Florentius the Gardener E-Book

Kęstutis Kasparavičius

• Herausgeber: anna ruggieri
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2019

Beschreibung

Florentius is the best gardener in the Bear Kingdom. His wonderful roses in all colours are popular throughout the country.

One day at the Flower market the Queen asks him to breed a black rose for her. Fortunately, he finds the way, but he experiences a huge surprise. Florentius has to make a decision!

A story that teaches us to look at the world differently: more carefully, thoroughly and originally.

Leseprobe

Kęstutis Kasparavičius

FLORENTIUS THE GARDENER

Once upon a time, there was a gardener named Florentius.

He was a bear, like all the other citizens of his town.

Florentius’ father had also been a gardener, and so too had his grandfather, whose portrait hung over the fireplace at home. And that both of them had been shaggy brown bears just like him goes without saying.

Florentius lived in a little house at the very edge of town, right beside a forest. Two of the windows on his house looked out on this forest, the front door and kitchen window faced the street, and two other windows, on the western wall of his house, gazed curiously at the home of his neighbour – a little she-bear called Singer.

The southern side of his house had a wooden veranda, where on warm summer evenings Florentius liked to drink tea with honey. From the veranda, wooden steps led down to his garden.

Indeed, it was nice to look at the bear’s splendid garden.

The lawn was always freshly mown and looked like a green velvet carpet that had just been vacuumed clean.

The very rarest and most beautiful trees grew in his garden – ones that grow wild only in distant lands. Perhaps only the pernambuco was lacking here. But this tree is not really all that beautiful when you try to imagine it. Especially since no one in Bearville knew what it looks like or even had any inkling that such a tree exists at all.

At the edge of his garden, right along the fence, somewhat farther out of sight, there lay hidden a little strawberry patch. Nevertheless, many a visitor who came to admire Florentius’ garden was somehow drawn – unconsciously, unintentionally – to the strawberries. That is not surprising. After all, they were not only beautiful but also smelled and tasted very good. And that is very important for bears.

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There were rosebushes planted around his house. Florentius tended them with as much care as his neighbour, the little singing she-bear, looked after the nails on her pretty little paws.

His neighbour Singer was a dear and lovely little she-bear. She was very elegant and had lots of pretty dresses and hats. What is more, she knew how to sing in a voice as sweet as an angel’s. Not in a cavernously deep and husky one the way all other bears usually bellow or roar, but rather in a gentle and clear one, like the sound of a silver spoon in a glass of warm tea.

She spent her time in a happy and carefree manner. In the evening she sang at the town hall or before invited guests, and she spent her mornings at home, training her voice at a grand piano or in front of a mirror.

The she-bear took great care of her appearance. She washed and combed her sleek, fluffy fur, sharpened her nails with a little silver file, and tried on stylish dresses, shoes, and jewellery. It was more than obvious that the very favour-ite thing in her house was her mirror.

For her beautiful, silver voice, the Queen Bear herself had awarded Singer a silver medal and an ancient lute. But the merry neighbour never played the lute. Instead, she hung it high in her attic because she didn’t like that instrument one bit, with its endlessly sad sound.