"Come out and dance," called the Snow Fairies to the May Fairies.
The May Fairies peeped out of their homes in the hawthorn trees and
shivered.
"No, thank you," they said. "It is too cold out there. Besides, we
are busy making our buds."
They made tiny red-tipped buds and set them on the branches of the
trees, two at the foot of each thorn. Then they crept down into their
warm homes again to wait for the spring.
With the spring came the merry Sunbeams.
"Come out and dance," they called.
"Oh! are you there?" called back the May Fairies. "Then we must open
our buds, so we have no time to dance."
They worked hard, blowing out the buds with their dainty breath, till
at last the leaves opened and the trees were dressed in fluttering
green.
The Spring Fairies came tripping past, waving tasselled catkins in
their hands.
"Come out and dance," they called.
"We have no time. We must make our flower-buds," replied the May
Fairies.
They made their wee round flower-buds and set them on the trees, and
blew into them and puffed them out till they looked like tiny
snowballs. Harder and harder they blew, until at last the flowers flew
open. Then the trees looked as if showers of white stars had fallen on
them from the sky in snow-time. How lovely they were! The little
flies came from far and near to feast, buzzing out their thankfulness
to the fairies for the sweet honey.
The Summer Fairies came with roses and forget-me-nots. "Come out and
dance," they called.
"We have no time," called back the May Fairies. "We have to make our
berries."
They gently loosened the white petals of the flowers and set them
floating on the wind. Then they made the little green seed-balls into
berries, blowing them big and round so that the seeds should have room
to grow, and polishing the outsides till they turned red and glowed
like garnets in the sunshine. What a feast the birds had!
When the fairies had finished it was autumn.
"Come and dance," called the Leaf Fairies as they fluttered past in
their brown and crimson robes.
"We are coming," called back the May Fairies, "for now our work is
done." They flew down from their tree-homes, free at last to dance
through all the golden autumn days.