THE FAIRY BABIES
Books by
LAURA ROUNTREE SMITH
Bunny and Bear Book, The
Bunny Boy and Grizzly Bear
Bunny Bright-Eyes
Bunny Cotton-Tail Junior
Candy-Shop Cotton-Tails, The
Children’s Favorite Stories
Circus Book, The
Circus Cotton-Tails, The
Cotton-Tail First Reader, The
Cotton-Tail Primer, The
Cotton-Tails in Toyland, The
Drills and Plays for Patriotic Days
Fairy Babies, The
Games and Plays
Hawk-Eye and Hiawatha
Language Lessons from Every Land
Little Bear
Little Eskimo
Merry Little Cotton-Tails, The
Mother Goose Stories
Primary Song Book
Roly-Poly Book, The
Runaway Bunny, The
Seventeen Little Bears
Snubby Nose and Tippy Toes
Tale of Bunny Cotton-Tail, The
Three Little Cotton-Tails
Published by
A. FLANAGAN COMPANY
CHICAGO
THE FAIRY BABIES
By
Laura Rountree Smith
Illustrated by
Dorothy Dulin
1924
A. FLANAGAN COMPANY
Chicago
_COPYRIGHT, 1924, BY A. FLANAGAN COMPANY_
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
CONTENTS
Page
Chapter I
The Magic Pitcher 7
Chapter II
The Fortune Teller 16
Chapter III
Thanksgiving Dinner 29
Chapter IV
The Little Dwarf’s Christmas 39
Chapter V
A Wonderful Dream 50
Chapter VI
The Magic Spoon 64
Chapter VII
The Magic Kites 77
Chapter VIII
The Magic Rocking-Chair 91
Chapter IX
May-Day 103
Chapter X
Vacation Time 114
[Illustration: “_And they put the key in the lock_” (PAGE 89)]
THE FAIRY BABIES
CHAPTER I
THE MAGIC PITCHER
Said the Fairy Ink-Bottle Babies, “What do you think?
We all came out of a bottle of ink!
We are very little to mind each rule,
But still we are going to start to school;
And if we remember, it starts in September!
This old-fashioned thing called school!”
Said the Fairy Ink-Bottle Babies, “What fun!
See, school has already begun!”
The Fairy Ink-Bottle Babies sat in a row. They looked as though they
would roll off the top of the desks at any minute.
“You are almost as bad about rolling over as the Roly-Poly children,”
said the teacher.
“Oh! oh! oh!” cried one of the Ink-Bottle Babies. “I am rolling over!”
Sure enough, thump! bump! thump! she went. She fell off the desk to the
floor, leaving the marks of her little black feet behind her.
“Oh! oh! oh!” cried all the Ink-Bottle Babies together, “somebody pick
her up! Somebody pick her up!”
The teacher was so scared that she went out of the room.
Pretty soon all the children went home. What do you suppose happened next?
The Fairy Ink-Bottle Mamma came down from the window sill and picked up
her baby!
[Illustration: “_Picked up her baby_”]
She said, “You are too little to go to school; you had better come with
me.”
Then the other Ink-Bottle Babies set up a cry, “May we come, too, Ma? May
we come, too?”
The Ink-Bottle Mamma said, “Creep down quietly from the desks and you may
all come.”
Then all the Ink-Bottle Babies crept down and followed their Mamma out of
the door. They walked a little way until they came to their home in the
woods.
“I am so sleepy,” said the first Ink-Bottle Baby.
“I am so sleepy,” said the second Ink-Bottle Baby.
Then all but one of the twenty-five Ink-Bottle Babies said, “I am so
sleepy!”
One Ink-Bottle Baby said, “I am not sleepy at all. I rolled off the desk
and I feel wide-awake!”
This little Baby’s name was Molly. The Ink-Bottle Mamma put all of her
babies to bed except Molly, and Molly said,
“I am wide-awake as if it were day,
I’ll sit on the parlor rug and play.”
The Ink-Bottle Mamma was so sleepy herself that she did not know what to
do. Pretty soon she said, “Listen, Molly, and I will tell you a fairy
tale.”
Then Molly cried, “I must wake Polly up to hear the fairy tale.” Polly
was Molly’s twin sister.
Will you believe it? Before the Ink-Bottle Mamma could say “No!” Molly
had gone upstairs and had waked all the Babies up before she found Polly!
The Ink-Bottle Babies looked so much alike it was hard to tell them apart!
All the Ink-Bottle Babies woke up and cried, “We want to hear the fairy
tale, Ma! Please tell us all a fairy tale!”
Then the Ink-Bottle Mamma said, “Get back into bed, every one of you, and
I will tell you a story.”
Then the Babies all crept back into bed and their Mamma told them the
story of the Magic Pitcher.
