愛的孩子來到女王的床邊。“我知道世界上最美麗的玫瑰在哪裡。當我可愛的孩子那粉嫩的臉頰上綻放出表達著純真聖潔的嬰兒之愛的笑容時，就能看到它；當孩子睡醒後睜開眼睛，帶著孩童般的深情對我微笑時，就能看到它。”

“I know where it blooms,” said a happy mother, who came with her lovely child to the bedside of the queen. “I know where the loveliest rose in the world is. It is seen on the blooming cheeks of my sweet child, when it expresses the pure and holy love of infancy; when refreshed by sleep it opens its eyes, and smiles upon me with childlike affection.”

“這是一朵可愛的玫瑰，” 智者說；“但還有一朵更可愛的。”

“this is a lovely rose,” said the wise man; “but there is one still more lovely.”

“是的，一朵遠比這更可愛的，” 其中一位婦女說。“我見過它，沒有比它更高尚、更純潔的玫瑰盛開了。但它是白色的，就像白玫瑰的花瓣。我在女王的臉頰上看到過它。她摘下了金王冠，在那漫長、沉悶的夜晚，她懷裡抱著生病的孩子。”

“Yes, one far more Lovely,” said one of the women. “I have seen it, and a loftier and purer rose does not bloom. but it was white, like the leaves of a blush-rose. I saw it on the cheeks of the queen. She had taken off her golden crown, and through the long, dreary night, she carried her sick child in her arms.

她為此哭泣，親吻它，像只有母親在痛苦時刻才能做到的那樣為它祈禱。

She wept over it, kissed it, and prayed for it as only a mother can pray in that hour of her anguish.”

悲痛的白玫瑰神聖而奇妙，有著強大的力量，但它不是我們要找的那朵。

“holy and wonderful in its might is the white rose of grief, but it is not the one we seek.”

“不；我在主的聖餐桌旁看到了世界上最美麗的玫瑰，” 這位善良的老主教說。“我看到它閃耀著光芒，彷彿天使的面容顯現了出來。一位年輕的少女跪在聖壇前，重溫了她受洗時所發的誓言；那位年輕女孩緋紅的臉頰上既有白玫瑰，也有紅玫瑰。她帶著年輕心靈的所有純潔與愛，帶著最高尚、最純潔的愛的全部神情，仰望天堂。”

“No; the loveliest rose