"And a boy and a girl
By the lake-side did sit,
And because they forgot it,
It hurt not a bit."
Now they began at the very beginning, and sang the whole thing through
again, and made merry over it, and were so happy that they sang it at
least ten times over; and the more they repeated it, the better it
sounded to their ears.
After this Rico played several tunes that he had learned from his
father; but they soon came back to their own song, and began that again.
In the midst of it the girl stopped and said, "It has just come into
my head how you can go down to the other lake, and will not need any
money either."
Rico paused suddenly and gazed at his companion, awaiting what was
coming next.
"Don't you see," she said earnestly, "now you have a fiddle, and you
know a song. You can go and play your song, and sing before the
taverns; then the people will give you something to eat and to drink,
and let you sleep there, for they will see that you are not a beggar.
So you can go on until you reach the lake; and, coming home, you can do
the same thing again."
Rico reflected over these words, but Stineli would give him no time for
dreaming: she wanted to go on with the song.
They made so much noise themselves, that they did not hear the
prayer-bell at all; and did not notice what time it was until reminded
by the growing darkness, and perceived the grandmother looking about
anxiously for them before they reached the houses.
Pages:
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48