Chapter II

The children ran home to tell about the wonderful birds that had come to live in the village.

Not long after, the princess showed the children one of the hens that was sitting.

“Fifteen eggs!” they cried. “The doves lay only two, and the other birds only five. How will the hens feed so many little ones?”

The children watched the chickens when they came out of the eggs. They were surprised that the little chickens were covered with yellow down.

“It is wonderful!” they cried. “Other little birds have no feathers. And see! They know how to run. Oh, there are no birds like them!”

By and by the princess asked the people of the village to a feast of eggs. They all sat down at a long table in the garden.

The eggs were in large baskets on the table. They were as white as snow.

The princess showed them how to break the eggs. Then she cooked them in many ways.

The people of the village liked the feast of eggs. When they went home, the princess gave them some chickens.

After that the children had merry times hunting for the white eggs.

From the German of CHRISTOPH SCHMID (_Adapted_).

THE EASTER EGG.

On Easter Day, a princess gave a party to the children of the village.

She had no apples and nuts to give them. So she colored some eggs red, blue, and yellow.

When the children came, the princess took them into the woods. She told them to make nests out of the grass and leaves.

They left the nests under the trees. Then they went into the garden where a feast was waiting for them.

While they were eating, the princess carried the colored eggs into the woods. She filled the nests with them.

Then she went back to the children and said, “Come, now! Let us look for our nests.”

The children hunted everywhere. When they found the nests, they clapped their hands for joy. In each nest lay five colored eggs.

“Red eggs! Red eggs!” cried one. “In my nest all are red!”

“In mine are blue ones,” cried another. “All blue like the sky!”

“And mine are as yellow as the butterfly that is flying around us,” said another.

“Oh,” they all cried, “how we should like to see the chickens that lay such beautiful eggs!”

“Of course hens do not lay them,” said one little girl. “Hens’ eggs are white.”

“I saw a rabbit running away from my nest,” said another. “I believe a little rabbit laid them.”

All the children laughed and said, “Yes, yes! The rabbits laid the colored eggs!”

From the German of CHRISTOPH SCHMID (_Adapted_).

THE FARMER AND THE BIRDS.

It was springtime. The birds were singing merrily as they built their nests.

But the farmers were angry. They did not want the birds to eat the corn in the fields, and the cherries on the trees.

The farmers said that all the birds must be killed. But the birds had one friend.

This friend stood up before the farmers and said, “Think of your woods and fields without the birds! Who will drive the worms from your fields and gardens?

“The birds pay you well for the grain and the cherries that they eat. What will you do without their sweet music?”

The farmers laughed and would not listen to the friend.

They sent men and boys into the fields and the woods to kill the birds. The little ones were left to die in their nests.

When summer came, there was not a bird to be seen. Hundreds of worms ate everything that grew in the gardens and fields.

That autumn there were no red and yellow leaves on the trees. The branches were dry and brown.

Then the farmers were sorry. The next spring they sent a man away to bring the birds from all the country around.

One day the man drove a wagon covered with green branches into the village. Cages filled with singing birds hung upon the branches.

The farmers opened the doors, and the birds flew out.

Once more the woods and the fields were filled with sweet music.

Suggested by LONGFELLOW’S poem, “The Birds of Killingworth.”

MAY.

Little white snowdrop! I pray you arise;
Bright yellow crocus! Come open your eyes;
Sweet little violets, hid from the cold,
Put on your mantles of purple and gold;
Daffodils! Daffodils! Say, do you hear?
Summer is coming! And springtime is here!

EMILY HUNTINGTON MILLER.
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MARY’S MEADOW.

Mary liked to plant flowers beside the road and in the fields.

She told her father that she wanted to make people happy who had no gardens. So Father called her The Traveler’s Joy.

But Mary liked best of all to play in the Squire’s meadow. It was filled with beautiful flowers and singing birds.

Mary cried when her father told her that he and the Squire were no longer friends. He said she must not play in the meadow with the Squire’s great dog, Saxon.

One day, the gardener gave Mary some pretty cowslips. She forgot what her father had told her, and ran down to the Squire’s meadow to plant them.

Soon she heard a loud shout. She looked up and saw the old Squire running toward her. With one hand he held his dog, Saxon, who was trying to get away.

Mary was so frightened that she did not hear what the Squire was saying. She told him that she was not digging up his cowslips, but planting them.

Just then Saxon came running toward her. The Squire stopped shouting to her, and called to Saxon. He did not know that Mary and Saxon were such good friends.

Mary threw her arms around Saxon’s neck, and began to cry. Then she picked up her basket and ran home as fast as she could.

Every day she thought the old Squire would come and tell her father. But he never came.