For one morning she would be happy.
So up she jumped, and without stopping to dress herself, ran out among
the birds and flowers.
She rambled along by the brook, where the sand felt so nice and soft
to her bare feet; she wandered through the woods, where she found
blackberries and wild strawberries, and beautiful ferns; and she
wandered on and on, among the rocks and the trees, and over the grass
and the flowers, until she sat down by a great tree to rest. Then,
without intending anything of the kind, she went fast asleep.
She had not slept more than five minutes, before along came a troop of
fairies, and you may be assured that they were astonished enough to
see a little girl lying fast asleep on the grass, at that time in the
morning.
"Well, I never!" said the largest fairy, who was the Principal One.
"Nor I," said the Next Biggest; "It's little Bridget, and with such a
dirty face! Just look! She has been eating blackberries and
strawberries--and raspberries too, for all I know; for you remember,
brother, that a face dirtied with raspberries is very much like one
dirtied with strawberries."
"Very like, indeed, brother," said the Principal One, "and look at her
feet! She's been walking in the wet sand!"
"And her hands!" cried the Very Least, "what hands! They're all
smeared over with mixtures of things.
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