But that they could not do; so they stood still and waited, only
sprouting ever so little in the midday sun.

The mallard was right; it was rain they wanted. And at last it
came--cold in the beginning, but gradually warmer; and when it was
over the sun came out in earnest. And now you would scarcely have
known it again; it shone warmly, right from the early morning till
the late evening, so that the nights were mild and moist.

Then an immense activity set in; everything was behindhand, and had
to make up for lost time. The petals burst from the full buds with
a little crack, and all the big and little shoots made a sudden
rush. They darted out stalks, now to the one side, now to the
other, as quickly as though they lay kicking with green legs. The
meadows were spangled with flowers and weeds, and the heather
slopes towards the sea began to light up.

Only the yellow sand along the shore remained as it was; it has no
flowers to deck itself with, and lyme-grass is all its finery.
Therefore it piles itself up into great mounds, seen far and wide
along the shore, on which the long soft stems sway like a green
banner.

There the sand-pipers ran about so fast that their legs looked like
a piece of a tooth comb. The sea-gulls walked on the beach, where
the waves could sweep over their legs. They held themselves
sedately, their heads depressed and their crops protruded, like old
ladies in muddy weather.

The sea-pie stood with his heels together, in his tight trousers,