So little Bridget took the baby on her right arm and a jug in her left hand, and went to the farm to get the milk. On her way she went by the garden-gate of a large house that stood close to the farm, and she told the baby a story:-
“Last summer," she said,” a little girl, bigger than you, for she was just able to walk, came to stay in that house she and her father and mother. All about the road just here, the ducks and the chickens from the farm, and an old turkey, used to walk about all the day long, but the poor little ducks were very unhappy, for they had no pond to swim about in, only that narrow ditch through which the streamlet is flowing. When the little girl's father saw this, he took a spade, and worked and worked very hard, and out of the ditch and the streamlet he made a little pond for the ducks, and they swam about and were very happy all through the summer days.
Every morning I used to stand and watch, and presently the garden-gate would open, and then the father would come out, leading the little girl by the hand, and the mother brought a large plateful of bits of broken bread. The little girl used to throw the bread to the ducks, and they ran after it and ate it up quickly, while she laughed out with glee and the father and the mother laughed too just as merrily. Baby, the father had blue eyes, and a voice that you seemed to hear with your heart.
“The little girl used to feed the chickens too, and the foolish old turkey that was so fond of her it would run after her until she screamed and was afraid. The dear father and the little girl came out every morning, while the black pigs looked through the bars of the farm-yard gate and grunted at them, as if they were glad, and I think the ducks knew that the father had made the pond, for they swam round and round it proudly while he watched them, but when he went away they seemed tired and sad.
“The pond is not there now, baby, for a man came by one day and made it into a ditch again; and the chickens and the ducks from the farm are kept in another place.
“The little girl is far away in her own home, which the father made for her, and the dear father lives in his own home too in the hearts of those he loved."
That was the story that Bridget told the baby.
Indonesian:
Bridget kecil membawa bayi di lengan kanannya dan tempat minum di tangan kiri, dan pergi ke pertanian untuk mendapatkan susu. Saat ia berada di dekat pintu gerbang dekat rumah besar yang dekat pertanian, dia bercerita pada bayi itu cerita ini:
"Musim panas yang lalu," katanya, "seorang gadis kecil, yang lebih besar dari kamu, dia berjalan, datang untuk tinggal di rumah itu, dia,ayah dan ibunya. Semua yang aku ceritakan terjadi di jalan-jalan dekat sini, bebek dan ayam dari peternakan, dan kalkun tua, biasa berjalan sepanjang hari, tapi bebek -bebek kecil yang malang itu sangat tidak bahagia, karena dia tidak memiliki kolam untuk berenang, hanya selokan sempit yang dilalui arus sungai mengalir. Ayah gadis kecil melihat ini, dia mengambil sekop, bekerja dan bekerja sangat keras untuk memperbesar selokan dan aliran arusnya untuk membuat kolam kecil untuk mereka, dan bebek-bebek itu dapat berenang dan sangat senang sepanjang hari-hari musim panas.
"Setiap pagi aku biasa berdiri dan melihat, dan membuka pintu pagar taman, dan kemudian sang ayah akan keluar, memimpin tangan gadis kecil itu, dan sang ibu membawa sepiring besar roti basi. Gadis kecil itu terbiasa melempar roti itu ke bebek, dan mereka mengejar dan memakannya dengan cepat, sementara dia tertawa dengan gembira, dan ayah dan ibunya juga tertawa riang. Oh, ya, Sayangku, ayahnya memiliki mata biru, dan suara yang bisa merasuki hatimu.
"Gadis kecil itu biasa memberi makan ayam-ayam itu juga, dan kalkun tua bodoh yang sangat menyayangi gadis itu dan akan mengejarnya sampai dia menjerit ketakutan. Ayah yang baik itu dan gadis kecil itu keluar setiap pagi, sementara babi hitam itu melihat ke balik jeruji gerbang ladang pertanian dan mendengus pada mereka, seolah mereka senang, dan kurasa bebek tahu bahwa ayah itu telah membuat kolam agar mereka dapat berenang berputar-putar dengan bangga saat dia mengawasi mereka, tapi saat dia pergi mereka tampak lelah dan sedih.
"Kolam itu tidak ada sekarang, sayangku, karena seorang pria datang pada suatu hari dan menjadikannya selokan kecil seperti dahulu dan memindahkan ayam dan itik peternakan itu ke tempat lain.
"Gadis kecil itu sekarang berada jauh dari rumah yang dibuat ayahnya untuknya, dan ayah itu tinggal di rumahnya sendiri serta di dalam hati orang-orang yang dicintainya."
Itulah cerita Bridget kepada bayi itu.
pictured by Ida Waugh
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