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STORIES OF MANY LANDS.
BY
GRACE GREENWOOD,
AUTHOR OF "HISTORY OF MY PETS," "RECOLLECTIONS OF
MY CHILDHOOD," "MERRIE ENGLAND,"
ETC.
NEW YORK:
JOHN B. ALDEN, PUBLISHER.
1885.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by
TICKNOR AND FIELDS,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Districtof Massachusetts
DEDICATORY.
TO THE LITTLE COUSINS ANNIE, KITTY, AND CORDELIA
I dedicate this book to you, my dearest dears, with more love than Ihave ink to write out, and more good wishes and fond hopes than anyprinter would care to print.
You will see by these stories that the children of different countriesare pretty much alike. I doubt not, if you were in France now, youwould get along nicely with the little Monsieurs and Mademoiselles,after some coy hanging back and reconnoitring,—that is, if you onlyknew their "lingo." So with the little Signors and Signorinas ofItaly, and the small Dons and Donnas of Spain. You would find theDutch boys and girls, who look so sober and quaint, like men and womencut short, to be real children after all. If you should visit Turkey,you would find the little Turks and Turkesses full of young humannature,—love, naughtiness, grace, caprice, mischievous tricks, frolic,and all that. Should you even take a trip to China,—the countrythat's right under us, you know,—you would get acquainted with theChinese young folks somehow, though you could only converse by signs.The boys would look very funny to you, with their yellow tunics, andqueer hats, and long "pigtails,"—and the girls with their hair turnedup into a top-knot, their slanting eyes, and their tottering walk,—forthe rich young ladies there have no feet to speak of. They compresstheir feet instead of their waists, because, you see, they are notChristians. So you could n't dance, jump the rope, play croquet, ortake a run on the great Chinese wall with them; but you could play withpuzzles, have tea-parties, and pick the tea-leaves right from thebushes.
Children all the world over laugh and weep, quarrel and make up, playhard, and eat heartily, love and try their mammas, pet and tease theirlittle brothers and sisters,—are a sweet care and a dear perplexity,and are God's little folk, all of them. I think they have the bestshare of His love and of this life's happiness wherever they are. But,darlings, I want you to feel that you need not envy any children onearth,—not the richest and proudest, not the daughters of a GermanGrand Duke, with a kingdom so large that you could scarcely walk acrossit in a long summer day, nor any East-Indian Princesses, twinkling withdiamonds, and rattling with pearls, and riding on elephants, norTurkish Princesses wearing baggy satin trousers and velvet jackets, andwalking on costly carpets,