II
Years passed by, and the linen was so worn that it could hardly hold together.
"The end must come soon," said the flax.
At last the linen did fall into rags and tatters; it was torn into shreds and boiled in water. The flax thought the end had come.
But no, the end was not yet. After being made into pulp and dried, the flax became beautiful white paper.
"This is a surprise, a glorious surprise," it said. "I am finer than ever, and I shall have fine things written on me. How happy I am!"
And sure enough, the most beautiful stories and verses were written upon it. People read the stories and verses, and they were made wiser and better. Their children and their children's children read them, too, and so the song was not ended.
—HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN.
