We've been robbed. Isn't it great! It's only ten o'clock. I have an idea: why don't we make our way to the house of a rich friend of our father. I know him well; we'll go to see him. He will be glad to see us, —and very much at home in his study. We are rich like kings and like the King of England: we have more than the king, more than king Salomon. We'll tell our father and he'll say, "Yes." We'll tell my father, —or don't you think we should? You may stay here with your mother and me. We won't play for a bit, and we'll get him at once: our father won't delay, —he has things to do. Now we must get down, down into the subway ... it's cold in this dirty old subway —dirty, too, because some kids —dirty like you— —dirty like you— —who are they? they live like bandits, they hang around the subway: I know them all. Well, let's run fast down the stairs to come back soon, to return to our home. ## _II. THE CRANE_ What would happen if we both were lost in the sea? —we could be saved. We would float like two little boats, we would drift, we would be saved. How many hours it takes to get to the bottom of the sea! Will you be afraid? Will you let me touch your hair? —you'll fall asleep and then you won't touch it. Or perhaps your hair will grow long. It can grow very quickly, like wheat growing in the winter: that's what the old women say —you'll get very tall! —to your father and mother. You were very young in that time when it snowed and the sea froze. Now, it has thawed; it's warm and wet, and you swim in the sea; and I love it! It's lovely to run about in the water! —but the wind blows up above the waves. ## _III. THE BUNCH OF GRAPES_ Grapes are being gathered; the grapes are growing on the vine. The grape must be ripe, for it is red and sweet. Do you know that I love grapes, that I love to pick grapes, too? We must be at home early; they will come to pick us— you, your mother, your father, and your friends, too. Let's look up at the sky —and the sea and the birds and the wind. Let's go, let's go. We'll follow the sun all the way. Let's come back to the house. We must walk slowly. Let's go in front, you and me; you can tell me all about it. The grapes are very fresh, so fresh, like yours. I'm sure you're not a grape-picker, for you never pick grapes. —or if you pick grapes, only one bunch: just one bunch: that's not much; but do you know that I like grapes? I'd like to pick you now and then: you are very sweet; it's fun, it's fun to pick a grape; but you're too big. We'll see if it rains and your father will let us pick grapes. ## _IV. THE DOORSTEP_ On Sunday morning, the old women went out of the house, and the girls said, "Now that they're gone, let's take our friend upstairs for a bath. "He'll feel better after it, when he's all clean. "He can leave his clothes with us so that we can dry them." Our room is very high and very noisy with the water running down and the dishes clattering on the shelves. It must be windy, the wind must be blowing from below. The noise of the water, the wind, the dishes, and the steam— isn't that a pity, so many things that make a noise, and so much to do? No, of course not, I am happy. ## _V. CATTLE_ They came from the town: the fathers brought the cattle back home. So much better than when they went out: they'd brought the baby home. They stopped on the staircase, they stayed for a long time. It must be because they love their sons they've been away so long. They're the best friends of their sons, the mothers are. They were on the streets, they went to the country, and now they're at home again, by the cradle of their sons. ## _VI. THE CAVERN_ Down there is a cave full of light: the light shines into the cave, and there we'll sleep. You'll lie down first and I'll lie down on your sweet lips. I can hardly wait for you to reach me, or, in fact, to kiss me, even before I wake. Your lips are so sweet, —and I could drink up the whole sea. Let me sleep now. Wake me only when my eyes are shut. Then I'll open them. The air is so fresh from the cave's freshness; the stones are soft, —I like them. They are not hard; they are not cold: it's as if they were asleep. And it must be cool in the cave. What a lovely cave. ## _VII. THE RIVER_ The river was very large when it fell, and the water is calm, the water is deep. It was very large before it fell, but now it's very shallow. They are fishing in the river, the fishermen of the fishermen. You can see them far away: they live on the land. They don't fish every day; they catch fish when they can, some days they won't get any, some days they don't want to fish; sometimes they don't get any fish at all. But they have a basket in their hands, and they carry it along, and that means that they are fishermen. When you ask, "Where are they going?" they will say: "A little way, a few hundred yards." And if you happen to meet them, they will say: "It's very beautiful." They've seen the water, but they don't love it —they have grown used to it. They love the open air. But the water is cold. Only the water is beautiful— in spring. ## _VIII. THE STOCKINGS_ There, lying on the table, in the sunlight, like a rainbow: my stockings— my white ones, and the pale blue ones, too, and my green ones, too, too, and the purple ones, too, too, too. ## _IX. THE FROGS_ A bunch of tiny frogs, truly a bunch of little frogs, frogs that don't talk. —they can talk if they want to; they must be happy, because they are little, but not very big either. Their heads are very small. I can hardly see them; I will go to catch them. There are so many of them, I'll catch them all. It's fun to do that, and it's very good to catch frogs. You'll see them in a basket, a lot of little frogs, and you can show them to your friends. A bunch of tiny frogs, like your shoes in the rain. ## _X. THE BABY_ We can't say anything yet: he is very young, we don't know him yet. He is not moving, but he's breathing. So new and so little! We won't have a very easy time with him. And he is the first, after all, —the first is the easiest, it must be— and he'll have to learn everything. Maybe he