`` You will be weary of this , '' said little Rose-Leaf to Eva ; `` come now and see where we are taught to read the tales written on flower-leaves , and the sweet language of the birds , and all that can make a Fairy heart wiser and better . '' Then into a cheerful place they went , where were many groups of flowers , among whose leaves sat the child Elves , and learned from their flower-books all that Fairy hands had written there . Some studied how to watch the tender buds , when to spread them to the sunlight , and when to shelter them from rain ; how to guard the ripening seeds , and when to lay them in the warm earth or send them on the summer wind to far off hills and valleys , where other Fairy hands would tend and cherish them , till a sisterhood of happy flowers sprang up to beautify and gladden the lonely spot where they had fallen . Others learned to heal the wounded insects , whose frail limbs a breeze could shatter , and who , were it not for Fairy hands , would die ere half their happy summer life had gone . Some learned how by pleasant dreams to cheer and comfort mortal hearts , by whispered words of love to save from evil deeds those who had gone astray , to fill young hearts with gentle thoughts and pure affections , that no sin might mar the beauty of the human flower ; while others , like mortal children , learned the Fairy alphabet . Thus the Elves made loving friends by care and love , and no evil thing could harm them , for those they helped to cherish and protect ever watched to shield and save them . Eva nodded to the gay little ones , as they peeped from among the leaves at the stranger , and then she listened to the Fairy lessons . Several tiny Elves stood on a broad leaf while the teacher sat among the petals of a flower that bent beside them , and asked questions that none but Fairies would care to know . `` Twinkle , if there lay nine seeds within a flower-cup and the wind bore five away , how many would the blossom have ? '' `` Four , '' replied the little one . `` Rosebud , if a Cowslip opens three leaves in one day and four the next , how many rosy leaves will there be when the whole flower has bloomed ? '' `` Seven , '' sang the gay little Elf . `` Harebell , if a silkworm spin one yard of Fairy cloth in an hour , how many will it spin in a day ? '' `` Twelve , '' said the Fairy child . `` Primrose , where lies Violet Island ? '' `` In the Lake of Ripples . '' `` Lilla , you may bound Rose Land . '' `` On the north by Ferndale , south by Sunny Wave River , east by the hill of Morning Clouds , and west by the Evening Star . '' `` Now , little ones , '' said the teacher , `` you may go to your painting , that our visitor may see how we repair the flowers that earthly hands have injured . '' Then Eva saw how , on large , white leaves , the Fairies learned to imitate the lovely colors , and with tiny brushes to brighten the blush on the anemone 's cheek , to deepen the blue of the violet 's eye , and add new light to the golden cowslip .
`` You have stayed long enough , '' said the XXXXX at length , `` we have many things to show you .
Elves Ferndale Harebell Lilla Morning River anemone flower-cup silkworm sisterhood