"You have a great deal to learn," he said solemnly. "Don't you know that everything's alive?"
"No," said Griselda, "I don't; and I don't know what you mean, and I don't think I want to know what you mean. I want to talk about playing."
"Well," said the cuckoo, "talk."
"What I call playing," pursued Griselda, "is—I have thought about it now, you see—is being amused. If you will amuse me, cuckoo, I will count that you are playing with me."
"How shall I amuse you?" inquired he.
"Oh, that's for you to find out!" exclaimed Griselda. "You might tell me fairy stories, you know: if you're a fairy you should know lots; or—oh yes, of course that would be far
nicer—if you are a fairy you might take me with you to fairyland."
Again the cuckoo shook his head.
"That," said he, "I cannot do."
"Why not?" said Griselda. "Lots of children have been there."