THE GOLDHAMMER 59 



and very foolish. At last she caught hold of the trunk 

 of the tree, swinging herself on one of the horizontal 

 boughs, sat on it as if she were on horseback. I did the 

 same thing, and then we were sitting near each other, 

 softly rocked to and fro on the elastic and flexible bough ; 

 only I had no comfortable prop to lean against, as she 

 had, or rather my only prop would have been her waist 

 and shoulders, and I was too stupidly timid to make use 

 of it. 



How I then envied the lightness and dexterity ol 

 the cherry - eating goldhammer! That epicurian bird 

 knows how to poise himself on a bough, and that unsteady 

 position between earth and sky neither prevents him from 

 satisfying his greediness nor from making love to his 

 sweetheart. Even when the wind shakes the tree, he swings 

 with the foliage and loses neither his appetite nor his 

 presence of mind. 



I could not say the same of myself and in spite of 

 the tempting company of my pretty neighbour, I was 

 ill at ease and more embarrassed than before. She did 

 not seem to notice it and went on merrily picking the 

 cherries within reach of her hand and lips. 



« It is very pleasant up here, do'nt you think so, said 

 she ; we are like the goldhammer and his sweetheart in 

 their swinging nest. » 



Did she wish me to imitate the goldhammer yet more 

 completely ? I was too stupid to understand her ; besides 



