Don't Ask Me How I Am! I

Far Away, Where The Swallows Take Refuge In Winter, Lived A King Who Had Eleven Sons And One Daughter, Elise. The Eleven Brothers--they Were All Princes--used To Go To School With Stars On Their Breasts And Swords At Their Sides. They Wrote Upon Golden Slates With Diamond Pencils, And Could Read Just As Well Without A Book As With One, So There Was No Mistake About Their Being Princes. Their Sister Elise Sat Upon A Little Footstool Of Looking-glass, And She Has A Picture-book Which Had Cost The Half Of A Kingdom. Oh, These Children Were Very Happy; But It Was Not To Last Thus Forever.

Then He Rustled His Feathers, Curved His Slender Neck, And Cried Joyfully, From The Depths Of His Heart, 'i Never Dreamed Of Such Happiness As This, While I Was An Ugly Duckling.

The Wiser A Man Becomes, The More He Will Read, And Those Who Are Wisest Read Most.

But A Mermaid Has No Tears, And Therefore She Suffers So Much More.

Some Are Created For Beauty, And Some For Use; And There Are Some Which One Can Do Without Altogether.