Yvette sat down just near a great heap of stones, which her father had to break into small pieces in order to fill in the ruts. When she was snugly settled, she began to fumble in her pocket; and there she found all kinds of wonderful things: two cherry-stones, a piece of string, a small carrot, a shoe button, a little bit of blue braid, and some crumbs of bread. Now, these were all very nice in their way, but somehow they did not seem at all nice just then. She put them all very carefully back, one by one, in her pocket.
Then there was silence. Yvette was not happy. The little face puckered itself up, the little nose was all screwed up, and the mouth was just opening-tears were surely on the way! Just at that moment, by good luck, the Children"s Fairy was passing by.
Now, you perhaps do not know about this fairy, for no one ever sees her; but it is the very one that makes children smile in their dreams, and gives them all kinds of pretty thoughts. Well, this good fairy saw that Yvette was just going to cry. She stretched her golden wandout over the heap of stones, and then flew away again, laughing, for she was just as light and as gay as a ray of sunshine.
Now, as soon as the fairy had gone, it seemed to the road-mender"s little daughter that one of the big stones near her had a face, and that it was dressed just like a little baby. Oh, it was really just like a little baby! Yvette stretched out her hand, took the stone up, and at once began to feel for it all the love that a mother feels for her child.
"Ah! " she said to it, cuddling it up in her arms, "do you want to be my little girl? You don"t speak-Oh! that is because you are too young-but I see you would like to speak. Very well, then; I will be your mother, and I shall l0ve you and never whip you. You must be good, though, and then I shall never scold you. Oh! but, if you are not good-you know I have a stick. Now come, I"m going to dress you better; you look dreadful in that frock. " Hereupon, Yvette rolled her child up in her pinafore, so that there was nothing to be seen of the stone but what was supposed to be the baby"s head.
"Oh, how pretty she is, dear little thing! There now, she shall have something to eat. Ah! you are crying; but you must not cry, my pretty one-there, there. " And the hard stone was rocked gently in the soft little arms of itsfond mother.
"Bye-bye, baby-bye-bye-bye, " Yvette sang with all her might, tapping her little daughter"s back, but plainly all to no purpose, for the stone would not go to sleep. " Ah! naughty girl; you won"t go to sleep; Oh, no! I won"t tell you any more stories. I have told you "Tom Thumb," and that"s quite enough for to-night. Go to sleep-quick-quick, I say. Oh, dear, dear! Naughty child! What! You are crying again! If you only knew how ugly you are when you cry! There! now I"m going to slap you-take that, and that, and that, to make you quiet. Oh, dear! how dreadful it is to have such a child! I believe I"ll change you for a boy.
" Now, just say you are sorry for being so naughty- What? You won"t? I"ll give you another chance. Now-one, two, three. Oh, very well! I know what I shall do. I shall just go and take you back. I shall say, "If you please, I"ve a dreadful little girl, and I want to change her for a nice little boy." And then they"ll say, "Yes, ma"am; will you have him with light hair or dark?" "0h!" I shall say, "I don"t mind so long as he is good." "He"ll be very dear though, ma"am," they"ll say; "good little boys are very rare, and they cost a great deal." "How much?" I shall ask. "Why, one penny, ma"am." And then I shall think about it. Now then, are you going to be good, and say you are sorry? No? Oh, very well-it"s too late now-I"ve changed you. I have no littlegirl now, but a very pretty little boy named Zizi (zee-zec)."The stone at once underwent a complete change. Just now, when it was a little girl, it had been very quiet and gentle, and had kept quite still on Yvette"s lap. Now that it was a boy, there was no more peace; it would jump about, and it would try to get away, for boys are always so restless.
"Zizi, will you be still, and will you stay on my lap instead of tumbling about in the road? There, let me lift you up! Oh, dear! How heavy boys are! There now, don"t you stir, but just eat your bread and milk. It will make you grow, and then, when you are big, you"ll have beautiful grey whiskers, like father. You shall have a pretty cap, too, and perhaps you will be a policeman. It"s very nice to be a policeman, you know, because policemen are never put in prison-they take other people there if they make a noise in the street. O Zizi! do keep still. If you don"t, I"ll call the wolf-you know, the big wolf that runs off with little children, and takes them into the woods to eat them up. Wolf, wolf, where are you? "Just at that moment, a dog came in sight-a large, well-fed, happy-looking dog, bold, too, and full of fun. He belonged to a carrier who was always moving about from place to place; so the dog, no matter where he was, could always make himself quite at home.
