Once upon a time, on a bright day, I had the pleasure of watching a race between Gina the Goose and Wally the Worm. Lately, Gina had been a little down, looking longingly up at us birds high in the sky and saying how she would love to fly.
“Gina dear,” I said, “you have no belending wings, so how can you expect to fly?”
“Oh, don’t be cruel,” she cried, “Oh, Wally, dear Wally, why do you hang there sulking when you might make poor Gina happy?”
Now you know Wally is always kind and good natured, but he has been down in the grass so long now that he does get a little grumpy sometimes.
“I wish I could help Gina,” he said, “but how can I do it?”
“Long ago, my grandmamma told me that when the sun strikes the dew on the grass sward, a wonderful powder is raised into the air, and sticking the her white down it transforms her into a lovely bird so that she can fly. So if you were to turn yourself into that powder and stick in her feathers, she would be sure to fly.”
“It will not take long,” said Wally, stretching himself up; “happy thought,” said he, “let us start right away.”
“Gina, my child,” he cried out, “flap your nose once or twice and stretch out your neck, to make you supple.”
Gina did this at once, and Wally, twisting himself round and round, turned himself into a fine powder and stuck in her down.
Then she stretched up her neck and flapped out her wings again and again, and we soon saw her fly.
“Oh, oh! Don’t I do fly!” she cried, and flew a few paces up into the air.
Then, oh dear! There came a cloud and all the dew fell upon Gina.
In a moment she was much heavier and fell down.
“Quick, quick, Wally,” she cried, “and change back again.”
So, of course, Wally changed himself immediately into a nice fat good-natured worm again, but nothing further flew up, and flopping his wings to and fro he could not get off Gina at all.
“Oh dear me me,” she cried, “I knew it’d be so!” and went into a fit of crying.
We unfortunate onlookers had to laugh.
“Oh, go on growing,” shouted Troaty the Frog; “you will not miss any time if you pay it back to your mother earth, all she has lent you.”
So on went poor Wally growing and growing and growing.
At last when he got to the far end of the field we were relieved to think he was off his friend.
But then came a fresh alarm. Instead of freeing Gina, he now gently took her up and flew away with her high above the earth, till at last she looked like a little white mark, which went on getting smaller and smaller to our eyes.
And then, of course, Wally went away off too.
However, Troaty the Frog was right, and when Wally had paid back all he had borrowed from mother earth, licked his lips and sank down. In a moment or two we saw Gina drop down to the ground, only retaining just what Wally had swallowed.
Then Wally carefully split his own coat and emptied the worms, ants and grubs he had eaten spread all over Gina’s coat, and at last they were both like their former selves again.
“Gina, dear Gina,” said Wally as soon as he could recover breath, “how are you now?”
“I am quite well now, dear Wally,” said she, “only are you sore?”
“Oh no not at all,” said Wally. “But then you must cut me off a nice juicy little bit.”
So off flew a bit of Gina about the size of a sixpence, and after standing still a few moments for Wally to pick out his food, while he again fell off his coat and gave it to mother earth, she tied her left foot to her wing and flew away.
Next time you look up, children, and see a bird waving about on the sky, do see if it is not Gina after all.