Over in the meadow, Where the stream runs blue, Lived an old mother fish And her little fishes two. "Swim!" said the mother; "We swim," said the two: So they swam and they leaped Where the stream runs blue. Over in the meadow, In a hole in a tree, Lived a mother bluebird And her little birdies three. "Sing!" said the mother; "We sing," said the three: So they sang and were glad In the hole in the tree. Over in the meadow, In the reeds on the shore, Lived a mother muskrat And her little ratties four. "Dive!" said the mother; "We dive," said the four: So they dived and they burrowed In the reeds on the shore. Over in the meadow, In a snug beehive, Lived a mother honeybee And her little honeys five. "Buzz!" said the mother; "We buzz," said the five: So they buzzed and they hummed In the snug beehive. Over in the meadow, In a nest built of sticks, Lived a black mother crow And her little crows six. "Caw!" said the mother; "We caw," said the six: So they cawed and they cawed In their nest built of sticks. Over in the meadow, Where the grass is so even, Lived a gray mother cricket And her little crickets seven. "Chirp!" said the mother; "We chirp," said the seven: So they chirped cheery notes In the grass soft and even. Over in the meadow, By the old mossy gate, Lived a brown mother lizard And her little lizards eight. "Bask!" said the mother; "We bask!" said the eight: So they basked in the sun By the old mossy gate. Over in the meadow, Where the clear pools shine, Lived a green mother frog And her little froggies nine. "Croak!" said the mother; "We croak," said the nine: So they croaked and they splashed Where the clear pools shine. Over in the meadow, In a sly little den, Lived a gray mother spider And her little spiders ten. "Spin!" said the mother; "We spin," said the ten: So they spun lace webs In their sly little den. Over in the meadow, In the soft summer even, Lived a mother firefly And her little flies eleven. "Shine!" said the mother; "We shine," said the eleven: So they shone like stars In the soft summer even. Over in the meadow, Where the men dig and delve, Lived a wise mother ant And her little anties twelve. "Toil!" said the mother; "We toil," said the twelve: So they toiled and were wise Where the men dig and delve. COUNTING APPLE-SEEDS