Why can flowers represent romance and love?

Fox

The fox stopped and sniffed: "It seems some flower has bloomed. A scent I've never smelled before."

The rabbit also wrinkled its little nose: "I don't smell anything."

"It should be over there." The fox pointed in a direction, "Want to go take a look?"

"Let's go, let's go." The rabbit had already started running, "Beaver, don't be so slow!"

The beaver gave a vague reply, dragging its feet behind the rabbit, still chewing bark.

"We don't even know what it is yet, so don't eat it!" The fox warned, also breaking into a trot.

Fox

The fox's sense of smell was indeed excellent. Before they had gone far, the rabbit spotted a lush shrub, with large flowers perched on long stems, swaying gently in the wind.

"Wow." The rabbit opened its mouth wide, sitting at the foot of the shrub, looking up at the flowers, "So beautiful!"

The petals were layered upon layered, the outermost layers already unfurled, slightly folded back, turned semi-transparent pink by the sunlight. Below the large blooms were slender stems, with a few glossy thick leaves poking out from the stems, like little ears in a cheerful mood.

The fox took a deep breath and gave a tiny sneeze: "It really is beautiful. Has it always been growing here?"

The beaver shook its head: "I've never seen it before. Oh, come to think of it, we don't seem to have ever been to this side before."

"I wonder if Dr. Badger planted it again." The rabbit scratched its ear, "Is this another kind of medicine?"

"It doesn't seem like it. Besides, Dr. Badger's herb garden is still far from here." The beaver leaned in and sniffed carefully, "I think this might be a hybrid tea rose."

"What kind of name is that." The rabbit pursed its lips, "It's tea, and it's rose, and it's hybrid."

"I saw it in one of Mole's books." The beaver scratched its nose a little sheepishly, "It said this is a flower hybridized from various roses, and its fragrance is tea-scented, so that's why it's called that."

"Hybrid? Why hybridize?" The rabbit asked.

"Probably to make it prettier and more fragrant." The beaver answered, "After all, the original roses weren't this beautiful."

"Hmm." The rabbit continued looking up at the flowers, "It really is beautiful."

"That

book also said that this flower represents romance and love."

"A flower, representing romance and love?" The rabbit widened its eyes, "How does it represent that?"

The beaver was stunned for a moment, then scratched its ear. "How does it represent that... maybe it means that when you see this flower, you feel romance and love? That doesn't seem right either..."

"It's probably just an impression, right?" The fox said, "Like how when you see a beaver, you think of gnawing trees and dams?"

"Mm," the rabbit nodded, "but that's still understandable, because beavers are always gnawing trees and building dams. But a flower doesn't do anything, it just blooms and blooms on its own, so how could it leave an impression of romance and love?"

The fox twitched its ears, blinked, and turned to look at those large flowers blooming quietly.

"So there's no real reason for it." The rabbit muttered to itself, "A flower, how can it represent romance and love? Hey, beaver, did you read it wrong?"

"It shouldn't be..." The beaver hesitated a little, "That book also wrote about many other flowers, and every kind of flower has to represent something..."

"It can't be that the flowers discussed it among themselves." The rabbit pondered, "A bunch of flowers holding a meeting, saying you represent this and I represent that, everyone don't fight, everyone has a representation... that doesn't sound right either."

"Maybe it really happened before." The fox laughed, "And then the flowers wrote a book and recorded it all."

"I think the scene you're describing is a bit eerie..." The rabbit laughed too.

"Then

how did it happen? Flowers can't speak for themselves, so someone must have decided it." The beaver said.

"It must be like that. Nobody even asked the flowers' opinion, and just made them represent things." The rabbit twitched its ears, "I wonder if the flowers themselves agree or not."

"Why not ask them." The fox laughed, "I used to always talk to plants, lily of the valley, monkey face orchid, I chatted with them for a long time."

"Beaver too!" The rabbit said, "When beaver was little, it liked to talk to a snake's head fritillary! So, did those plants answer you?"

