First comes the skin,
rosy and yellow, a pretty firm wrapping for the outside; but it
sometimes breaks, when a strong wind tosses the apples to the ground,
and sometimes the insects eat holes in it: so, if this were the only
covering, the treasure would hardly be very safe. Therefore, next we
come to the firm, juicy flesh of the apple,--seldom to be broken through
by a fall, not often eaten through by insects; but lest even this should
fail, we come at last, far in the middle, to horny sheaths, or cells,
built up together like a little fortress, surrounding and protecting the
brown, shining seeds, which we reach in the very centre of all.
One thing more let us look at before we leave the apple. Cut it
horizontally through the middle with a sharp knife, and try how thin and
smooth a slice you can make; hold it up to the light, and we shall see
something very beautiful. There in the centre of the round slice is the
delicate figure of a perfect apple-blossom, with all its petals spread;
for it was that lovely pink-and-white blossom from which the apple was
formed,--a tiny green ball at first, which you may see in the spring, if
you look where the blossoms have just fallen. As this little green apple
grew, it kept in its very heart always the image of the fair blossom;
and now that the fruit has reached this ripe perfection, we may still
see the same form.
The pears, too, the apricots and plums, you may see for yourselves; you
do not need me to tell their stories.
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