X. The Baby-Tooth39

When I was a little girl and my little sister was a very little girl, we had an apple-tree behind our house. We liked to pick apples and eat them.

One day my little sister picked a very big green apple. When she began to eat it, one of her little teeth got loose40. My little sister began to cry.

"Don't cry," said my mother. "It's a baby-tooth. All your little baby-teeth will get loose and new teeth will grow."

My little sister liked to show her tooth to everybody. She showed it to the postman and to her friend the shoe-mender.

"Come," said my mother. "I'll pull it out41."

"No, no! Don't pull it out!" said my naughty little sister. "I like my tooth."

Then the shoe-mender said, "You must show it to the doctor. The doctor likes to see nice baby-teeth."

"I want to go to the doctor," said my naughty little sister to my mother. "I want to show him my baby-tooth. He likes to see nice baby-teeth."

"All right!42" said my mother.

So my little sister went to the doctor. She showed her tooth to the people who were there. Everybody liked her little tooth.

"You have a very nice tooth," said the doctor. "I collect nice teeth. Can you give me your tooth? I want to show it to the people who come to me."

And do you know what my little sister did? She pulled out her tooth and gave it to the doctor.

"Here it is," she said. "You may take it. You can show it to the people who come to you."

She was a funny little girl, wasn't she?

Once when my little sister was four, our mother took us to the theatre.

The theatre was very beautiful. My sister and I liked it very much.

When we were in the theatre, my little sister did not talk. She looked at the curtain and at the beautiful walls and the big lamps over our heads.

She looked at the boys and girls and at their mothers and fathers. But when the curtain went up43 and a little funny man came out, she looked only at this funny man. His name was Humpty-Dumpty44. He said:

"How do you do, little boys and girls?"

"How do you do?" we all said.

But my little sister cried:

"Hullo, Humpty-Dumpty!"

Everybody laughed, and Humpty-Dumpty said:

"Hullo, little girl!"

Then beautiful dolls came out and danced. They had very beautiful dresses on, all white and blue.

Humpty-Dumpty began to dance, too, but he fell on the floor.

And then Humpty-Dumpty said:

"Who wants to dance with me?"

You know that my little sister was very naughty, don't you?45

Do you know what she did?

She ran to Humpty-Dumpty and said:

"I want to dance with you."

Everybody laughed. Humpty-Dumpty laughed, too. The other children ran to him, too, and they all began to dance.

"Now, children," he said, "go to you seats."

All the children went to their seats, but my little sister did not go to her seat.

Do you know why she did not go to her seat?

She ran away. Yes, she ran away. She wanted to see the dolls behind the curtain. She found the dolls. The beautiful dolls talked to my sister, and they gave her an ice.

Humpty-Dumpty found my little sister and took her to our mother. Everybody laughed, but my mother was very angry.

Do you know what my naughty little sister did then?

She jumped up on her seat and cried:

"I saw them. I saw the dolls. They are not dolls. They eat ices. They are little girls!"

My little sister was a very naughty girl, wasn't she?

When I was a little girl, my mother said to my little sister:

"One of my friends will come to see us today, and her little daughter will come with her. The little girl's name is Winnie. She is a very good girl. You must be a good girl, too. You will take your toys and play with her in the garden."

My little sister put on her new blue dress and blue socks and white shoes. She took all her toys into the garden. She took her big doll out of the box. She wanted to play with Winnie and to show all her toys.

"I want to play with Winnie. I want to play with Winnie. When will she come?" said Nancy. At last Winnie and her mother came. Nancy ran to the door and opened it. Winnie had a blue dress and blue socks on. My little sister did not say How do you do? like a good girl, but she said:

"Blue socks, too."

Winnie's mother laughed. But Winnie did not laugh, she said:

"How do you do?"

She was a very good girl, wasn't she?

My mother and Winnie's mother sat down on a bench in the garden and talked, and Winnie and my little sister went to play. My little sister showed her all the toys and the big doll, too.

"Do you like my doll?" asked my little sister. But Winnie did not answer. She did not say a word.

"Can you talk?" asked my little sister.

"Yes, I can," answered Winnie.

"Do you want to play with my toys?" asked my sister.

"No, thank you," said Winnie.

"Do you want to run?" asked my sister.

"No, thank you. It is too hot," said Winnie.

"Do you want to play hide-and-seek?" asked my sister.

"No, thank you. I don't like hide-and-seek," said Winnie.

"Do you want to pick apples?" asked my little sister.

"No, I don't like to pick apples," said Winnie.

"What do you want to do?" asked my little sister.

"I want to read a book," said Winnie.

Winnie was six. She went to school. So she could read. The children went into the house.

Winnie-took one of my books and began to read it. But my little sister did not go to school. She could not read. So she ran into the garden, picked apples and flowers, and when tea-time came, her hands were dirty and her face was dirty, and her dress was dirty, too.

My mother put a big cake on the table. She said to Winnie:

"Have some cake, Winnie."

"Thank you," said Winnie, and she took a little piece of cake.

But my naughty little sister took a very big piece of cake. She liked cake very much.

After tea Winnie and her mother went home. Winnie said:

"Thank you. Good-bye."

When they went away, my naughty little sister said to my mother:

"I don't want to be a good girl."

"Why don't you want to be a good girl?" asked my mother.

"I like cake very much."

She was a funny little girl, wasn't she?