Don’t cry, little brother;
I know that you fell,
But the place isn’t bleeding—
It soon will be well.
Dry your eyes, little brother;
You’re growing so tall
And it’s only a baby
Who cries at a fall.
But hark, little brother,
I hear the birds sing!
—We’ll play I’m a Duchess,
And you are a King!
So come, little brother,
I’ll make you a crown
Of the pretty white daisies
That grow on the down.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: A DUTCH VILLAGE.]
There is a little Dutch village called Volendam. Most of the men are
fishermen, and wear tight blouses of crimson or blue, and large, baggy
trousers coming down to their ankles.
The little boys, even the tiniest ones, are dressed just like their
fathers and their big brothers. Sometimes they are to be seen walking
up and down the narrow streets of the village with their hands in their
pockets, trying to look like the men.
The women and girls wear white lace caps and a great many woolen
skirts—sometimes as many as eight or ten; and the more they wear the more
they are admired by their neighbors. Even the tiny girls of two or three
years old are dressed just like their mothers.
All the people wear wooden shoes, and as most of the streets are paved
with tiles the people make a great noise as they clatter up and down.
These wooden shoes look very big and clumsy, but the children manage to
run about in them just as easily as you do in yours.
[Illustration]
Nearly every woman and girl in Volendam wears a necklace of coral beads.
And nearly every man and boy wears two big silver buttons; the richer a
man is, the larger are his silver buttons.
The Dutch people keep their houses and streets very clean. They are
always scrubbing their houses inside or out, and the little girls have to
help in this as well as their big sisters.