Here is the story she told:
Once there was a little dwarf who lived alone in the woods. He lived in
a little blue house with a red chimney. He was very proud of his red
chimney. He painted the chimney every spring.
The little dwarf was very good-natured except when he started to cook.
He could not cook a decent meal to save his life. He went about all day
humming a little song:
“I can live without clothing and live without books,
But how is a fellow to live without cooks?”
One day as he passed by a little brook he sang this song, and the brook
said,
“If you take the pebbles from out this brook,
I will try to help you find a cook!”
Then the little dwarf stooped down and began to pick the pebbles out of
the brook.
At last, only one large stone remained. He pulled and tugged with all his
might, and at last the brook ran merrily along, for he got the big stone
up on the bank.
The brook sang,
“Look again, now I am free,
The magic pitcher you will see!”
The little dwarf looked down into the brook, and sure enough, there was a
magic pitcher all blue and gold. The water ran deeper now, in the little
brook, so the little dwarf had to dive down after the pitcher.
He came out choking and sputtering, but he had the magic pitcher in his
hand. Then he ran homeward singing and whistling all the way. He sang:
“I can live without clothing and live without books,
But how is a fellow to live without cooks?”
[Illustration: “_He poured once more_”]
He got some bread and cheese out of a cupboard and drew the pitcher full
of water, and sat down to his lonely meal.
He started to pour out a glass of water, and as he poured it from the
magic pitcher, it turned into fine, rich milk. He poured once more, and
this time it was honey that came out of the magic pitcher.
He tried again and out came tea! So it went on. Every time he poured from
the magic pitcher, out came something delicious to drink.
The little dwarf grew so happy and healthy that when he went into the
woods to chop down trees he could chop six trees while the other little
dwarfs could only chop down one.
He never sang any more about wanting a cook, and he seemed so happy that
the other little dwarfs were jealous of him, and they said, “We will find
out his secret.”
So, one evening when it was late, they all crept to the house where the
little dwarf lived, and they all peeped in at the window.
There sat the little dwarf by the table pouring from his magic pitcher.
He poured out coffee, and cream, and molasses!
My! the other little dwarfs turned green with envy. They said, “We will
have that pitcher.”
They opened the door, ran into the house, seized the pitcher, and ran
away, away, away, into the deep woods.
The little dwarf was so sad, he went to the brook again and said,
“The dwarfs have carried my pitcher away,
Alas! alas! alackaday!”
“I will fix them,” said the little brook. “You were so good to take all
my stones away, you shall soon have the pitcher back again; never fear.”
Then the little dwarf went back home singing a merry song.
Now the dwarfs had carried the pitcher away with them, and when they had
run for a long time, they saw a little brook, winding in and out among
the trees, and they said, “We will fill the pitcher with water.”
So the first little dwarf ran and filled the pitcher with water. Then he
ran back to his companions who sat in a circle, and began to fill their
glasses. They all set up a shout, for out of the pitcher came only thick
mud!
“You have played a trick on us,” they cried.
Then the second little dwarf went and filled the pitcher.
“It is pure water,” he said, but when he went to pour from the pitcher,
lo! and behold! out came vinegar!
Then the third little dwarf said, “Let me try,” and the next said, “Let
me try,” but each time there came out of the pitcher something quite
unfit to drink.
Then the dwarfs said, “This pitcher is of no account after all; we will
throw it into the brook.”
They said, “If the little dwarf finds it again, he is welcome to drink
all the mud and vinegar he wants.”
Then they threw the pitcher back into the brook, and the brook carried it
safely back to the place in the woods where the little dwarf passed every
day. Pretty soon the little dwarf came along. He sang,
“Ha! ha! Ho! ho! What do I see?
A beautiful pitcher floats in to me!”
He filled the pitcher with water and soon poured out a fine drink of
buttermilk.
He ran home as fast as his legs could carry him, and he hid his pitcher
safely away.
He worked at home very busily all that day. He made shades for his
window, so no one could look in. He put a lock on his door, and he made
a little key to fit the lock.
“Now, no one can see what I pour from my pitcher,” he said, “and no one
can come in, unless I invite him.”
He went to bed and slept well. Late that night a most remarkable thing
happened. Five and twenty little men came to his door and they rapped and
they tapped, and he would not let them in!
Then they laid down five and twenty little parcels on his doorstep and
they crept away. Next morning the little dwarf went to his door and saw
the five and twenty little parcels. They were all from the grocery store.
On each parcel was written, “Compliments from the little dwarfs, with
thanks for the borrowed pitcher.”
On one package was written, “Don’t drink too much mud and vinegar!”
The little dwarf went to the brook and asked what all this meant. When
the brook told him he laughed until he cried.
The little dwarf may still live in the woods, for all I know, and he may
still be drinking out of his magic pitcher.
As soon as the Ink-Bottle Mamma stopped talking all her Babies went to
sleep.