28 TRADING BABIES

One fine day Sophie took her baby brother out for a walk.
She walked in the meadow in the sand, in the sun, till she met an old mother toad and her little toadie.
She said to the toad,
“What will you give,
What will you give,

To trade for my baby dear?
There is nothing so sweet,
There is nothing so fair,
Anywhere, far or near.”


“Can your baby wink and blink?”
“My baby can not wink and blink.”
“Then he is not so clever as my baby toad. So I do not wish to trade with you.”
Sophie walked in the meadow, where the stream runs blue. Here lived an old mother fish and her two little fishes.
Sophie said to the fish,


“What will you give,
What will you give,

To trade for my baby dear?
There is nothing so sweet,
There is nothing so fair,
Anywhere, far or near.”
“Can your baby swim and leap?”
“My baby can not swim and leap.”
“Then he is not so clever as my baby fishes, for they can swim and leap. So I do not wish to trade with you.”
And the fish swam away.
Then Sophie came to a big tree.
Here lived a mother bluebird and her little bluebirds three.
She said to the mother bluebird,

“What will you give,
What will you give,
To trade for my baby dear?
There is nothing so sweet,
There is nothing so fair,
Anywhere, far or near.”
“Can your baby sing?”
“No, my baby can not sing.”
“Then he is not so clever as my baby birds, for they can sing. So I do not wish to trade with you.”
And the bluebird flew away.
Sophie soon came to the reeds on the shore.
In the reeds on the shore lived a mother muskrat and her four little muskrats.
Sophie said to the mother muskrat,


“What will you give,
What will you give,
To trade for my baby dear?
There is nothing so sweet,
There is nothing so fair,
Anywhere, far or near.”

“Can your baby dive and burrow?”
“My baby can not dive and burrow.”
“Then he is not so clever as my baby rats, for they can dive and burrow. So I do not wish to trade with you.”
And the muskrat ran away.
Sophie then saw a snug beehive.
Here lived a mother honeybee and her five little honeys.
She said to the mother honeybee,
“What will you give,
What will you give,
To trade for my baby dear?
There is nothing so sweet,

There is nothing so fair,
Anywhere, far or near.”
The mother honeybee asked,
“Can your baby buzz and hum?”
“My baby can not buzz and hum.”
“Then he is not so clever as my babies, for they can buzz and hum. So I do not wish to trade with you.”
The baby brother began to cry, and Sophie took him home.

Sophie told her mother all about her walk in the meadow.
Then the mother took the baby and said,
“We love him best,
We love him best,
This dear baby brother fair.
There’s nothing so bright
As his pretty blue eyes,
Or soft as his golden hair.”