TRUYỆN CỔ ANDERSEN - Trang 674

in the flowers, “we know it, for have we not sprung from the eyes and lips
of the murdered one. We know it, we know it,” and the flowers nodded with
their heads in a peculiar manner. The elf of the rose could not understand
how they could rest so quietly in the matter, so he flew to the bees, who
were gathering honey, and told them of the wicked brother. And the bees
told it to their queen, who commanded that the next morning they should go
and kill the murderer. But during the night, the first after the sister’s death,
while the brother was sleeping in his bed, close to where he had placed the
fragrant jasmine, every flower cup opened, and invisibly the little spirits
stole out, armed with poisonous spears. They placed themselves by the ear
of the sleeper, told him dreadful dreams and then flew across his lips, and
pricked his tongue with their poisoned spears. “Now have we revenged the
dead,” said they, and flew back into the white bells of the jasmine flowers.
When the morning came, and as soon as the window was opened, the rose
elf, with the queen bee, and the whole swarm of bees, rushed in to kill him.
But he was already dead. People were standing round the bed, and saying
that the scent of the jasmine had killed him. Then the elf of the rose
understood the revenge of the flowers, and explained it to the queen bee,
and she, with the whole swarm, buzzed about the flower-pot. The bees
could not be driven away. Then a man took it up to remove it, and one of
the bees stung him in the hand, so that he let the flower-pot fall, and it was
broken to pieces. Then every one saw the whitened skull, and they knew the
dead man in the bed was a murderer. And the queen bee hummed in the air,
and sang of the revenge of the flowers, and of the elf of the rose and said
that behind the smallest leaf dwells One, who can discover evil deeds, and
punish them also.