33　A KIND BROTHER
好哥哥

I

Last year, when the leaves were falling from the trees, Alfred and Mary went to visit their aunt. They found her very busy planting in the garden. “Why do you plant the dead roots, Aunt?” asked Alfred.

“They are not dead, Alfred. They will bear flowers in the spring, if the frost does not kill them. I will give you some for your garden, if you like.”

“Oh, thank you, aunt,” said Alfred, who loved new flowers for his garden. He watched his aunt to know how to plant his roots.

II

“Would you like some, too, Mary?” asked her kind aunt.

“No, thank you,” said Mary. She was too young to know how plants and flowers grow.

“I want some of these pretty flowers. I will plant them in my garden when I get home.”

“They will die,” said Alfred, “for they have no roots.”

“I don’t want roots,” said Mary. Her aunt smiled and gave her the flowers.

“Mary will know better next year, Alfred,” she said. “Live and learn, you know.”

Alfred and Mary went home and planted their gardens. Then Mary called her mother to look at hers. It was full of gay flowers; but they had only stalks and no roots.

Alfred’s garden made no show, but the roots were under the earth, and Alfred could wait.

“Come and look at my garden in spring, mother,” he said.

III

At last the spring came. One bright warm day, Alfred went to see if his plants were coming up. The green leaves were opening on the trees, and the birds were busy making their nests.

When Alfred came to his little garden, he found that his plants were peeping above the ground.

“How gay my garden will be!” said Alfred, “and there is poor Mary’s without a flower.”

Now Mary had been ill in the winter. She had grown white and thin. The doctor said she must not go out till May, when the weather would be warm.

IV

Alfred was sorry that his sister’s garden looked so bare. He thought a while, and then he said to himself, “I will put my plants in Mary’s garden.”

So he took the plants out of the ground with great care. Then he put them in Mary’s garden.

Alfred’s garden was soon bare, but he was not sorry. He was happy to think how glad his little sister would be.

It was late in May before Mary could go out into the garden. Alfred went with her.

He had not told anyone what he had done, but his mother had seen it. She was glad that her boy was so kind to his sister.

“Alfred,” said Mary, when they came to his garden, “where are your roots that were to turn to flowers?”

“Here they are, Mary,” said Alfred. “They have all run away from me, and have come to live with you!”

Yes, there they were in her garden.

“O Alfred, dear, kind Alfred!” said the little girl. She put her arms round his neck and kissed him. She almost cried for joy. “I never was so happy before.”

I think Alfred was almost as happy as she.

一

去年落叶的时节刚到，阿尔弗雷德和玛丽就一起去看望阿姨。到了以后，他们发现她正在花园里忙着。

“阿姨，你为什么把死掉的根种在花园里？”阿尔弗雷德问。

“它们不是死根，阿尔弗雷德。如果霜雪冻不死的话，到了春天它们就会开花。要是你想要，我可以给你一点让你种在自己的花园里。”

“谢谢阿姨。”阿尔弗雷德说。他很喜欢在花园里种不同种类的花，所以就仔细观察阿姨是怎么种的。

二

“你也想要一些吗，玛丽？”善良的阿姨问。

“不用了，谢谢。”玛丽回答。她还太小，不知道怎么种花。

“我想要几朵漂亮的花，回去以后我会把它们种在花园里。”

“那样的话它们会死的，”阿尔弗雷德说，“因为它们没有根。”

玛丽说：“我不想要根。”阿姨笑了，给了她几朵花。

“玛丽明年会懂的，阿尔弗雷德，”阿姨说，“在成长中学习，你知道的。”

回家后，阿尔弗雷德和玛丽在花园里种下了花。玛丽叫妈妈来看，那是很漂亮的花朵，不过只有茎叶没有根。

阿尔弗雷德那里就没什么可看的，只有土壤里埋下的根。不过他愿意等。

“春天的时候来看看我的花园吧，妈妈。”他说。

三

春天来了。一天，春光明媚，天气很暖和，树上长出了叶芽，小鸟都在忙着筑巢。阿尔弗雷德到园子里去看自己的花有没有发芽。

一走进小花园，他就看到小嫩芽钻出了土壤。

“我的花园一定会很美丽！”他说，“但可怜的玛丽不会有花的。”

玛丽一整个冬天都在生病，变得既苍白又消瘦，医生说只有到了温暖的五月间，她才能到外面走动。

四

看到妹妹的花园里一片荒芜，阿尔弗雷德很难过。他想了一会，然后对自己说：“我要把嫩芽挪到玛丽的花园里去。”

于是他小心翼翼地把嫩芽挖出来，移植到玛丽的那块地里。

这样一来，阿尔弗雷德的花园就变得光秃秃的了，不过他一点也不难过。想到妹妹高兴的样子，他的心情好极了。

到了五月底，玛丽终于可以到花园里走一走了。阿尔弗雷德一直跟着她。

他没有告诉任何人他做了什么，不过妈妈已经把一切都看在了眼里。她很高兴自己的孩子这么关心妹妹。

来到花园后，玛丽说：“阿尔弗雷德，你的花都开在哪里啊？”

“在这里，玛丽，”阿尔弗雷德说，“它们逃跑了，它们都愿意和你在一起！”

是啊，所有的花都在玛丽的小园子里。

“哎呀阿尔弗雷德，亲爱的哥哥！”小姑娘说着，张开手臂抱住他的脖子，亲吻了他。她高兴得差点哭了：“我从来没这么高兴过！”

在我看来，阿尔弗雷德和妹妹一样高兴。