TRUYỆN CỔ ANDERSEN - Trang 851

understand, and not a leaf moved; still Ida felt quite sure she knew all about
it. She lay awake a long time after she was in bed, thinking how pretty it
must be to see all the beautiful flowers dancing in the king’s garden. “I
wonder if my flowers have really been there,” she said to herself, and then
she fell asleep. In the night she awoke; she had been dreaming of the
flowers and of the student, as well as of the tiresome lawyer who found
fault with him. It was quite still in Ida’s bedroom; the night-lamp burnt on
the table, and her father and mother were asleep. “I wonder if my flowers
are still lying in Sophy’s bed,” she thought to herself; “how much I should
like to know.” She raised herself a little, and glanced at the door of the room
where all her flowers and playthings lay; it was partly open, and as she
listened, it seemed as if some one in the room was playing the piano, but
softly and more prettily than she had ever before heard it. “Now all the
flowers are certainly dancing in there,” she thought, “oh how much I should
like to see them,” but she did not dare move for fear of disturbing her father
and mother. “If they would only come in here,” she thought; but they did
not come, and the music continued to play so beautifully, and was so pretty,
that she could resist no longer. She crept out of her little bed, went softly to
the door and looked into the room. Oh what a splendid sight there was to be
sure! There was no night-lamp burning, but the room appeared quite light,
for the moon shone through the window upon the floor, and made it almost
like day. All the hyacinths and tulips stood in two long rows down the
room, not a single flower remained in the window, and the flower-pots were
all empty. The flowers were dancing gracefully on the floor, making turns
and holding each other by their long green leaves as they swung round. At
the piano sat a large yellow lily which little Ida was sure she had seen in the
summer, for she remembered the student saying she was very much like
Miss Lina, one of Ida’s friends. They all laughed at him then, but now it
seemed to little Ida as if the tall, yellow flower was really like the young
lady. She had just the same manners while playing, bending her long yellow
face from side to side, and nodding in time to the beautiful music. Then she
saw a large purple crocus jump into the middle of the table where the
playthings stood, go up to the doll’s bedstead and draw back the curtains;