Smaly sighed, too. "That's just what I was thinking," said he. "Oh, Redy, how nice it would be if we had three little girls to live in our three bedrooms, so that they could admire your flowers and look at themselves in my pretty mirrors."
"Let us wish for them," said Redy, and she folded her hands together on her apron and chanted:
"We wish to have three girls,
Fine, sweet, pink, and good
They shall have more pudding than they like,
And a green, green, and rosy garden."
Smaly repeated the poem in his turn, but Redy had to prompt him, for he had a very bad memory.
They waited for some time, but nothing happened, so they said the verse over again, and this time Smaly repeated it without any mistake; but still nothing happened.
"Wishing does not seem to be much good," said Smaly despondently.
"Wishing never is any good," answered Redy, "unless one does something more than wish. If we want to find our three little girls we must set out and look for them."
Smaly
"Yes, but where?" asked Smaly.