If I were only a little puppy, not your baby, mother dear, would
you say "No" to me if I tried to eat from your dish?

Would you drive me off, saying to me, "Get away, you naughty
little puppy?"

Then go, mother, go! I will never come to you when you call me,
and never let you feed me any more.

If I were only a little green parrot, and not your baby, mother
dear, would you keep me chained lest I should fly away?

Would you shake your finger at me and say, "What an ungrateful
wretch of a bird! It is gnawing at its chain day and night?"

Then, go, mother, go! I will run away into the woods; I will
never let you take me in your arms again.




VOCATION


When the gong sounds ten in the morning and I walk to school by
our lane,

Every day I meet the hawker crying, "Bangles, crystal bangles!"