27 THE LOST DOLL

I once had a sweet little doll, dears,

The prettiest doll in the world;

Her cheeks were so red and so white, dears,

And her hair was so charmingly curled.

But I lost my poor little doll, dears,

As I played on the heath one day;

And I cried for her more than a week, dears,

But I never could find where she lay.

I found my poor little doll, dears,

As I played on the heath one day;

Folks say she is terribly changed, dears,

For her paint is all washed away.

And her arm's trodden off by the cows, dears,

And her hair's not the least bit curled;

Yet for old sakes' sake, she is still, dears,

The prettiest doll in the world.

(Charles Kingsley)

Word list

charmingly: in a very nice way

curled: not straight

heath: open land with no trees

trodden: stepped on

You Practice

A) Answer the following questions.

1) How old do you think the writer of this story is? Why?

2) How did the doll get lost?

3) How was the doll found again?

4) How did the doll change?

5) Have you ever lost something that was important to you? Tell what happened.

B) Rhyme time—Find words in the story that rhyme with these ones.

1) bear: h _ _ _

2) beak: w _ _ _

3) score: p _ _ _

4) gold: o _ _

5) pill: s _ _ _ _

C) True or false? Read these sentences carefully. Write true or false for each one.

1) _____ The doll was eaten by a cow.

2) _____ The doll was lost on the heath.

3) _____ The writer was sad about losing her doll.

4) _____ The cow returned the doll to the girl.

5) _____ The writer still likes her doll.