Sommerfuglen ville have sig en kæreste; naturligvis ville han have sig en net lille en af blomsterne. Han så på dem; hver sad så stille og besindig på sin stilk, som en jomfru skal sidde, når hun ikke er forlovet; men her var så mange at vælge imellem, det blev en besværlighed, det gad sommerfuglen ikke være over og så fløj han til gåseurten. Hende kalder de franske Margrethe, de ved, at hun kan spå, og det gør hun, idet kærestefolk plukker blad for blad af hende, og ved hvert gør de et spørgsmål om kæresten: "af hjerte? – med smerte? – elsker meget? – lille bitte? – ikke det allermindste?" eller sådant noget. Enhver spørger på sit sprog. Sommerfuglen kom også for at spørge; han nippede ikke bladene af, men kyssede på hvert et, i den mening, at man kommer længst med det gode.
"Søde Margrethe Gåseurt!" sagde han, "De er den klogeste kone af alle blomsterne! De forstår at spå! sig mig, får jeg den eller den? Og hvem får jeg? Når jeg ved det, kan jeg flyve lige til og fri!"
Men Margrethe svarede slet ikke. Hun kunne ikke lide, at han kaldte hende kone, for hun var jo jomfru, og så er man ikke kone. Han spurgte anden gang og han spurgte tredje gang, og da han ikke fik et eneste ord af hende, så gad han ikke spørge mere, men fløj uden videre på frieri.
Det var i det tidlige forår; der var fuldt op af sommergække og krokus. "De er meget nette!" sagde sommerfuglen, "nydelige små konfirmander! men noget ferske." Han, som alle unge mandfolk, så efter ældre piger. Derpå fløj han til anemonerne; de var ham lidt for beske; violerne lidt for sværmeriske; tulipanerne for prangende; pinseliljerne for borgerlige; lindeblomsterne for små og de havde så stort familieskab; æbleblomsterne var jo rigtignok som roser at se på, men de stod i dag og faldt af i morgen, ligesom vinden blæste, det blev et for kort ægteskab, syntes han. Ærteblomsten var den, som mest behagede, den var rød og hvid, den var skær og fin, hørte til de huslige piger, som ser godt ud og dog dur for køkkenet; han var lige ved at fri til hende, men i det samme så han tæt ved hang en ærtebælg med vissen blomst på spidsen. "Hvem er det?" spurgte han. "Det er min søster," sagde ærteblomsten.
"Nå, således kommer De til at se ud senere!" Det skræmte sommerfuglen, og så fløj han.
Kaprifolierne hang over gærdet; der var fuldt op af de frøkner, lange i ansigtet og gule i skindet; det slags holdt han ikke af. Ja, men hvad holdt han af? Spørg ham.
Foråret gik, sommeren gik og så var det efterår; lige nær var han. Og blomsterne kom i de dejligste klæder, men hvad kunne det hjælpe, her var ikke det friske, duftende ungdomssind. Duft trænger just hjertet til med alderen og duft er der nu ikke synderligt af hos georginer og stokroser. Så søgte sommerfuglen ned til krusemynten.
"Den har nu slet ingen blomst, men den er hel blomst, dufter fra rod til top, har blomsterduft i hvert et blad. Hende tager jeg!"
Og så friede han endelig.
Men krusemynten stod stiv og stille og til sidst sagde den: "Venskab, men heller ikke mere! jeg er gammel og De er gammel! vi kan meget godt leve for hinanden, men gifte os – nej! lad os bare ikke gøre os til nar i vor høje alder!"
Og så fik sommerfuglen slet ingen. Han havde søgt for længe, og det skal man ikke. Sommerfuglen blev pebersvend, som man kalder det.
Sent var det på efteråret, med regn og rusk; vinden blæste koldt ned ad ryggen på de gamle piletræer, så at det knagede i dem. Det var ikke godt at flyve ude i sommerklæder, da ville man få kærligheden at føle, som man siger; men sommerfuglen fløj heller ikke ude, han var tilfældigvis kommen inden døre, hvor der var ild i kakkelovnen, ja rigtigt sommervarmt; han kunne leve; men, "leve er ikke nok!" sagde han, "solskin, frihed og en lille blomst må man have!"
Og han fløj mod ruden, blev set, beundret og sat på nål i raritetskassen; mere kunne man ikke gøre for ham.
"Nu sidder jeg også på stilk ligesom blomsterne!" sagde sommerfuglen; "ganske behageligt er det dog ikke! det er nok som at være gift, man sidder fast!" og så trøstede han sig dermed.
