Page 15 - English Reader - 6

2 2 The Proud Little

The Proud Little

Apple Blossom
Apple Blossom

Warm-Up
Warm-Up
This famous fairytale is about a proud apple blossom who considered herself superior to
the dandelion because she is more beautiful than the dandelion, but realises in the end that
beauty is not the most important thing in life.

It was the month of May, but the wind still blew cool, for the sun was not yet ready to shed his
warmest rays on the waiting earth.

Yet some of the birds had come, and more were on their way, from distant lands where they had
migrated before the onset of winter.
Now that the weather was changing, many beautiful trees were already showing
their pink and white blooms, so that from bush and tree, field and

flower, came the glad cry, “Spring is here! Spring is
here!”
Now, it happened that a young princess rode
by a beautiful orchard in full bloom, and
she stopped to pick a branch of apple
blossoms to take to her palace. All who
saw the apple blossom praised its beauty
and fragrance until the blossom became
proud, and thought that beauty was the
only valuable thing in the world. But as
the apple blossom looked out upon the
field, she thought, “Not all of the plants
are rich and beautiful, as I am, some
seem poor and plain.” And she noticed
a little, common, yellow flower, which

seemed to lift up its sunny head and grow
everywhere.
The apple blossom said to the plain little

flower, “What is your name?”

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