“I will keep this，” said she; and as soon as she had covered the body again with the earthand leaves， she took the head and a little sprig of jasmine that bloomed in the wood， nearthe spot where he was buried， and carried them home with her. As soon as she was in herroom， she took the largest flower-pot she could find， and in this she placed the head of thedead man， covered it up with earth， and planted the twig of jasmine in it.
“Farewell， farewell，” whispered the little elf. He could not any longer endure to witnessall this agony of grief， he therefore flew away to his own rose in the garden. But the rose wasfaded; only a few dry leaves still clung to the GREen hedge behind it.
“Alas! how soon all that is good and beautiful passes away，” sighed the elf.
After a while he found another rose， which became his home， for among its delicatefragrant leaves he could dwell in safety. Every morning he flew to the window of the poor girl，and always found her weeping by the flower pot. The bitter tears fell upon the jasmine twig，and each day， as she became paler and paler， the sprig appeared to grow GREener andfresher. One shoot after another sprouted forth， and little white buds blossomed， which thepoor girl fondly kissed. But her wicked brother scolded her， and asked her if she was goingmad. He could not imagine why she was weeping over that flower-pot， and it annoyed him. Hedid not know whose closed eyes were there， nor what red lips were fading beneath the earth.And one day she sat and leaned her head against the flower-pot， and the little elf of the rosefound her asleep. Then he seated himself by her ear， talked to her of that evening in thearbor， of the sweet perfume of the rose， and the loves of the elves. Sweetly she dreamed，and while she dreamt， her life passed away calmly and gently， and her spirit was with himwhom she loved， in heaven. And the jasmine opened its large white bells， and spread forthits sweet fragrance; it had no other way of showing its grief for the dead. But the wickedbrother considered the beautiful blooming plant as his own property， left to him by hissister， and he placed it in his sleeping room， close by his bed， for it was very lovely inappearance， and the fragrance sweet and delightful. The little elf of the rose followed it，and flew from flower to flower， telling each little spirit that dwelt in them the story of themurdered young man， whose head now formed part of the earth beneath them， and of thewicked brother and the poor sister.
“We know it，” said each little spirit in the flowers， “we know it， for have we not sprungfrom the eyes and lips of the murdered one. We know it， we know it，” and the flowersnodded with their heads in a peculiar manner. The elf of the rose could not understand howthey could rest so quietly in the matter， so he flew to the bees， who were gathering honey，and told them of the wicked brother. And the bees told it to their queen， who commandedthat the next morning they should go and kill the murderer. But during the night， the firstafter the sister's death， while the brother was sleeping in his bed， close to where he hadplaced the fragrant jasmine， every flower cup opened， and invisibly the little spirits stoleout， armed with poisonous spears. They placed themselves by the ear of the sleeper， toldhim dreadful dreams and then flew across his lips， and pricked his tongue with their poisonedspears.
“Now have we revenged the dead，” said they， and flew back into the white bells of thejasmine flowers. When the morning came， and as soon as the window was opened， the roseelf， with the queen bee， and the whole swarm of bees， rushed in to kill him. But he wasalready dead. People were standing round the bed， and saying that the scent of the jasminehad killed him.
then the elf of the rose understood the revenge of the flowers， and explained it to thequeen bee， and she， with the whole swarm， buzzed about the flower-pot. The bees couldnot be driven away. Then a man took it up to remove it， and one of the bees stung him in thehand， so that he let the flower-pot fall， and it was broken to pieces. Then every one saw thewhitened skull， and they knew the dead man in the bed was a murderer. And the queen beehummed in the air， and sang of the revenge of the flowers， and of the elf of the rose andsaid that behind the smallest leaf dwells One， who can discover evil deeds， and punish them also.