Would it become a good singer and
bring a fair price? We waited anxiously for the first notes, and
then watched to see how the voices gained in strength and sweetness.
"It was a pleasant life, and I was very happy among the birds in our
little village. Would you like to hear a song I used to sing at that
time? It is all about the birds and bees and flowers."
"Do sing it for us," cried every one.
Herr Abel had a good voice and they listened with pleasure to his
song. This is the first stanza:
"I have been on the mountain
That the song-birds love best.
They were sitting, were flitting,
They were building their nest.
They were sitting, were flitting,
They were building their nest."
After he had finished, he told about the mines in which some of his
friends worked. It was a hard life, with no bright sunlight to cheer
the men in those deep, dark caverns underground.
"Of course you all know that the deepest mine in the world is in the
Hartz Mountains."
His friends nodded their heads, while Hans whispered to Bertha, "I
should like to go down in that mine just for the sake of saying I
have been as far into the earth as any living person.
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