Every Girl's Book

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Lt.-Colonel Lewis William George Butler. Every Girl's Book

I. HOW THE STORY BEGAN

II. WHAT THE BEE WANTED OF ELSIE’S NOSE

III. THE HUSBANDS AND WIVES OF PLANTS

IV. THE PAPA AND MAMMA PARTS OF THE PLANTS

V. THE FIRST LIFE ON EARTH

VI. WHERE BABY ANIMALS COME FROM

VII. WHERE BABY GIRLS COME FROM

Отрывок из книги

Her name was Elsie and she was asleep in a cozy nook in the woods, which was the beginning of it all.

Many strange things may happen to a little girl who falls asleep in the woods, but there never happened to any other little girl, either asleep or awake, in the woods or at home, a more important thing than that which had its start for Elsie while she lay there under the green boughs beside a bubbling spring of crystal-clear water, the scent of pines and flowers sweetening the still air. A robin redbreast whistled melodiously for “rain, rain, rain,” and the cows in the pasture, who do not like rain as well as they do sunshine, lifted up their voices in protest, calling “oo-oo-ohh! moo-oo-hh! noo-oo-hh!” as if they were trying to say “no, no, no!” and could not speak the English language well. It was a peaceful woodland scene, a scene into which, if you were awake, you would expect that a railroad train would be about the last thing that could possibly enter.

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Of course a girl must eat sufficient food, and must brush her hair and take care of her nails, and all those little things – everybody knows that. But the main things, beside food, the things, too, that some little girls fail in, are air, sunshine, water and smiles. Elsie had all these and therefore she looked clean and fresh and pretty.

She had on a dress too, naturally, but I don’t know just what kind of a one it was, for that is a small matter compared with the body itself. I think it was some kind of a calico, made for vacation frolicing, for Elsie was a city girl staying in the country for the summer, and almost anything was good enough for that.

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