‘But I’ve seen Ahti,’ rejoined Maie. ‘You’ve been lying in bed, dreaming foolish fancies, mother, and then in your sleep you walked into the water.’ ‘But there is the fiddle,’ said Maie. ‘A fine fiddle! It is only an old stick. No, no, old woman, another time we will be more careful. Good luck never attends fishing on a Sunday.’ From Z. Topelius. The Raspberry Worm ‘Phew!’ cried Lisa. ‘Ugh!’ cried Aina. ‘What now?’ cried the big sister. ‘A worm!’ cried Lisa. ‘On the raspberry!’ cried Aina. ‘Kill it!’ cried Otto. ‘What a fuss over a poor little worm!’ said the big sister scornfully. ‘Yes, when we had cleaned the raspberries so carefully,’ said Lisa. ‘It crept out from that very large one,’ put in Aina. ‘And supposing someone had eaten the raspberry,’ said Lisa. ‘Then they would have eaten the worm, too,’ said Aina. ‘Well, what harm?’ said Otto. ‘Eat a worm!’ cried Lisa. ‘And kill him with one bite!’ murmured Aina. ‘Just think of it!’ said Otto laughing. ‘Now it is crawling on the table,’ cried Aina again. ‘Blow it away!’ said the big sister. ‘Tramp on it!’ laughed Otto. But Lisa took a raspberry leaf, swept the worm carefully on to the leaf and carried it out into the yard. Then Aina noticed that a sparrow sitting on the fence was just ready to pounce on the poor little worm, so she took up the leaf, carried it out into the wood and hid it under a raspberry bush where the greedy sparrow could not find it. Yes, and what more is there to tell about a raspberry worm? Who would give three straws for such a miserable little thing? Yes, but who would not like to live in such a pretty home as it lives in; in such a fresh fragrant dark-red cottage, far away in the quiet wood among flowers and green leaves! Now it was just dinner time, so they all had a dinner of raspberries and cream. ‘Be careful with the sugar, Otto,’ said the big sister; but Otto’s plate was like a snowdrift in winter, with just a little red under the snow. Soon after dinner the big sister said: ‘Now we have eaten up the raspberries and we have none left to make preserve for the winter; it would be fine if we could get two baskets full of berries, then we could clean them this evening, and to-morrow we could cook them in the big preserving pan, and then we should have raspberry jam to eat on our bread!’ ‘Come, let us go to the wood and pick,’ said Lisa. ‘Yes, let us,’ said Aina. ‘You take the yellow basket and I will take the green one.’ ‘Don’t get lost, and come back safely in the evening,’ said the big sister. ‘Greetings to the raspberry worm,’ said Otto, mockingly. ‘Next time I meet him I shall do him the honour of eating him up.’