeautifulform,the airylightness,themarvelous mechanismofathing thatwas destinedso soontobescattered bythe wind.“Look howwonderfully beautifulour Lordmade this!,z shecried.Ill paintit,together withtheapplebranch.Everybody thinksit isso extremelybeautiful,but thispoor floweris lovely,too;it hasreceived asmuch fromourLordin anotherway.They arevery different,yet botharechildren inthe kingdomofthebeautiful!The sunbeamkissed thepoor dandelion,and thenkissedthe bloomingapplebranch,whose petalsseemed toblush adeeper red.。