"Not with the dogs and cats. When I see a very little lamb asleep I
get down and go softly, softly and catch it. It tries to get away;
then I put my finger in its mouth, and it sucks, and sucks; then it
runs away."
"And what do you like best to eat?"
"Sugar. When uncle buys sugar, aunt gives me a lump. I make doll eat
some, and bite off one small piece and put it in pony's mouth."
"Which would you rather have, Anita--a great many lumps of sugar, or
a beautiful string of beads, or a little girl to play with?"
This question was rather too much for her neglected little brain, which
had fed itself with such simple fare; so I was obliged to put it in
various ways, and at last, when she understood that only one of the
three things could be chosen, she decided in favour of a little girl
to play with.
Then I asked her if she liked to hear stories; this also puzzled her,
and after some cross-questioning I discovered that she had never heard
a story, and did not know what it meant.
"Listen, Anita, and I will tell you a story," I said. "Have you seen
the white mist over the Yi in the morning--a light, white mist that
flies away when the sun gets hot?"
Yes, she often saw the white mist in the morning, she told me.
"Then I will tell you a story about the white mist and a little girl
named Alma."
"Little Alma lived close to the River Yi, but far, far from here,
beyond the trees and beyond the blue hills, for the Yi is a very long
river.
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