THE LITTLE ELFMAN

I met a little Elfman once,
_{Down where the lilies blow.}
I asked him why he was so small,
_{And why he didn't grow.}

He slightly frowned, and with his eye
_{He looked me through and through--}
"I'm just as big for me," said he,
_{"As you are big for you!"}

John Kendrick Bangs

THE ELF AND THE DORMOUSE

Under a toadstool crept a wee Elf,
Out of the rain to shelter himself.

_{Under a taodstool, sound asleep.
Sat a big Dormouse all in a heap.}

Trembled the wee Elf, frightened, and yet
Fearing to fly away lest he get wet.

_{To the next shelter--maybe a mile!
Sudden the wee Elf smiled a wee smile.}

Tugged till the toadstool toppled in two.
Holding it over him, gaily he flew.

_{Soon he was safe home, dry as could be.
Soon woke the Dormouse--"Good gracious me!}

"Where is my toadstool?" loud he lamented.
And that's how umbrellas first were invented.

Oliver Herford