And then Mother was very, very tired. So she stopped. And Marni said, “Whoa, horsie!”
Then Little Aa said, “Ugh, ugh!” for he wanted to go again. But Marni said “Get up, horsie!” for she wanted to go too. But Mother she was very, very, very tired. She had jogged, jogged, jogged so long and made the wheels go round, round, round, round, so much! So she said, “The ride is all over!” Then Little Aa climbed down out of the wagon and Marni climbed down out of the wagon. And Marni said, “Goodbye, wagon!” and ran away!
MARNI GETS DRESSED
IN THE MORNING
This story, obviously, is for a particular little girl. It is told in the terms of her own experience, of her own environment, and of her own observations. It is nothing more or less than the living over in rhythmic form of the daily routine of her morning dressing. Her story remarks are either literal quotations or adaptations of her actual every day responses. The little verse refrains are the type of thing almost anyone can improvise. I have found that any simple statement about a familiar object or act told (or sung) with a kind of ceremonious attention and with an obvious and simple rhythm, enthralls a two-year-old. The little girl for whom this story was written began embryonic stories before her second birthday. The water-soap-sponge episode is an adaptation of one of her first narrative forms. This story is meant merely as a suggestion of the way almost anyone can make language an every day plaything to the small child she is caring for.