What The Rainbow Thinks Of The World
:
Daddy's Bedtime Bird Stories
"The fairies were giving a luncheon party for the birds, and they wanted
to have a great, big surprise," said daddy. "The birds which were
invited were the robins, the orioles, the bluejays, the humming-birds.
"'Now, birdies,' said the fairy queen, 'I'm going to ask the king of
the clouds to this luncheon, so we'll have plenty of delicious
rain-water to drink.'
"Of course, the fairy queen ha
told the king of the clouds that she
didn't want him to send his army of raindrops to the earth--for an army
would make it pour too hard and they couldn't have any fun at the
luncheon. She just wanted some of the big, big drops to come down and
fill the little stones she had at the places for the birds so that they
could have delicious water at her party--but she didn't want to make it
so wet they'd get their beautiful feathers drenched--just a nice little
shower was what she wanted.
"The king of the clouds had promised, and he had told the raindrops just
what to do and just how many could go down on the earth.
"The birds enjoyed the delicious luncheon the fairies gave them, and, of
course, they loved their fresh drinks of water.
"'Now for our surprise,' shouted the fairies, after the luncheon was
over. 'We're to have two famous guests to-day. This is to be a really
real day! And we're to have them both at the same time--and we're to
have another treat, too. Guess, birds, what are we going to have? Guess,
guess, guess!' For the fairies were so excited they kept repeating
themselves over and over again.
"But before the birds had time to do more than twitter and chirp among
themselves as to what the great surprise was going to be, who should
appear, right along with the raindrops, but Mr. Sun, and then over a
hill came the most beautiful rainbow with all the glorious colors the
fairies admire so much.
"And then you should have heard the singing of the birds. Every one of
them had a glorious voice, and the chorus was the loveliest the fairies
had ever heard. As for Mr. Sun, he beamed and shone with might and main.
"'Well, hello, raindrops,' he said. 'I'm mighty glad to see you. It's
not often we meet, but the fairy queen can make all of us friendly--even
the sun and the rain.'
"And the raindrops came on down to the earth very gently, but without
stopping, while back of it all the rainbow leaned down over the
hill and whispered:
"'Isn't this a wonderful world? There are fairies, birds, the sun, fresh
water to drink. I'm so glad I am here.'"