And as they passed me by, methought I heard him say:
“What ails thee, dear one? What? Why pull so at my hand?
Are not thy skates yet firm? dost feel thou canst not stand?
Ere long upon thy skates thou wilt be quite at home,
And fly across the ground like any fairy gnome.
“Art tired, sweet, or hot? See here a cosy nook,
Where we can sit and rest, and nobody can look;
Or would’st thou skate alone, then start in all thy pride?
One whistle and thou know’st that I am at thy side.
“Thou need’st not fear a fall when I am by thy side,