soft breeze from the south had melted away all the
snow, and the bright sun had thawed all the ice in the ditches, brooks,
and ponds, everything looked so bright and fine, that the snowdrops and
crocuses popped their heads out of the ground, and kept calling to one
another across the gravel walk, "All a-growin' and a-blowin'," as the
men who bring round the flowers. Two or three violets opened their
little blue eyes, too, and poking at the dead leaves that were lying on
them, kept trying to get a peep at the bright sun; for he had had a bad
cold all through the winter, and had kept his head wrapped up in thick
mists and clouds, only showing himself now and then; and when he did,
his face looked all red, swelled, and inflamed, as though he had got a
dreadful fit of neuralgic-tic-doloreuginal-toothache. And now the
blue-eyed violets wanted to have a peep at the sun, and to nod at their
old friend; but the leaves lay so wet and heavy upon them that they
could hardly get out, and when they did, poor things, their heads were
all bent down, and they looked as drooping as though their necks were
cricked with sleeping in a damp bed. And truly it was a very damp bed--
the violets'--all moss and wet grass in a shady bank; but the cheerful
little flowers did not mind it a bit, but sent forth such a sweet scent
all through the hedgerows, that as soon as the birds smelt it they began
to sing, and to think it was time to build nests again.

"Spring's come! spring's come!" shouted a little chiff-chaff, just come
over from a foreign country all in a hurry; for while he was getting
ready, and thinking it was time to pay a visit to England, there came a
great storm of wind, and caught up the little, tiny greeny bird and blew
him right over the seas; and then, because it was a bright day when he
got here, he began running up and down the country crying out "Spring's
come! spring's come!" when spring was only just putting one or two of
her toes in the shape of crocuses and snowdrops out of her wintry bed,
to see how cold it was, and whether she might get up yet.

Spring had not come, for it was too soon, and the stupid little
chiff-chaff thought himself such an important little body that because
he had come spring must have come too. And no end of mischief he did,
for as is always the case when one person does a foolish thing, plenty
more begin to follow the bad example; and so one bird after another took
up the cry, till it rang all o