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Over in the meadow, In the sand, in the sun, Lived an old mother-toad And her little toadie one, "Wink!" said the mother; "I wink," said the one: So she winked and she blinked, In the sand, in the sun. Over in the meadow, Where the stream runs blue; Lived an old mother-fish And her little fishes two. "Swim!" said the mother; "We swim," said the two: So they swam and they leaped, Where the stream runs blue. Over in the meadow, In a hole in a tree, Lived a mother-bluebird And her little bluebirds three. "Sing!" said the mother; "We sing," said the three: So they sang and were glad, In the hole in the tree. Over in the meadow, In the reeds on the shore; Lived a mother-muskrat And her little muskrats four. "Dive!" said the mother; "We dive," said the four: So they dived and they burrowed, In the reeds on the shore. Over in the meadow, In a snug beehive, Lived a mother-honeybee And her little honeys five. "Buzz!" said the mother; "We buzz," said the five: So they buzzed and they hummed, In the snug beehive. Over in the meadow In a nest built of sticks, Lived a black mother crow And her little crows six. "Caw!" said the mother; "We caw," said the six: So they cawed and they called, In their nest built of sticks. Over in the meadow, Where the grass is so even, Lived a gay mother-cricket And her little crickets seven. "Chirp!" said the mother; "We chirp," said the seven: So they chirped cheery notes In the grass soft and even. Over in the meadow By the old mossy gate, Lived a brown mother-lizard And her little lizards eight. "Bask!" said the mother; "We bask," said the eight: So they basked in the sun, On the old mossy gate, Over in the meadow, Where the clear pools shine, Lived a green mother-frog And her little froggies nine. "Croak!" said the mother; "We croak!" said the nine: So they croaked and they plashed, Where the clear pools shine. Over in the meadow, In a sly little den, Lived a gray mother-spider And her little spiders ten. "Spin!" said the mother; "We spin," said the ten: So they spun lace webs, In their sly little den. Over in the meadow, In the soft summer even, Lived a mother firefly And her little flies eleven. "Glow," said the mother; "We glow," said the eleven— So they glowed like stars In the soft summer even. Over in the meadow, Where the men dig and delve Lived a wise mother ant, And her little ants twelve. "Toil," said the mother; "We toil," said the twelve— So they toiled and were wise Where the men dig and delve. |