“She has a palace!” said the ant. “The finest ant's palace， with seven hundredpassages!”
“I thank you!” said Mother Snail. “Our son shall not go into an ant-hill; if you knownothing better than that， we shall give the commission to the white gnats. They fly far andwide， in rain and sunshine; they know the whole forest here， both within and without.”
“We have a wife for him，” said the gnats. “At a hundred human paces from here there sitsa little snail in her house， on a gooseberry bush; she is quite lonely， and old enough to bemarried. It is only a hundred human paces!”
“Well， then， let her come to him!” said the old ones. “He has a whole forest ofburdocks， she has only a bush!”
And so they went and fetched little Miss Snail. It was a whole week before she arrived; buttherein was just the very best of it， for one could thus see that she was of the same species.
And then the marriage was celebrated. Six earth-worms shone as well as they could. Inother respects the whole went off very quietly， for the old folks could not bear noise andmerriment; but old Dame Snail made a brilliant speech. Father Snail could not speak， he wastoo much affected; and so they gave them as a dowry and inheritance， the whole forest ofburdocks， and said——what they had always said——that it was the best in the world; and ifthey lived honestly and decently， and increased and multiplied， they and their children wouldonce in the course of time come to the manor-house， be boiled black， and laid on silverdishes. After this speech was made， the old ones crept into their shells， and never morecame out. They slept; the young couple governed in the forest， and had a numerousprogeny， but they were never boiled， and never came on the silver dishes; so from this theyconcluded that the manor-house had fallen to ruins， and that all the men in the world wereextinct; and as no one contradicted them， so， of course it was so. And the rain beat on thedock-leaves to make drum-music for their sake， and the sun shone in order to give theburdock forest a color for their sakes; and they were very happy， and the whole family washappy; for they， indeed were so.
这个国家里最大的绿叶子，无疑要算是牛蒡的叶子了。你拿一起放在你的肚皮上，那么它就像一条围裙。如果你把它放在头上，那么在雨天里它就可以当做一把伞用，因为它是出奇的宽大。牛蒡从来不单独地生长;不，凡是长着一棵牛蒡的地方，你一定可以找到好几棵。这是它最可爱的一点，而这一点对蜗牛说来只不过是食料。
在古时候，许多大人物把这些白色的大蜗牛做成“碎肉”;当他们吃着的时候，就说：“哼，味道真好!”因为他们认为蜗牛的味道很美。这些蜗牛都靠牛蒡叶子活着;因此人们才种植牛蒡。
现在有一个古代的公馆，住在里面的人已经不再吃蜗牛了。所以蜗牛都死光了，不过牛蒡还活着，这植物在小径上和花畦上长得非常茂盛，人们怎么也没有办法制止它们。这地方简直成了一个牛蒡森林。要不是这儿那儿有几株苹果树和梅子树，谁也不会想到这是一个花园。处处都是牛蒡;在它们中间住着最后的两个蜗牛遗老。
它们不知道自己究竟有多大年纪。不过它们记得很清楚：它们的数目曾经是很多很多，而且都属于一个从外国迁来的家族，整个森林就是为它们和它们的家族而发展起来的。它们从来没有离开过家，不过却听说过：这个世界上还有一个什么叫做“公馆”的东西，它们在那里面被烹调着，然后变成黑色，最后被盛在一个银盘子里。不过结果怎样，它们一点也不知道。此外，它们也想象不出来，烹调完了以后盛在银盘子里，究竟是一种什么味道。那一定很美，特别排场!它们请教过小金虫、癞蛤蟆和蚯蚓，但是一点道理也问不出来，因为它们谁也没有被烹调过或盛在银盘子里面过。
那对古老的白蜗牛要算世界上最有身份的人物了。它们自己知道森林就是为了它们而存在的，公馆也是为了使它们能被烹调和放在银盘子里而存在的。
它们过着安静和幸福的生活。因为它们自己没有孩子，所以就收养了一个普通的小蜗牛。它们把它作为自己的孩子抚育。不过这小东西长不大，因为它不过是一个普通的蜗牛而已。但是这对老蜗牛——尤其是妈妈——觉得她能看出它在长大。假如爸爸看不出的话，她要求他摸摸它的外壳。因此他就摸一下;他发现妈妈说的话有道理。