The fox smiled and shook its head. "Of course not. But after talking to them, I always felt a bit more relaxed."

"Yeah." The beaver said, "The snake's head fritillary never answered me either."

"Give it a try." The rabbit said, "Maybe this flower will answer? It's so beautiful and smells so good, maybe it really will answer you."

"Alright then, you ask." The fox laughed, "We've all talked to plants, let's see if you're luckier than us."

"Okay!" The rabbit took several deep breaths, "Hybrid... tea... oh never mind. Beautiful flower, do you represent romance and love?"

The fox pricked up its ears and held its breath. The shrub remained quiet, with only the sound of wind brushing through the leaves.

The fox sighed. It should be like this, after all. But why did it feel a little disappointed inside?

"Try again." The rabbit said, "Beautiful flower, do you represent romance and love?"

"See, no reaction." The rabbit turned to the fox and the beaver, "So that means..."

A

tiny, delicate voice interrupted the rabbit's words. "Ye—s—"

The rabbit jumped up with a start, bumping into the fox: "Who's there?"

The tiny voice continued speaking: "It's me—the flower—right in front of you—"

The rabbit stepped back a few paces: "You... flower?"

The fox wagged its tail, rolled its eyes, and a smile appeared on its face. It glanced at the beaver, who had a knowing expression and winked at it.

"Yes—" the little voice continued, "It's me—"

The rabbit turned to the fox for help, and saw the fox wearing a serious expression. The rabbit looked at the beaver, who was pulling out a piece of bark.

"Flower... flower," the rabbit's voice trembled a little, "How did you start talking..."

"We—have always been able to talk—" the flower said, "It's just—that we don't talk much—"

"Then," the fox said, "See, flowers can talk. Hurry and ask how it represents romance and love."

The rabbit nodded, its voice still a bit shaky: "Flower, do you... how do you represent romance and love?"

"Because we held a meeting—" the tiny voice took on a strange tremor, "We all divided things up—"

"Hmm..." the rabbit thought for a moment, "I still have many questions. For example, where do you hold your meetings, who speaks and who takes notes, and so on. But there's a more urgent question I want to ask you."

"Go ahead—"

"It's just," the rabbit's voice also began to tremble, "Where is that stinky mole hiding?"

"Oh, what are you talking about—" there was uncontrollable laughter in that voice, "I don't understand at all—"

"Alright, alright." The rabbit said, "Stop pretending, we all know it's you."

A

mound of earth rose up beneath the shrub, and the mole poked its head out from inside with a grin, "You found me out—"

"Still pretending, still pretending!" The rabbit jumped over and made as if to hit it, "When did you follow us here?"

"I also came following the scent." The mole returned to its own voice, "I just happened to hear you talking about how hybrid tea roses represent romance and love."

"So, how do flowers come to represent things and so on, they don't really hold meetings, do they?" The rabbit asked.

"Of course not." The mole said, "These are just sayings passed down from the past, and as everyone kept saying them, they came to be taken as true. It's like contagion, and in the end everyone believes it. Flowers are just flowers, after all, they don't care about this at all."

"Exactly." The rabbit wrinkled its nose, "That's what I said... flowers just bloom and bloom, they wouldn't come up with what to represent on their own..."

"Many things spread like this." The mole pushed up its big glasses, "Basically the same as rumors. But there's no harm in it, so just let it be."

"Then, you tell me," the rabbit said, "If I say the fox represents loyalty and diligence, and the rabbit represents justice and bravery, could that spread too?"

"I think that..." the mole paused for a moment, "might be very difficult..."

"Why not!" The rabbit puffed out its cheeks, "I don't care, I want to represent justice and bravery!"

"Alright, alright, justice and bravery it is." The mole said, "But then you might have to spend a lot of time. Go traveling, and every time you meet someone you have to tell them dozens of times, and then you have to do justice-and-bravery deeds in front of everyone... after basically a few generations, maybe everyone will say the rabbit represents justice and bravery."

"That's so troublesome..." The rabbit's ears drooped, "Then forget it..."

To be continued