Domingo and his sister Marikena live in a warm, sunny land. It is the
land of Brazil, where there are fruits and flowers all the year, and it
is always summer.
Domingo and Marikena love the sunshine, and the birds and flowers.
They like to play out of doors in the early morning and at night, but
at noon it is too hot, and every one takes a nap.
When they go to the woods they do not see crows and blue jays and
woodpeckers. Instead, there are gorgeous parrots and beautiful
humming-birds that are almost as large as robins.
Perhaps they see monkeys in the palm trees; and, instead of acorns,
they find cocoanuts.
In their schoolroom they sing all their lessons. Is not that a merry
way? But it would seem strange to you because you could not understand
one word they say. You see, they do not speak English, and they could
not talk with you.
Every morning the two children are up very early and out on the balcony
watching for something. Soon they call out, “_leite, leite_,” which
means, “milk, milk.”
And what do you suppose they see? Not a wagon filled with glass jars or
tin cans. Oh, no! It is only two or three cows being driven down the
street by a woman.
The woman stops the cows in front of Domingo’s house, and milks one of
them while the children watch her. How sweet and fresh this milk is! I
wish you could have some every morning, too!