There is a differenceindeed, and so there ought to be, or we should all be equals."
  And the apple-branch looked with a sort of pity upon them,especially on a certain little flower that is found in fields and inditches. No one bound these flowers together in a nosegay; they weretoo common; they were even known to grow between the paving-stones,shooting up everywhere, like bad weeds; and they bore the very uglyname of "dog-flowers" or "dandelions."
  "Poor, despised plants," said the apple-bough, "it is not yourfault that you are so ugly, and that you have such an ugly name; butit is with plants as with men,- there must be a difference."
  "A difference!" cried the sunbeam, as he kissed the bloomingapple-branch, and then kissed the yellow dandelion out in thefields. All were brothers, and the sunbeam kissed them- the poorflowers as well as the rich.
  The apple-bough had never thought of the boundless love of God,which extends over all the works of creation, over everything whichlives, and moves, and has its being in Him; he had never thought ofthe good and beautiful which are so often hidden, but can never remainforgotten by Him,- not only among the lower creation, but also amongmen. The sunbeam, the ray of light, knew better.
  "You do not see very far, nor very clearly," he said to theapple-branch. "Which is the despised plant you so specially pity?"
  "The dandelion," he replied. "No one ever places it in anosegay; it is often trodden under foot, there are so many of them;and when they run to seed, they have flowers like wool, which fly awayin little pieces over the roads, and cling to the dresses of thepeople. They are only weeds; but of course there must be weeds. O, Iam really very thankful that I was not made like one of theseflowers."
  There came presently across the fields a whole group ofchildren, the youngest of whom was so small that it had to becarried by the others; and when he was seated on the grass, amongthe yellow flowers, he laughed aloud with joy, kicked out his littlelegs, rolled about, plucked the yellow flowers, and kissed them inchildlike innocence. The elder children broke off the flowers withlong stems, bent the stalks one round the other, to form links, andmade first a chain for the neck, then one to go across theshoulders, and hang down to the waist, and at last a wreath to wearround the head, so that they looked quite splendid in their garlandsof green stems and golden flowers. But the eldest among themgathered carefully the faded flowers, on the stem of which was groupedtogether the seed, in the form of a white feathery coronal. Theseloose, airy wool-flowers are very beautiful, and look like finesnowy feathers or down. The children held them to their mouths, andtried to blow away the whole coronal with one puff of the breath. Theyhad been told by their grandmothers that who ever did so would be sureto have new clothes before the end of the year. The despised flowerwas by this raised to the position of a prophet or foreteller ofevents.
  "Do you see," said the sunbeam, "do you see the beauty of theseflowers? do you see their powers of giving pleasure?"
  "Yes, to children," said the apple-bough.
  By-and-by an old woman came into the field, and, with a bluntknife without a handle, began to dig round the roots of some of thedandelion-plants, and pull them up. With some of these she intended tomake tea for herself; but the rest she was going to sell to thechemist, and obtain some money.
  "But beauty is of higher value than all this," said the apple-treebranch; "only the chosen ones can be admitted into the realms of thebeautiful. There is a difference between plants, just as there is adifference between men."
  Then the sunbeam spoke of the boundless love of God, as seen increation, and over all that lives, and of the equal distribution ofHis gifts, both in time and in eternity.
  "That is your opinion," said the apple-bough.
  Then some people came into the room, and, among them, the youngcountess,- the lady who had placed the apple-bough in thetransparent vase, so pleasantly beneath the rays of the sunlight.She carried in her hand something that seemed like a flower. Theobject was hidden by two or three great leaves, which covered itlike a shield, so that no draught or gust of wind could injure it, andit was carried more carefully than the apple-branch had ever been.Very cautiously the large leaves were removed, and there appearedthe feathery seed-crown of the despised dandelion. This was what thelady had so carefully plucked, and carried home so safely covered,so that not one of the delicate feathery arrows of which its mist-likeshape was so lightly formed, should flutter away. She now drew itforth quite uninjured, and wondered at its beautiful form, and airylightness, and singular construction, so soon to be blown away bythe wind.
  "See," she exclaimed, "how wonderfully God has made this littleflower. I will paint it with the apple-branch together. Every oneadmires the beauty of the apple-bough; but this humble flower has beenendowed by Heaven with another kind of loveliness; and although theydiffer in appearance, both are the children of the realms of beauty."
  Then the sunbeam kissed the lowly flower, and he kissed theblooming apple-branch, upon whose leaves appeared a rosy blush.
  THE END.
  1872
  FAIRY TALES OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN
  THE DAISY
  by Hans Christian Andersen
  Now listen!