"Then now all your questions are answered," said the Owl, "and you know
what wants doing, so go and do it. Good-night, or rather good-morning,
for it is long past midnight;" and the old lady began to shake her
feathers for a start.

"Don't go yet, please," said Tommy humbly. "I don't understand it. You
know I'm not a Brownie, am I?"

"Yes, you are," said the Owl, "and a very idle one too. All children
are Brownies."

"But I couldn't do work like a Brownie," said Tommy.

"Why not?" inquired the Owl. "Couldn't you sweep the floor, light the
fire, spread the table, tidy the room, fetch the turf, pick up your own
chips, and sort your grandmother's scraps? You know 'there's lots to
do.'"

"But I don't think I should like it," said Tommy. "I'd much rather have
a Brownie to do it for me."

"And what would you do meanwhile?" asked the Owl. "Be idle, I suppose;
and what do you suppose is the use of a man's having children if they
do nothing to help him? Ah! if they only knew how every one would love
them if they made themselves useful!"

"But is it really and truly so?" asked Tommy, in a dismal voice. "Are
there no Brownies but children?"

"No, there are not," said the Owl. "And pray do you think that the