"For the queen of all the fairies,
She loves that water bright;
I've seen her drinking there myself
On many a summer night.
"But she's a gracious lady,
And her thou need'st not fear;
Only disturb thou not the stream,
Nor spill the water clear."
"Now all this I will heed, mother,
Will no word disobey,
And wait upon the grandmother
This livelong summer day."
PART II
Away tripped little Mabel,
With the wheaten cake so fine,
With the new-made pat of butter,
And the little flask of wine.
And long before the sun was hot,
And the summer mist had cleared,
Beside the good old grandmother
The willing child appeared.
And all her mother's message
She told with right good-will,
How that the father was away,
And the little child was ill.
And then she swept the hearth up clean,
And then the table spread;
And next she fed the dog and bird;
And then she made the bed.
"And go now," said the grandmother,
"Ten paces down the dell,
And bring in water for the day,--
Thou know'st the lady-well."
The first time that good Mabel went,
Nothing at all saw she,
Except a bird, a sky-blue bird,
That sat upon a tree.
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