"Wake up! Wake up, little Johnny Crocus! Sit on my knee and begin to
grow."
Johnny woke up, sat on his mother's knee, and began to grow. His
mother fed him on rich white food, and wrapped him warmly in soft
blankets, so he grew big and strong. They lived together under the
ground, in a little round house with brown walls.
One day Johnny said: "Now, I should like to go up and see what the
world is like. May I go up to-day?"
"Not yet," said his mother. "You must make your flower first."
So Johnny set to work to make his flower. In the middle he set the
pistil with its fans. Round the pistil he put the orange-coloured
stamens with their long narrow sacks on their heads, ready to be filled
with pollen. Outside the stamens he made a row of petals, small and
closely folded now, but soon to grow big and wide. Then he wrapped a
fine white silk cloak round the whole flower to keep it from harm.
"My flower is made," he said to his mother. "May I go up now to see
what the world is like?"
"Not yet," said the mother. "Make your leaves first."
So he made his leaves and set them closely round the flower. They were
long and thin and pale yellow, for they could not turn green till they
reached the sunlight.
"My leaves are made," he said to his mother. "May I go up now to see
what the world is like?"
"Not yet," said his mother. "Make your pollen first."
So he made his pollen, and filled the long sacks with it. Then his
flower was quite ready. He wrapped one white silk cloak after another
over flower and leaves together, till they were so snugly covered that
no greedy insect could reach them.
"My pollen is made," he said to his mother. "May I go up now to see
what the world is like?"
"Yes," said his mother. Johnny jumped for joy. He pushed and pushed
through the brown earth above him; at last out popped his little head
into the light.
The winter had not yet gone; snow still lay in shaded places. But the
sun was shining, and he shone now full on Johnny Crocus. The silken
cloaks fell away, the leaves sprang out and turned green, and slowly
the flower opened its beautiful golden heart to the warmth of the
sunshine.
"Why, there is Johnny Crocus!" called the sun. He shone more brightly
than ever on the gleaming petals.
"If Johnny is up we must be stirring too," said the other crocuses.
They sprang up and nodded and laughed to Johnny across the ground.
Then the snowdrops peeped out, and soon the whole garden woke up, and
the spring came.