The Neighbouring Families · page 31 2 3201Peep!" they said sweeping the ground with their tails, and blinking with one eye at the roses, they had not looked at them long before they were convinced that they were their old neighbours.202And so they really were.203The painter who had drawn the rose-bush near the ruined house, had afterwards obtained permission to dig it up, and had given it to the architect, for finer roses had never been seen.204The architect had planted it upon Thorwaldsen's grave, where it bloomed as an emblem of 'the beautiful' and yielded fragrant red rose-leaves to be carried as mementoes to distant lands.205"Have you obtained an appointment here in the city?" asked the sparrows.206The roses nodded; they recognized their grey neighbours and were pleased to see them again. "207How glorious it is to live and to bloom, to see old friends again, and happy faces every day.208It is as if every day were a festival." "209Peep!" said the sparrows. "210Yes, they are really our old neighbours; we remember their origin near the pond.211Peep! how they have got on.212Yes, some succeed while they are asleep.213Ah! there's a faded leaf; I can see that quite plainly."214And they pecked at it till it fell off.215But the tree stood there fresher and greener than ever; the roses bloomed in the sunshine on Thorwaldsen's grave and became associated with his immortal name.1 2 3← previousThirty-second Eveningnext →The Nightingale↑ back to Fairy Tales of Hans Christian AndersenThis page in Markdown → https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg27200/124/page/3/