Page 28 - My FlipBook

He thought of the Skin Horse, so wise and gentle, and all that he

had told him. Of what use was it to be loved and lose one's beauty

and become Real if it all ended like this? And a tear, a real tear,

trickled down his little shabby velvet nose and fell to the ground.

The Fairy Flower

And then a strange thing happened. For where the tear had fallen

a flower grew out of the ground, a mysterious flower, not at all

like any that grew in the garden. It had slender green leaves the

colour of emeralds, and in the centre of the leaves a blossom like a

golden cup. It was so beautiful that the little Rabbit forgot to cry,

and just lay there watching it. And presently the blossom opened,

and out of it there stepped a fairy.

She was quite the loveliest fairy in the whole world. Her dress was

of pearl and dew-drops, and there were flowers round her neck

and in her hair, and her face was like the most perfect flower of

all. And she came close to the little Rabbit and gathered him up in

her arms and kissed him on his velveteen nose that was all damp

from crying.

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