"Det er en dårlig trøst!" sagde potteblomsterne i stuen.
"Men potteblomster kan man ikke ganske tro," mente sommerfuglen, "de omgås for meget med mennesker!"
There was once a butterfly who wished for a bride, and, as may be supposed, he wanted to choose a very pretty one from among the flowers. He glanced, with a very critical eye, at all the flower-beds, and found that the flowers were seated quietly and demurely on their stalks, just as maidens should sit before they are engaged; but there was a great number of them, and it appeared as if his search would become very wearisome. The butterfly did not like to take too much trouble, so he flew off on a visit to the daisies. The French call this flower "Marguerite," and they say that the little daisy can prophesy. Lovers pluck off the leaves, and as they pluck each leaf, they ask a question about their lovers; thus: "Does he or she love me?– Ardently? Distractedly? Very much? A little? Not at all?" and so on. Every one speaks these words in his own language. The butterfly came also to Marguerite to inquire, but he did not pluck off her leaves; he pressed a kiss on each of them, for he thought there was always more to be done by kindness.
"Darling Marguerite daisy," he said to her, "you are the wisest woman of all the flowers. Pray tell me which of the flowers I shall choose for my wife. Which will be my bride? When I know, I will fly directly to her, and propose."
But Marguerite did not answer him; she was offended that he should call her a woman when she was only a girl; and there is a great difference. He asked her a second time, and then a third; but she remained dumb, and answered not a word. Then he would wait no longer, but flew away, to commence his wooing at once. It was in the early spring, when the crocus and the snowdrop were in full bloom.
"They are very pretty," thought the butterfly; "charming little lasses; but they are rather formal."
Then, as the young lads often do, he looked out for the elder girls. He next flew to the anemones; these were rather sour to his taste. The violet, a little too sentimental. The lime-blossoms, too small, and besides, there was such a large family of them. The apple-blossoms, though they looked like roses, bloomed to-day, but might fall off to-morrow, with the first wind that blew; and he thought that a marriage with one of them might last too short a time. The pea-blossom pleased him most of all; she was white and red, graceful and slender, and belonged to those domestic maidens who have a pretty appearance, and can yet be useful in the kitchen. He was just about to make her an offer, when, close by the maiden, he saw a pod, with a withered flower hanging at the end.
"Who is that?" he asked.
"That is my sister," replied the pea-blossom.
"Oh, indeed; and you will be like her some day," said he; and he flew away directly, for he felt quite shocked.
A honeysuckle hung forth from the hedge, in full bloom; but there were so many girls like her, with long faces and sallow complexions. No; he did not like her. But which one did he like?
Spring went by, and summer drew towards its close; autumn came; but he had not decided. The flowers now appeared in their most gorgeous robes, but all in vain; they had not the fresh, fragrant air of youth. For the heart asks for fragrance, even when it is no longer young; and there is very little of that to be found in the dahlias or the dry chrysanthemums; therefore the butterfly turned to the mint on the ground. You know, this plant has no blossom; but it is sweetness all over,– full of fragrance from head to foot, with the scent of a flower in every leaf.
"I will take her," said the butterfly; and he made her an offer. But the mint stood silent and stiff, as she listened to him. At last she said,–
"Friendship, if you please; nothing more. I am old, and you are old, but we may live for each other just the same; as to marrying– no; don't let us appear ridiculous at our age."
And so it happened that the butterfly got no wife at all. He had been too long choosing, which is always a bad plan. And the butterfly became what is called an old bachelor.
It was late in the autumn, with rainy and cloudy weather. The cold wind blew over the bowed backs of the willows, so that they creaked again. It was not the weather for flying about in summer clothes; but fortunately the butterfly was not out in it. He had got a shelter by chance. It was in a room heated by a stove, and as warm as summer. He could exist here, he said, well enough.
"But it is not enough merely to exist," said he, "I need freedom, sunshine, and a little flower for a companion."
Then he flew against the window-pane, and was seen and admired by those in the room, who caught him, and stuck him on a pin, in a box of curiosities. They could not do more for him.
"Now I am perched on a stalk, like the flowers," said the butterfly. "It is not very pleasant, certainly; I should imagine it is something like being married; for here I am stuck fast." And with this thought he consoled himself a little.
"That seems very poor consolation," said one of the plants in the room, that grew in a pot.
"Ah," thought the butterfly, "one can't very well trust these plants in pots; they have too much to do with mankind."