_Boy._ I do not love pigs.
_Maid._ A pig is not so nice as a fowl; yet we must feed the pigs.
Pigs must eat as well as boys. Poor pigs want food.
_Boy._ Do they cry for food? I hear them cry.
_Maid._ They cry to me for food; in the way they _can_ call, they
call—“Pray feed me; pray feed me! do pray feed me now!”
_Boy._ What do you give them?
_Maid._ This pail full of milk. Will you not like to see them? They
will be so glad!
_Boy._ How they jump! how they run to the gate! why do they run so?
_Maid._ They are glad to see me. They know me; I feed them when they
want food; and you see they love me.
_Boy._ I like to see them so glad. I like to see a pig fed; but I love
a lamb; may I not love a lamb more than I do a pig?
_Maid._ Yes; but you must be good to all.
_Boy._ My aunt has a tame lamb, I love to give him milk; once I saw a
fawn, I do not mean in a park, but I saw a _tame_ fawn; the old doe was
dead, so we fed the fawn at home. We kept him a long time, but he bit
off the buds.
_Maid._ Have you seen a goat?
_Boy._ Yes; he has not wool; he has hair.
_Maid._ Now you may go with me. We will go and see the cows.
_Boy._ Why is one duck by itself?
_Maid._ The duck sits; she has a nest just by. I must feed her: she
will not go far from her nest. The rest can get food. You may give her
some corn; we will get some for her. Come.
_Boy._ I like to feed the poor duck.
[Illustration: Ducks]