Читать книгу The Fairy Latchkey онлайн

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“Quite right. You have full marks for that question, five for A and five for B. That makes the whole ten for the third question.

“‘IV. Write short notes on:—fairy ring; fairy-gold; witch-apples; blackthorn; the rainbow.’

“‘A fairy ring is a circle of teeny mushrooms in the grass, and it marks the place where the fairies have been dancing over-night. If you should ever happen to fall from a height down into the middle of one of these rings, you would not hurt yourself, not even if you fell from the clouds.

“‘Fairy gold is not very satisfactory, for when mortals touch it, it all turns into withered leaves.

“‘Witch-apples are very dangerous things, for if a witch gives you an apple, and you eat it, it makes you restless ever after, so that you are never able to settle down to anything again.

“‘Blackthorn is the fairies’ tree, and they do not like its being picked by us, or brought into our houses. That is why some people say that it is unlucky to bring home blackthorn after a country walk, and other people get a little mixed and think that it is hawthorn which is unlucky, but it isn’t.’