In a beautiful rose there dwelt a little elf. With a fairy microscope you
could see his wings reaching from his shoulders to his feet. Without it
you couldn’t see him at all.
One day when he went out into the sunshine to play he had such fun that
he forgot all about getting home in time. He flew from flower to flower.
He danced on the wings of the passing butterfly. Best of all, he measured
how many steps it would take to cross all the roads made of veins on the
geranium leaf.
It was this that delayed him so long. Before he knew it the sun was down,
dewdrops sprinkled the leaf, and the night began to darken. The poor
little elf was very much frightened. He began to shiver, too, with the
cold. Indeed, he grew so numb that he could hardly spread his wings to
fly back to the rosebush. But he managed it.
The beautiful rose was just closing her petals for the night. In he dived
under the warm leaves.