"You're looking all round, Arne?"
VIII.
THE SHADOWS ON THE WATER.
"It was such a cheerful, sunny day,
No rest indoors could I find;
So I strolled to the wood, and down I lay,
And rocked what came in my mind:
But there the emmets crawled on the ground,
And wasps and gnats were stinging around.
'Won't you go out-doors this fine day, dear?' said mother, as she sat in the porch, spinning.
It was such a cheerful, sunny day,
No rest indoors could I find;
So I went in the birk, and down I lay,
And sang what came in my mind:
But snakes crept out to bask in the sun—
Snakes five feet long, so, away I run.
'In such beautiful weather one may go barefoot,' said mother, taking off her stockings.
It was such a cheerful, sunny day,
Indoors I could not abide;
So I went in a boat, and down I lay,
And floated away with the tide:
But the sun-beams burned till my nose was sore;
So I turned my boat again to the shore.
'This is, indeed, good weather to dry the hay,' said mother, putting her rake into a swath.