For by the hand he took them, and
Remarked in accents smooth :
"One thing I ask. Be mine the task
These stricken babes to soothe!
My country home is really charming:
I'll teach them all the joys of farming."
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8b/Grimm_Tales_Made_Gay_-_page_14.png/400px-Grimm_Tales_Made_Gay_-_page_14.png)
One halcyon week they fished his creek,
And watched him do the chores,
In haylofts hid, and, shouting, slid
Down sloping cellar doors:—
Because this life to bliss was equal
The more distressing is the sequel.
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