“I’m setting off on a journey, my dear daughters!” said the rich merchant. “What should I bring you from foreign lands?”
“Get me pearls!” said his eldest daughter, Peony.
“I want sapphires!” replied Daisy, the middle daughter of the family.
Lily, the youngest, asked, “Could you bring me a red rose, please?”
The merchant’s heart melted when he heard this. “I will do my best, dear. But it is winter, and no roses are blooming!”
He got onto his wagon and waved to the girls as he drove away.
In a market, he bought pearls for Peony and sapphires for Daisy.
He asked everyone if they had a rose, but always got the same reply.
“There are no roses at this time of year, you silly man!”
After many weeks,…